Corsica, where the people speak
their own Italian dialect, has
all the attributes of a mini-continent.
There are tropical palm trees,
vineyards, olive and orange groves,
forests of chestnut and indigenous pine,
alpine lakes and cool mountains torrents
filled with trout. Most distinctive of
all is the perched maquis (scrub), heavy
with scent of myrtle, which Napoleon
swore he could smell from the sea.
The third largest island in the
Mediterranean after Sicily
and Sardinia, Corsica has
been a problem and a bafflement to
mainland France ever since 1769,
when it was "sold" to Louis XV by the
Genoese for 40 million francs.
Before that, following years of
struggle, the Corsican people had
enjoyed 15 years of independence under
the revered leadership of Pasquale
Paoli. They understandably felt cheated
by the deal with the French, and
have resented them ever since.
To holiday-makers visiting the island -
in July and August tourists outnumber
the inhabitants six to one - the
Corsican/French relationship may be a
matter of indifference.
However, there is a strong (and
sometimes quite violent) separatist
movement which does deter some tourists.
As a result, Corsica's wild
beauty has been preserved to an extent
not seen in the rest of the
Mediterranean.
For 200 years, from the 11th to the 13th
century, Corsica was a colony of
the old Tuscan republic of
Pisa, whose builders founded
beautifully proportioned Romanesque
churches.
These buildings are, along with the
megalithic stone warriors in Filitosa,
the noblest monuments to be seen here.
For the rest, the birthplace of Napoleon
is a place of wild seacoasts and
mountain peaks, one of the last
unspoiled corners of the
Mediterranean: poor, unpopulated,
beautiful, old-fashioned and doggedly
aloof. As with all of France the
local currency is the Euro. Whether
renting property to move or
holiday here, more information about
Corsica can be found
here.
Alsace |
Aquitaine |
Auvergne |
Brittany |
Burgundy |
Center |
Champagne-Ardenne |
Corsica |
Franche-comte
Languedoc-Roussillon |
Limousin |
Lorraine |
Lower-Normandy |
Midi-Pyrenees |
North-Calais |
Paris-Isle-of-France
Pays-de-la-Loire |
Picardy |
Poitou-Charentes |
Provence-Alpes-Azur |
Rhone-Alps |
Upper-Normandy |