Ruins

Last Sunday, when I arrived back from two lovely weeks at home, me and Zoe decided to make the most of the (short-lived) sun and walk up to Occi, a ruined village above Lumio. It was beautiful: orange olive nets in piles under the trees, almost the same scarlet as the bottlebrush flowerheads, the ruins glowing in the sunshine and teetering improbably, splashes of lichen like paint. I think the village was abandoned because Lumio, a kilometre or two below, had a better water supply and access to roads, and one lintel was carved with 1788. We talked about narrow boat holidays and being dragged round castles as children, and when we had explored all the ruins we drove down to Calvi to have a drink in a harbour cafe, and then on to Algajola for a crêpe, a moelleux à la chataigne and hot chocolates.