L'île Rousse, Corsica

Our second stop on the Club Med 2 cruise was on Ile Rousse in the North of Corsica.  Corsica is mountainous, and travel from valley to valley was difficult in the past, so villages in the same valley tended to form their own cultures.   Our tour guide told us (a few times) that she was from the micro-region of La Balagne, one of several throughout the island.

Politically, Corsica has been a football between France and Italy.   It had a short period of independence before France definitively took control of the island in 1793 and made it a Département 3 years later.

I was impressed by the little village of Pigna, where the locals have developed an annual music festival based around their own small auditorium.   I bought a couple of CDs that were on sale in the musical instrument museum; I figure I'm unlikely to get another opportunity to hear traditional corsican music.   Though maybe I could go to their festival when it comes around again.

A couple of other irrelevant observations.   Pigna is apprently free of carbon dioxide, so I'm not sure what the residents are breathing.   And their cats were cute.