Corsica - Hiking and Mountain Climbing on the Green Island - Part III

The Restonica Valley is one of the most beautiful places of Corsica. It is covered with vendant pine forest and it has many liitle basins which is ideal for picnic and bathing hallowed from the Restonica river which flows through the granite cliffs and gorges.

Restonica Valley is near Corte, located at the middle of Corsica.

There are lots of tourist in Summer and a a few in Spring or Autum who tackle this trail to experience a glimpse of Corsica's rural heartland.

The two famous mountain lakes are Lac de Melu ( 1711 m) an hour hike, and the Lac de Capitellu ( 1930 m) 1 3/4 hours walk.

We started following the path going to Lac de Melu. There are two tracks in going up to the lake. The left path is for the beginners and the right path is for experienced climbers.

It is important to wear comfortable hiking shoes, a hat and enough drinking water, some sandwiches, swim suit and towels if you wish to take a bath after a tour in the lake going back down the mountain where a little waterfall with a little basin and clear refreshing water can be found.

I myself found it hard climbing up for i am not a climber and i seldom do hiking in the mountain regions. My children, husband, Benda our dog enjoyed the way up to the lake. My brother in law, who is a mountain climber was always ahead guiding us and his wife who is my sister was just a few centimeter ahead of me. My husband used to help me climbing through the difficult paths. The beginner path is not dangerous to climb up, as the other path one has to climb with a rope.

It was a very warm weather, about 30 degrees in Juli. Although we were with light clothing, shorts and Tshirts we all perspired upon climbing up and i had to make several pause to take a deep breath and to calm me down. Instead of an hour hiking it took us about 1 1/2 hour.

The panorama is beautiful, as we get higher the more we had an spectacle view and we adored the green gray mountains down, over and around us.

We reached Lac de Melu, found a place to relax direct the lake, we made a short picnic as we admired the beautiful lonely lake.

Corte was the stronghold of the Corsican and re-state from 1755 to 1769 by Pasquale Paoli Corsican as capital of a free Corsica. For many Corsicans Corte therefore embodies the independence of their culture and is often still regarded as the secret capital of the island. Expression of this view is certainly attributable to the fact that a university in Corte was built again. Corte as the center of the island, surrounded by high mountain ranges lies, is surely not a coincidence.

Citadel and Old Town
The landmark of the town of Corte, the citadel, its oldest part, called "Eagle's Nest" perched in an exposed position on a rocky spur. Just below the fortress towers of the Citadel is the viewing platform 'Belvedere', of which one has a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. Beneath the citadel are very close gray houses of the old town, which is crisscrossed by narrow streets and alleys.

Apart from the charming old town Corte as a starting point for numerous day hikes in the surrounding mountain valleys is popular.