I think it probably loses something in translation.
However early in the morning, just as day was dawning Guy, like Pat, picked up his post bag and set off not in his van but on foot to make a 14km round trip to deliver the post to Girolata. This is a tiny coastal village in the north west of Corsica which is only accessible by foot, boat or parachute! And for Guy, as a former French Foreign legionnaire the latter must have been an option he’d considered many times as the round trip takes about four hours.
On the 1 July this year the Tour de France peloton will spend around four hours racing from Ajaccio to Calvi. The route will pass the start of the Sentier du Facteur or Postman’s Path at the Col de la Croix in some of the most stunning coastal scenery. No doubt Phil Ligett and David Harmon will tell us a little about Guy, Girolata and the Scandola nature reserve as the helicam zooms in on this Unesco world heritage coastal paradise guarded by an imposing 16th century Genoese watch tower.
But what of Guy Le Facteur? Well he made his final delivery in May 2008 and the residents held a party for him on the beach which if you really want to, you can view on YouTube. Guy is the one who looks like Uncle Albert and come to think of it, this is just the sort of yarn he’d spin to Del Boy and Rodders! Guy clearly was a cushty geezer or so the fifteen permanent residents of Girolata thought – I can’t help but agree with them.
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