Discover the secret to longevity in Corsica
Lauded for having one of the longest life expectancies in Europe, here’s why the Corsican way of life is the secret to happiness and longevity
Anyone who lives in Corsica is in luck: Corsicans have the highest life expectancy of anybody else in Europe, a full three and a half years more than the European average. The life expectancy for a man is 84 and for a woman it soars to 87. It shouldn’t come as a surprise given that Corsica is blessed with Mediterranean sunshine, traditional foods and wine, an outdoors lifestyle, strong family bonds, a slower pace of life and deep pride in its unique heritage. These elements all have a role to play in maintaining the island’s inhabitants healthy and happy.
Abundant gastronomy and vibrant vineyards
So, what helps Corsicans live so long? First, it’s what they eat and drink. Contrary to what visitors imagine, Corsicans are mountain people. Their island is an Alpine range poking out of the Mediterranean with 121 summits over 2,000m high. To keep safe from marauders many Corsicans lived inland, not along the coast.
One of the easiest animals to domesticate in these mountains is the boar. The famous semi-wild Corsican black pig - u porcu neru - often seen on the side of the roads gobbling up the acorns and chestnuts that give the meat its particular flavour, is a cross between the domestic pig and the wild boar. And so, charcuterie (cold cuts), prepared in the winter, are the island’s emblematic meat products.
Prisuttu or dried Corsican ham, Coppa di Corsica and Lonzue (both made from pork loin but the former is round like salami, the latter long like bacon) carry the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) label. At the markets and the butchers, you’ll also see pancetta (pork belly), salsiccia (pork shoulder) and figatellu, a U-shaped sausage made mostly with pig liver. It’s eaten freshly grilled in winter or dried as an apéritif year around.
If you’re in Corsica in February, go to the A Tumbera di Rennu held on the first weekend of February at the Col Saint-Roch where you can learn everything there is to know about pork and its uses in Corsican cuisine.
To accompany your charcuterie a little cheese is ideal, and none is better than the island’s only PDO-labelled cheese, Brocciu, a smooth, yielding, fresh, round cheese made with goats’ and/or ewes’ milk. Fresh Brocciu is only available between November and June given the production cycle. This cheese, with its multi-thousand-year-old history, is used in many Corsican savoury dishes and notably in the traditional cheesecake, the fiadone.
To learn more about Brocciu and taste some of Corsica’s other (sometimes very pungent) cheeses, don’t miss the A Fiera di U Casgiu organised annually in Venacu in early May.
Like their Mediterranean neighbours, Corsicans use olive oil made from the fruit of their abundant semi-wild olive trees to cook with. The Oliu di Corsica won its PDO in 2007 and if you’re on the island in early April, don’t miss out on the Foire de l’huile d’olive in Sainte Lucie de Tallano where you can taste it.
And to wash all this down, how about one of Corsica’s many wines?
The island enjoys an average of 2,885 hours of sunshine per year, abundant water from the clouds that gather around its summits and strong winds which all contribute to giving Corsican wine its unique character.
Nine of Corsica’s wines are classified PDO. There’s the regional appellation: Vins de Corse; two cru appellations: Patrimonio and Ajaccio; five village appellations: Corse Porto-Vecchio, Corse Figari, Corse Sartène, Corse Calvi and Corse Côteaux du Cap Corse; and one sweet white wine appellation: Muscat du Cap Corse.
For an overall gastronomic experience, spend a night at a farm in one of the fermes auberges inland.
Refreshing outdoor adventures
Physical activity from mountaineering to diving also helps keep Corsicans young and in shape. With its 1,000km of coastline that varies from broad sandy beaches to small, deserted coves, granite cliffs that plunge hundreds of metres down to the sea, Alpine peaks and valleys in the interior, Corsica is a paradise for outdoor activities.
Let’s begin at the summits. Every year, thousands of experienced trekkers walk some, or all, of the 200km-long, famous GR20 which cuts a diagonal line from Calenzana in the northeast to Conca in the southwest. Reputedly Europe’s toughest trek, it’s forbidden to children under 12. But there are a host of less challenging hikes known as the Mare è Monti Nord (on the west coast from Cargèse to Calenzana) and Mare à Monti Sud (on the west coast from Porticcio to Propriano) which, as their names suggest, take you from sea to summit. And there are also the three Mare a Mare trails which cross the island west to east (or vice versa) from Cargèse to Moriani; Porticcio to Ghisonaccia; and Propriano to Porto Vecchio.
