Corsica - did you know?

10 interesting facts about Corsica

• In 1769, Napolean Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica

Napolean Bonaparte, born in Corsica

• Corsica's coastline stretches for some 1000km, a third of this is beaches

The Bonifacio coastline, Corse-du-Sud

• Corsica is officially a French region and is split between Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud

Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud

• Monte Cinto, the highest mountain on the island is 2710m tall, twice the height of Ben Nevis!

Monte Cinto, Haute-Corse, Corsica

• French is the first language, however Corsican (Corsu) also exists and is taught in schools

Corsican language is widely spoken on the island

• Food specialities include: Brocciu (cheese), Figatellu (pork), Fiaddone (cheese cake) and Miel (honey)

Figatellu, a Corsica speciality of dried pork sausage

• Corte, the former capital of Corsica (when it was independent), has the only inland citadel on the island

Corte, home to the University of Corsica and independent movement

• In July & August, temperatures often hit mid-30's with 12 hours of sunshine on average each day

Sunbathing on a beach in Corsica, 300km of beaches

• Cuisine tends to be influenced by France & Italy but also features traditional Corsican dishes

A Corsican restaurant in l'Ile Rousse, Haute-Corse

• Watersports readily available include: jet-skiing, water-skiing, wind-surfing, kite-surfing, sea kayaking

Windsurfing and waterports in Corsica

Hope you found these facts of interest, feel free to RT or Like on Facebook!

Bonnes vacances !

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Corsica - more updates coming

Working on new content

In case anyone is following my blog, hopefully a few of you are (if not by all means sign up to receive email alerts of new posts), I'll shortly be adding a lot of new content and giving an indication of what I'd ideally like to achieve by building this site, with the assistance of a number of influential French and Corsican tourist industry professionals.

Calvi's citadel perching beneath a backdrop of mountains

This week 'en Corse'

I read a few big stories this week about life on the island, one of them reporting on a small earthquake in the sea off the Corsican coast and the other was celebrity gossip about Kate Moss spending her honeymoon on a superyacht near Corsica.

2012 Corsica Holidays

I plan to have this site finished by the end of the summer, therefore if you're planning a holiday in Corsica in 2012 (or even September/October 2011) I hope that you'll find all the information you need here.

The famous church in Patrimonio, Haute Corse

Keep watching this space and thanks for taking the time to read this far! You can email me any feedback or comments if you have any suggestions, advice or experiences you'd like to share.

If you find this Corsica website helpful, please retweet (RT) on Twitter or recommend this page on Facebook using the icon below. It will gradually help spread the word and offer others the opportunity to discover this amazing island too.

I'm also using this as an experiment to see whether social media can help to develop my idea into a business, so why not join in and be part of the experience with me? If it works, I will make sure every credit is given to those who helped.

Grazzi à tutti !

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Natural Phenomenon off the Corsican Coast

Waterspout off Corsican coast

I thought this article was rather interesting, from the Irish weather online website, which caught my attention yesterday. A local photographer captured the formation of a waterspout in the sea just off the north east coast of the island - pretty spectacular!

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Spectacular Corsica Photography

Professional Photography

Corsica, known in French rather appropriately as 'l'Ile de Beauté', is a photographer's paradise.

Plage de Saleccia, Haute-Corse

The island boasts a quite extraordinary contrast of beauty, from heavenly stretches of fine white sand and crystal clear seas at the Plage de Saleccia (right) to rugged, soaring mountain peaks, natural valleys, forests and rock pools in the heart of the island, such as at the Col de Bavella an hour's drive from Porto-Vecchio (below).

Col de Bavella, Corse-du-Sud

Some years ago, while working in Corsica, I had the pleasure of meeting Jérôme Jouve, a Corsican professional photographer. We needed some photos of our new villas and as his work is absolutely first-class, I had no hesitations! The results of his work were superb and we went on to work together for a number of years.


Jérôme has a wonderful portfolio of photos and, in addition to displaying them in various galleries and writing two books, the first of which Couleurs Corse won a prestigious award, has recently opened up a dedicated boutique in St Florent with his talented partner Stacy.

Limestone cliffs of Bonifacio © Jérôme Jouve

Their new shop, IMAG[E]INE, features a wide selection of Jérôme's work with the possibility to purchase copies of his collection, either in the shop or online.

IMAG[E]INE
Rue Fornellu
20217 St Florent
Corsica
Tel: 0033 (0)6 24 47 56 67 or 0033 (0)6 19 69 33 46
Email: weestace@hotmail.com

Beautiful landscape of Corsica © Jérôme Jouve

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Holidays in Corsica

Nine years of expert travel knowledge

I worked in the travel industry from 2002 to 2010, specialising in selling villa and apartment holidays as well as hotel breaks throughout France and Corsica. I was solely responsible for sourcing and researching new properties to feature in the company portfolio, travelling to the island on average 4 or 5 times per year and always seeking to discover something out of the ordinary. I currently work in online marketing however I still retain many of the contacts I made on the island.

Where to stay in Corsica

Corsica has fairly distinct regions around which which the majority of tourist accommodation can be found. These are; Bastia and St Florent in the north east, Calvi in the north west, Ajaccio, Porto and Piana on the west coast and Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio in the south east.

How to get to Corsica

From the UK, there are charter flights operating into the island (into Figari, Bastia and Calvi) as well as services operated by Easyjet. Alternatively the island can be reached by ferry from mainland France or Italy, making it extremely accessible from the continent. I travelled over myself last week from the UK by car and booked a crossing with Corsica Ferries from Nice to Calvi. Car hire can be booked through all the major rental companies including Avis, Hertz and Europcar.

View essential Corsica travel information.

Book a holiday in Corsica

There are a couple of tour operators who you can book a holiday with to Corsica, however it is extremely easy to book flights, car hire, taxis, villa, hotel etc yourself and save an awful lot of money (probably up to 40%!). These companies tend to charge huge margins on your booking so why not cut them out altogether and spend the money you save on a slap up meal at one of St Florent's famous seafood restaurants instead!?

Incredible beauty of Corsican coastline © Jérôme Jouve

Benefit from my extensive knowledge

If you're considering a holiday in Corsica, I would be happy to provide independent advice on any aspect of your holiday. If you're looking to book a villa, apartment or hotel but are unsure where to stay then I can also help with building your itinerary - please contact me for further information. Naturally I would charge a fee for the time involved to research everything on your behalf but you will benefit from the reduced rates I can obtain from a number of suppliers.

Corsica - France

Corsica - la Corse - Korsika - Kallisté

My first ever blog; my first post; my first step on a journey to possibly change my future. Please bear with me as I get used to the blog features and tools, I'll do my best to keep it neat!

The aim of this blog is to share my knowledge, ideas, passion and love for the Mediterranean island of Corsica, France so that more people may be encouraged to visit this wonderful destination. I am entirely freelance and doing this off my own back and I welcome any comments, feedback, tips or advice if you wish to contribute.



I have travelled extensively all over the world, from Sri Lanka to Fiji, Hawaii to Gran Canaria but there's definitely something magical and entirely unique about this rugged, unspoilt and majestically beautiful island.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this leads. I'll no doubt need some help along the way as it's not going to be easy, but I will make every effort to enure its success.

Thanks for reading, Merci!