Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Honeymoon Continued: October 8, 1998

Le Maquis -- Porticcio, Corsica:


More of Rex's Honeymoon Bests:
  • Most dramatic interplay of mountains and the sea I've ever seen -- on the road from Ajaccio to Porto.
  • Two brothers, maitres d', Antoine and George
  • Pounding surf off our terrace at Le Maquis
  • Onion ragout with poached egg
  • Gateaux d'chocolat avec vanilla gelato
Thinking back on our day in Corsica... started much the same as every day so far in Corsica, with "petit dejeuner" or breakfast of cafe au lait and assorted breads...croissants, pan de chocolat, etc. Today's included a shared cheese omelette and bacon.

As we were waiting for our rental car loans to arrive (no way I was letting anyone else do the driving), our taxi driver showed up with flowers to apologize for the crash. It shook me up to the point of dizziness -- she spoke almost entirely in French and was so emotional, I couldn't understand understand a word of it other than to know how sincere her apology was when she said in English "I'm so sorry" and thrust the flowers into my arms. She was in tears as she stepped outside to speak with one of the women from the hotel. I followed her out to make sure she was OK, and hope she understood when I told her in English that if she's OK and Rex and I are both OK, that is all that matters. I was so surprised to see her back behind the wheel of a new taxi -- either she feels nothing as a result of our accidennt, or more likely from her emotional behavior this morning, she is as shaky behind the wheel as I have been as a passenger. If your job is tto take care of your passengers, how do you get on with driving after turning your car over in a ditch, along with its precious cargo?


The rest of the day was a dramatic trip up the coast from Porticcio to Porto. It is more windy (or winding, I guess, curvy as opposed to breezy) and more mountainous than Big Sur. Rex was the most cautious driver, which helped me to enjoy it more, but the way people drive around here kept me white knuckled in terror for most of the trip. Really incredible views plunging down from the unusual rocks into the Mediterranean Sea.


And now it is time to dress for dinner with our two brothers Maitres d'...

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