May 5-18 Corsica— A General Overview
Corsica. What words come to mind when you think about this island?
Natural beauty—Mountains and Beaches?
Stunning Scenery?
Laid Back?
To begin…here’s a bit of information about Corsica. It’s just off the coast of France, about 11 km/6 miles from Sardinia, —an island just off the coast of Italy. It’s 3,400 sq miles. (Washington State is 71,000 sq miles). It’s population is about 355,500 people. It is the most mountainous of the Mediterranean islands. In fact, it’s made up entirely of one large mountain range with a bit of flat space around the edges…the coast. The Seattle Times had an article about Corsica in which it says that it is easily explored by car…if you have the stomach for it and the nerves of steel. True!! It is economically the poorest region of France. (I believe it is officially labeled the “least economically developed.”) Tourism is the primary economic driver and for the tourist, it is the most expensive place to visit of all the islands in the Mediterranean. I can attest to that!! All in all, there are adventures everywhere because of its diversity in nature, in geography and in its society.
My cousins, Fabienne and Francis, have a little house in the mountains near Porto Vecchio. Most of Francis’s extended family live there so that’s why they, too, spend a few months every year in Corsica. They drive to Toulon Italy (9.5 hours) Then, they take an overnight ferry to Bastia Corsica, in the north. Then they drive 3 hours to Cartavalone—a little village in the mountains near Porto Vecchio, in the south.
Take a look at this map… The distance between Bastia and Porto Vecchio is only 90 miles but with the mountains it’s a 3 hour drive. Cartavalone is only 14 miles from Porto Vecchio but it takes about 40 minutes to get there because of the 2-lane winding mountain roads. All roads in Corsica are one or two lanes, with no shoulders to speak of. Besides the roads, drivers have to contend with speeding motorcycles, bicycles, tour buses, and of course, tourists. Just get the picture here…
So, on May 5, I packed my bags (22 maximum lbs) and took the plane to Figari Corsica. Francis picked me up and we drove for about an hour to the little village, Cartavalone. Along the way, he told me about his family and how he came to have a little house in this little village.
In the mid 1800s, 3 brothers with the last name of Tafani, came to southern Corsica from Italy. One of them, Jean, was Francis’s great-grandfather. They acquired herds of goats and sheep and a few other animals. Every summer, they took the herds to the summer pastures. Because they spent so much time in the mountainous summer pastures, and because they brought their families with them, they asked the local mayor (aka government) if they could build a place to stay for the summer. The mayor agreed and they did a high five to make it official. Jean, the great-grandfather, ended up building a little sleeping hut made of stone in the area that is now the village of Cartavalone. Of course, one little stone hut (without windows!) wasn’t cutting it for growing families, so houses were built as needed. Francis’s grandfather, also named Jean, had 9 children and 8 of them produced offspring so you can imagine how this village grew, and how the “cousins” multiplied. Then there were the other brothers who built houses in other places between Porto Vecchio and Cartavalone and these became other villages. Most of the people I met were in some way related so they were called “cousins.” In fact, I think most of the people in the area were related to a Tafani from one generation or the other.
OK, back to the original little “stone hut.” It just patiently waited in the field as other Tafani houses were built around it. It was built by hand, stone by stone by the grandfather(s). Here it is as it originally looked. (A photo of a photo.) The house next to it is the one built when the family started growing. A second floor was added on to it in recent years so it wasn’t very big for a large family. The “add-on” was added on even later.
Francis valued this little stone hut because he values the history of his family and of this region of Corsica. He wanted to preserve the stones that his grandfather (or great grandfather?) had cut by hand. Therefore, he and Fabienne took the stones from the hut and found an old-fashioned stone cutter to rebuild the hut into a little house. When I say “little house,” think tiny home. It is truly built for 2 people. Here are some photos of their tiny home.
The outside….
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This is the from the entrance gate. It’s the back side. The big house from the previous photo is on the right.
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| This is the entrance and the courtyard. The house was built around the tree which had a large shading canopy—until it died. All of the trees of this kind in the village died at the same time. Nobody knows why. |
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| This is the back side again. The little add on is connected to the house next door. It’s a bathroom. |
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| Just another view of the entrance—taken at an angle so it appears bigger than it is. |
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| Fabi’s artwork on the fence along the side of the little house. |
The inside….
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| The one-butt kitchen. |
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| The living room. I’m standing in the “doorway” of the kitchen. |
A most interesting coffee table. It folds up and out to create a dining table, 3½ feet on each side. It fills the space in the living room. |
| The hallway to a bedroom and bathroom. |
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| Fabi did the fanciful art on the wall. Francis put together the sailboat from items he found. |
Most of the art on the walls was done by Fabi.
An interesting note….when the grandfather and the mayor did the “high five” to solidify the agreement to use the land, it was not recorded. So it’s always been with “gentlemen’s agreements”. Everyone knew the land became the Tafani land. You can imagine what problems the residents have had over the years when they wanted to sell one of the houses their ancestors had built. They had to get it surveyed and they had to buy the land, even though the family had lived on it for decades. Thus, Francis and Fabi had to buy the land that the grandfather had given them.
I had a crazy-fun 2 weeks with a lot of sightseeing in the towns and villages, the mountains and the forests. I met a lot of people and enjoyed incredible food and drink. Here’s a general list of my activities in Corsica…
- Cartavalone, the village
- Cipponu, the village where I stayed
- Porto Vecchio
- Bonifacio
- Sartène
- Site Archéologique de Cucuruzzu
- Mountain hikes with Francis and Fabienne
- Fabi’s Birthday
- Dinner with Jean Pascal and Barbara
- Miscellaneous photos of food, drink and other….
Done for now….
