Am I the only one who thinks that all Blackberries should be equipped of a collision avoidance system?

For those who might not have noticed, I started publishing, with a two-week lag, excerpts from my travel diary. The text is sparse, I only wrote a line or two now and then. I’ll try to add more. Those ten days on the island were magnificent. Montains, sea, history, the people, and, of course, the food; they’ve got everything over there.

I only saw small part of Balagne and the southern end of the Cap Corse. I will go back.

An Ontario judge ruled today that part of the definition of “terrorism” found in the Anti-Terrorism Act violates charter rights. Namely the section on “motivation”.

To which Mark Holland, member of the House of Commons standing committee on public safety and national security responded: “Motivation is a very difficult thing for us because it is difficult for us to understand why someone would want to do us harm.”

Mia fasz?. If you don’t have anyone in your committee that’s able to understand motivation (when there’s a lot of political analysts, sociologist, thinkers, etc. out there that’ve been saying it for the last 5 years), you got one hell of a problem.

Got woken up by… a bomb! Louder than a sonic boom, but not that much. It was a small charged place on the doorstep of a government office. A bit like the FLQ’s exploding mailboxes, without the lost mail and risks of collateral damage. No reaction from the locals.

Tomorrow would have been Isabelle’s birthday. 40. I stop a long while in a tiny high-perched chapel. Can’t help thinking that this could have been our honeymoon. When I got out, the sun was not as bright (yippy!), the light had changed.

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Maquis! Between rocks and sea. Took the lil’ train (15 min) to spend the day here. I could have taken my towel and brought a swimsuit, but I’m not really the beach type, although it can be alluring.

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Last evening, the throat a bit sorer (it has become a good old cold), I dined at Chez Mémé, on their terrace by the sea: fish soup, wild boar stew and flan. The moon, almost full, was orange.

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Short (!) walk to the North, along the beginnings of the Cap Corse (Toga, Pietra Nera, etc.). Funny, as in Quebec, some people here cross out words in the other language on sign posts, in the case the name of the towns in French. The day didn’t start out too well: didn’t sleep too good (noise, late dinner with red wine, etc.), laryngitis, then allergies. And the first few kilometers north of Bastia are too urbanized.

Far more interesting is the Old Port neighbourhood

and that of the Citadelle.

Just came back from a four-hour walk in the little hamlets North-West of Bastia (Ville-di-Pietrabungo, Manganu, etc.) and now, I’m having a little snack at the first terrase I came across (the only problem here, is the bunch of Amercians at the near-by tables — the same as on the boat, I think). I’m tired, butin a good way; my legs are quite sores.

(19 h)

After a welcomed nap. I like Bastia, it’s calm — just what I needed, I’m not in the mood for a town bursting with energy: I don’t have enough! Finally, good thing I didn’t write down what I was planning to do the next day, yesterday: haven’t done any of it. Got up a bit late; no biggy, I’m not here to rush.

(Note: this pizza crust is quite good; the smell brought me to this place!)I’m still too much in a planing mood: I’m already trying to fig out where I’ll be when. For once, I don’t have to be somewhere at a certain time, I should enjoy it — especially since I spent more than a day doing just that, with all that travelling.

(Note: there’s something you don’t see in Quebec, someone going into a restorant a cigarette in his hand.)

Drinking a good Corsican beer in an Irish pub near the hotel before calling it a night. Of course, if I’m to come back here tomorrow, it’ll be much later! But I haven’t really slept these last 30 hours, maybe a bit on the boat. It’s a bit like I felt before my sick leave, but for more immerdiate reasons; and more readily fixable.

I was going to jot down what I was planning to do tomorrow, but we’ll see in good time. One thing’s for sure, I won’t be spending too mush time at the hotel (anyway, I didn’t come here to stay indoors): it’s a “small room” all right, no bgger than my office. And the elevator! I’ve seen bigger phonebooths!

Well, this beer is having quite an effect. I think it won’t be long before I turn in. Even if it means waking up at 5. There’s no one else in the bar. Only the band (called “Move”) doing some soundchecks. Like they say in the guide, nothing’s really happening before 11.

[excerpts from my travel log]

Waiting for the boat which gets here in two hours.

First impression: I’m already dending my accent.

It’s fraking hot here, I’m hunting shade. And I’m soooo tired: I haven’t slept a wink all “night”. I hope I’ll be able to sleep on the ferry.