Maquis & Mer
Corsica, an island closer to Italy than its French counterparts, has an unparalled richness in land and sea. The name stems from the ancient Greeks, who called it "Kalliste," meaning "the most beautiful."
Corte is a town in the north surrounded by mountains and valleys with rivers still ice-cold from snow melt in September. It’s not quite the center of Corsica but it feels that way. Historically, Corte with its impressive fortifications, was the nexus of Corsica’s independent movement from the Genoese around 1755, led by Pascal Paoli.
Paoli wrote up a constitution which was actually the first modern democracy of Europe. In his constitution women had the right to vote, almost two hundred years before France gave women the right!
Eventually, Corsica went under French rule 14 years later as a repayment from the Genoese. There’s much more to the story, but I could not believe how little of Paoli I knew. It makes you wonder how many others get left out of history books.