"Antoine Martin-Cocher, our mustachioed hiking guide, is unmissable in a neon T-shirt and mirrored sunglasses outside the arrivals area at the Figari airport in southern Corsica. When we get to his pickup truck, he has us decant essentials, including warm clothes, from our suitcases into smaller backpacks. "The September sunshine is balmy, but where we're headed, you can see your breath at night," he cautions."
"That historically much-fought-over clifftop settlement is today the island's most photographed (and crowded) destination. It has, like the rest of Corsica, endured many epochs, having been passed among the Greeks, the Byzantines, the Saracens, various Germanic tribes, the Genoese, and finally the French, who annexed the island in 1769. Corsica has been trying to shake off the yoke of occupation ever since. In the same fierce spirit of protest, it's held on to, and indeed honed, its own sense of culture, cuisine, and language."
Antoine Martin-Cocher, a mustachioed hiking guide, meets visitors at Figari airport and prepares them for cool mountain nights. Hikers decant essentials into backpacks before starting the Mare à Mare trek across rugged Corsican terrain. The plan includes hiking with a friend, then reuniting with spouses and staying in a rental villa near Bonifacio. Bonifacio sits on a contested clifftop and has been passed among Greeks, Byzantines, Saracens, Germanic tribes, Genoese, and finally the French in 1769. Corsica maintains a fierce local culture, cuisine, and language. Signs of the independence struggle appear in bullet-pocked road signs and a 2014 political truce.
Read at CN Traveller
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]