For those who’d rather admire the spectacular Corsican scenery from the back of a horse, there are plenty of offers ranging from gentle day outings for inexperienced riders to more energetic horse treks for the experienced ones.
For those who prefer a metal mount, the advent of the e-bike has widened the options for visiting the island. In the past, cycling in Corsica was the domain of seriously fit cyclists not intimidated by its many steep, long inclines. The e-bike means previously unreachable zones for the casual visitor or family group are now accessible.
The Cuscionu plateau, for example, a Natura 2000 site covering 11,000ha to the east of Ajaccio is home to pigs, cows and wild horses. Bring swimming gear, so you can cool off in one of the many streams on the plateau. You don’t need to bring a picnic, though, as the former sheepcotes are now restaurants where you can enjoy farm produce for lunch and even spend the night.
Much further north, almost at the foot of Corsica’s highest peak, Monte Cinto (2,706m), is another area worth exploring, the Plateau du Camputile.
There, on the steppe-like plateau at 1,743m altitude, you’ll find Corsica’s second largest lake, the Lac de Nino, as well as wild horses. Surrounded by small pools and beat bogs, you can reach the lake from Albertacce at the Poppaghia forest lodge on the D84 road. Park your car there for a 9km round-trip hike. The same rule applies here as for all hikes in Corsica: do not attempt this wearing flip-flops! Favour instead a good pair of hiking shoes.
Not to mention the diving...
To scuba dive in Corsica, you need to have an Open Water Diver certification in scuba diving. Some of the most spectacular dives include a level 2 dive down 27m to the wreck of a US B17 bomber, which made an emergency landing in front of the citadel of Calvi in 1944. Today it’s home to scorpionfish, moray eels, and other rockfish and even the occasional lobster.
Local crafts and heritage traditions
On the Cuscionu plateau, a few former sheepcotes have been transformed into mountain refuges which mostly cater to the GR20 hikers as their route traverses the plateau. But everyone is welcome between May and October either to just eat simple, hearty homemade Corsican dishes (you may have to reserve ahead) or to stay overnight (usually dormitory accommodation) or to pitch your tent outside.
The Bergeri I Croci and the Bergerie de Basseta are the two actually on the plateau. A short distance before you reach the plateau and open year-round in the hamlet of Jallicu, near Quenza, you can eat Chez Pierrot or at the Funtana Bianca restaurant. Out of season, you’ll need to book ahead.
The Route des Sens Authentiques points you to little-known places that are home to passionate craftsmen and producers of wine, honey, cured meats, cheeses, olive and chestnut produce, fruit and vegetable producers, craftspeople, guest houses and those who offer cultural, well-being and leisure activities. You can either focus on one (or more) of the nine territories that interests you and see all the categories present in that region or you can hone in on a specific category; if you’re particularly interested in olive oil production, for example, focus on that to find the olive oil producers. The list is not exhaustive so don’t hesitate to pull over when you see a sign by the side of the road indicating that you can buy a locally produced food or craft item there.
Discover the craftsmen with ancestral know-how. Did you know that when the wind is up the pottery’s oven fire burns hard and irregularly so that the enamel colours decorating the ceramics will be dull and irregular? Or that in order to make sure the knife that caught your fancy has been entirely made by one of the 23 certified Corsican bladesmiths you must look for the ram’s head hallmark? These are some of the things you’ll learn when you visit the workshops of these local craftsmen, guardians of a rich and diversified craft heritage.
In addition to the bladesmiths and potters, the other major ancestral art in Corsica is woodworking. Local woods such as oak, chestnut, walnut, olive and juniper are carefully crafted into large items such as sculpted doors, chairs, benches, tables, beds and I cascioni (boxes used by shepherds to carry their personal items during transhumance), and smaller objects such as cutlery, cheese plates, jewellery, boxes, statuettes and all sorts of tools.
Experience Corsica like a local
Each craft has its own story to tell and the craftspeople will be thrilled by your interest. Some only sell their creations but others also offer workshops where, over a period of hours, or even a few days, you’ll be taught how to make your own bowl, knife, essential oil, learn how to blow glass or how to make a simple object out of wood.
What are you waiting for?
