Les Pouilles est la région du talon de l’Italie et au bout du talon il y a Santa Maria de Leuca. Petite étape à vélo entre Otranto et Leuca mais la chaleur ne rend pas les choses faciles et il y a eu un peu plus de côtes qu’hier. Petite visite de Castro sur la route et longue pause pique nique sous un olivier surplongeant la mer avec un petit vent frais.

A Leuca, un sanctuaire est dédié à Santa Maria de Finibus Terrae sur la pointe qui sépare l’Adriatique de la mer Ionienne. La côte est superbe avec une multitude de grottes dans le calcaire visibles depuis la mer, l’occasion de faire un peu de bateau avec Mino. Un ami de Lara mon hôte de air bnb.

I tried to leave Otranto not too late this morning to avoid the heat but got anyway caught in it. Fortunately, there is always a nice refreshing wind from the sea. The cost is even more beautiful here, more rocky less beaches. And more hilly too! After a rather long one without any air, I decided to stop in an olive tree shadow overlooking the sea with a fresh wind and stayed there for something like 2 hours.

I reached Leuca and its sanctuary dedicated to Santa Maria de finitus terrae in the middle of the afternoon. This piece of earth delineates the border between the Adriatic and Ionic seas. The cost is quite beautiful with many caves visible only from the sea. An occasion to get a small tour from Mino, a friend of my air bnb host Lara. I had to basically search the porto turistico to find him but I eventually did. He did not speak English nor French, fortunately the couple also with me on the boat translated a bit for me so I got some of the explanations and could check whether I had understood!