Corsica: A Mountain Sunk Into the Sea, With Roads That Are Impossible but Unforgettable

There's an island in the Mediterranean the French call "the island of beauty," and it's best described as a mountain sunk into the water. Corsica is French territory with a heart that beats in Italian - with its own language closer to Italian than French - and roads that are nearly impossible, but unforgettable for exactly that reason. This isn't a destination for those in a hurry.

The journey usually begins in Bastia, with its old harbour ringed by fishermen's cottages and historic palaces. From there the Cap Corse peninsula climbs - dramatic cliffs, crystal-clear coves and old watchtowers - alongside the Agriates desert with its sweeping meadows and rocky ridges. Further on come Saint-Florent with a 15th-century historic core and L'Île-Rousse with a Roman-style market, ideal for local produce.

The interior and the west hide the biggest surprises. Calvi rises with a 13th-century citadel above the sea, aristocratic in character. Ajaccio, Napoleon's birthplace, offers a museum with an important collection of Italian art, hipster cafés and galleries. And the reddish archipelago of the Sanguinaires Islands, built of porphyry rock, is one of those sights that stays in memory.

In the south the sea takes on "impossible" shades of blue in coves like Roccapina and Saint-Jean, and the Bonifacio fortress, founded back in 828, hangs from 70-metre ramparts above the waves, with views all the way to Sardinia. Porto-Vecchio, meanwhile, is the island's luxury face - a harbour full of yachts and Corsican glamour in its purest form.

But the true soul of Corsica is in its crafts. In villages like Pigna and Levie, masters still work - makers of traditional musical instruments, potters with forty years of experience, knife-makers who treat goat horn in olive oil. Through the Restonica Valley the road winds between rocky walls and a roaring river, while the peak of Monte Cinto rises to nearly 2,000 metres, with slopes that drop almost vertically to the sea.

Corsica is small - about 50 kilometres east to west, 185 north to south - but on that modest surface it gathers more variety than many far larger countries. Maybe that's exactly the point: some places aren't measured in kilometres, but in how much time is worth spending on them without rushing.