Corsica
-- Everything France Magazine
Relaxes on the beaches and tiny, hidden bays, and wanders through the chestnut forests of the Castagniccia – rides the Chemins de fer de la Corse: the marvellous mountain train between Ajaccio and Bastia – takes you through breath-taking mountain scenery to the town of Corte and along the river in the Restonica valley – offers an in-depth look at the customs, folklore, and historic aspects of Napoleon’s birth place
Excerpt: The Corsican Don Juan
If you’ve been to Seville, you may recall that the ‘real’ Don Juan was named Don Miguel, or more precisely Don Miguel de Leca y Colonna y Magnara y Vincentello, who was born in Seville in 1627. Fewer people, however, realize that he was a Corsican. The Leca were one of the noblest families on the island, whose lineage, exhaustingly confirmed by both Genoese and Spanish nobiliaries of the time, traced their descent back to the semi-legendary 9th-century Ugo Colonna. Miguel’s father, Tomaso Magnara di Leca, was from Calvi; his mother, Jeronima Anfriani Vincentelli, also descended from the Leca, was from Montemaggiore; her family house, the Casa Colonna d’Anfriani, still stands.
Miguel was 14 when he saw Tirso de Molina’s play Don Juan de Tenorio, the drama that would inspire Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Byron’s Don Juan. Miguel was inspired, too: he decided he would become Don Juan in real life. ...click here to read the rest
Fantastic but.., /5
I've been to Corsica several times and this latest edition adds real flavour to the Meds most beautiful Island. Even the locals will be surprised at some of the detail in the book. One downside; the only photo is on the front cover so don't expect a lavish stock of photos. Don't let this put you off as if you are a REAL traveller, you can't get better than this book!!
Corsica (Cadogan Guides), /5
If you are obsessed with history, ancient monuments, architecture and relics this is probably the book for you.
As a tourist guide, to tell what is worth seeing/photographing, i.e the aesthetics, I find it virtually useless. It does give routes, with some warnings about where congestion may occur in the summer and identify some parking spaces, but the rest is generally vague and somewhat inconsistent. Even the restaurant prices are given in Francs, in a used copy which may not be the latest edition but a book with a 2001 copyright.
This review is in the context of having already booked accomodation and wanting to plan a detailed itinerary, with intensive and diverse photography in mind, in advance, this being my standard use of guides over many years.
This was my first experience of the series and, as its emphasis is as distant from my interests as I have found in a guide book, is expected to be the last.
Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls can be reached at: michel.pauls@wanadoo.fr
