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.

Chapel

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.