Corsica

Recently we took ourselves on a wonderful trip to Corsica, which is tucked away down in the Mediterranean. Although it is a hell of a lot closer to Italy than it is to France. (Barely 20km north of Sardina) and only 40km off the coast of mainland of Italy, Corsica is part of France, and was given to France by the British around about 250 years ago.

That being the case the Corsicans are a fiercely independent bunch. They have their own language that has developed over many hundreds of years (which sadly now is dying out) and they still have a good degree of animosity towards foreigners (especially the French) A lot people seem themselves a lot more as descendants of Italians (the Island was part of the Genoeese kingdom from the 1500's)

During the last 30 years or so there has been a very strong Corsican Independence movement who want to restore the Corsican language, and basically sever all ties with France and go about things on their own. Throughout the 80's and 90's there was a lot of terrorist acts both on the Island and on mainland France by the Corsican independence movement. They targeted banks, real estate agents, famous people's holiday homes, and any other major instruments of the French authoritities.

People here speak their native Corsican language, however it is slowly dying out, and it's mainly older people who speak it. Most young people only speak French nowdays. Most of the road signs around the island are written in both Corsican & French (however some of the Nationalists have gone around and graffitied out the French ones on quite a lot of road signs)

Recentlythings have quietened down a lot, thanks to a lot of investment in infrastructure by the French goverment on the island, in an attempt to win over the people.

Mercifully for us, a lot of this money has been spent on improving the roads around the island. Roads in Corsica a narrow and very windy, as the island is quite mountainous and lots of roads wind their way up and through the mountains, and also around the cliffs near the sea. Some of the smaller roads are barely large enough to fit one car on, let alone a car coming the other way. Oh and also people let their animals graze on the sides of the roads here. So don't be suprised to see some cows, pigs, sheep, or goats casually wandering down the road and nibbling away at the grass on the verges.

At the time of the year we were there it was great for some summer activities. In winter there are even ski resorts up in the mountains. For my mind though the best part of Corsica was the food (as it always is) Like elsewhere in France, they have the big 3 things that make for a yummy meal. Cheese, Wine & Meat. All of these three things are absolutely exceptional in Corsica (i think I ate a plate of Charcuterie every night)