An island that would make Tony Soprano proud
Photos by Tanya Lumbi
The 100th run of the Tour de France kicked off this weekend here in the South of France. And for the first time ever, the tour came to Corsica. "Corsica is part of France," you ask? Yes, it's the little piece of land floating in the mediterranean sea, right above its cousin, Sardegna. It merges the extremes of nature, of French and Italian personalities and holds them captive, all together surrounded by turquoise water. We spent our first, and perhaps last, winter in Corsica just last year. During our 3 months on the island, we realized it's nearly impossible to take a bad photo of Corsica. The island is like a gypsy that hypnotizes you with her vast, wild jungle terrain filled with sangliers (wild boar is a huge staple of southern french culture), breath-taking red cliffs and mediterranean scents. And when you wake up in the morning, you realize she's lifted your wallet along with all your cash and important papers. That may be a bit dramatic... perhaps a tad. But truth be told, the amount of 'under the table', 'black market product' and 'disputes over land rights' makes even Tony Soprano look like an angel. Upon our arrival in Corsica, a new (old) war was just beginning in the port of Ajaccio (say: ah-jax-sio). Within our first month in Porticco, we would read of two assassinations and countless burning homes and businesses. Enough to make us check our tickets to be sure we hadn't lost our way and ended up in Trenton, NJ by mistake.
It seems there are a handful of families that planted roots in Corsica many moons ago. And those families pretty much own the island—literally. If you want to start a business, well you need a place to put that business. If you are lucky enough to purchase some land and want to build a house, you need to have the right kind of permission to build your house... and on, and on. You get my point. And if one day, you decide that you don't need, or want, to answer to one of the families, well... you can connect the dots.
The burning would continue throughout the next month. And soon, the Interior Minister would declare Corsica a red-zone and deploy special forces to begin the huge task of de-soprano-ing the island.
We figured it was time to head back to the continent. But before we did, we took what would be our last road trip around the island on the motorcycle. As I watch the Tour de France span the vast terrain of this beautiful island: from the southern tip of Bonifaccio, to the cliffs of Piana, and onto Bastia... I can't help but think of Tony Soprano and the pride he would take in knowing that in Corsica, the family business is alive and well.