Touring Corsica

Lake Tolla, Corsica

One of the places that we visited when we were in the Mediterranean was the French Island of Corsica. The only thing we knew about the island was that Napoleon was born on the island in the city of Ajaccio. Being primarily a landscape photographer, we took a tour to the lakes region of the island. When we boarded our bus, the tour guide asked if there were any French on the bus. When she found out that there were not any French, she exclaimed "good" and we found out that Corsicans do not like France at all. I thought that odd until she proceeded to tell us the history of Corsica. Corsica has been occupied by numerous other countries throughout it's history. It was first occupied by the Carthaginians followed by colonization by the ancient Greeks and then by the Etruscans and ultimately by the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire collapsed, the island was invaded by the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Saracens, and the Lombards. The Genovese took possession of the island in 1347, and governed it until 1729. In 1729 to 1755, the inhabitants fought for independence but while they took control of parts of the island, never had total control. In 1764, France purchased the island from the Genovese. The island changed hands a number of times since between France and England through the many wars until World War II, when France ultimately took control for good.

The history of the island was fascinating to me and I understood why the Corsicans might not like the French. Anyway, the highlight of the tour was this stop at Lake Tolla. As can be seen in this image, the lake is nestled between the mountains and has an extremely interesting shoreline.