Table of Contents for this Episode
Category: Corsica
Discussed in this Episode
- Corsica
- Calvi
- Ajaccio
- Piana
- Calanques of Piana
- Porto
- Balagne
- L’Île-Rousse
- Saint-Florent
- Patrimonio
- Nonza
- Cap Corse
- Corte
- Bonifacio
- Sardinia
- Foreign Legion (in Calvi)
- Napoleon
- Pascal Paoli
- Scalini (restaurant in Sant’Antonino)
- La Salsa (restaurant in Nonza)
- Muscat (wine)
- Vermentino (grape)
- Rolle (grape)
- Brocciu (cheese)
- Figatelli (sausage)
- Cedrat (fruit)
- Cedratine (liqueur)
- Corsican mafia
- French Connection
541 Corsica with Jean-François Sénéchal
Welcome Back to Join Us in France
[00:00:16] Annie: This is Join Us in France episode 541, cinq cent quarante et un.
Bonjour, I’m Annie Sargent and Join Us in France is the podcast where we take a conversational journey through the beauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today on the podcast
[00:00:31] Annie: Today, I bring you a conversation with Jean-François Sénéchal about the enchanting island of Corsica.
Discover the rich culture, breathtaking landscapes, and hidden gems of this Mediterranean paradise through the eyes of a seasoned tour guide.
From ancient history to mouthwatering cuisine, you won’t want to miss the insider stories and travel tips that make Corsica a must visit destination.
Podcast supporters
[00:00:59] Annie: This podcast is supported by donors and listeners who buy my tours and services including my Itinerary Consult Service, my GPS self-guided tours of Paris on the VoiceMap app, or take a day trip with me around the Southwest de France in my electric car. You can browse all of that at my boutique, joinusfrance.com/boutique.
And remember, Patreon supporters get the podcast ad-free and as soon as it’s ready. Click on the link in the show notes to enjoy this Patreon reward for as little as $3 a month.
The Magazine segment
[00:01:33] Annie: For the magazine part of the podcast, after my chat with Jean-François today, I’ll discuss la Foire du Trône. The Fair of the Throne you say? Yes, I will explain.
And also, let’s talk about the holidays coming up in May in France, and also a VoiceMap review that makes me a little sad.
Jean-François and Annie about Corsica
[00:01:55] Annie:
Bonjour, Jean-François Sénéchal, and welcome to Join Us in France.
[00:02:09] Jean-Francois: Bonjour, Annie. Such a pleasure to be back.
[00:02:13] Annie: Yes, welcome back. You were on the podcast many moons ago talking about Provence. 2015.
Wow.
[00:02:22] Jean-Francois: Almost 10 years.
[00:02:24] Annie: Yes.
Introducing Corsica: A Tour Guide’s Perspective
[00:02:24] Annie: Yes. But today we’re going to talk about Corsica because even though you live in… you live in Nice?
[00:02:32] Jean-Francois: No, I live in Tourrettes-sur-Loup. It’s a small village near Vence.
[00:02:38] Annie: Okay.
[00:02:39] Jean-Francois: All right.
Between Grasse and Vence.
[00:02:41] Annie: Okay. One beautiful place, beautiful place, I’m sure.
But you are a tour guide, you have been a tour guide for many years. And the first episode we recorded was very popular because you always have a lot to say.
So, today… … today we’re going to talk about what you do in Corsica. And you were just telling me that you are originally from Corsica.
[00:03:06] Jean-Francois: True. So, the first reason why I decided to do tours in Corsica again, because I did some long time ago, and I changed my mind and did many other things, is that yes, I’ve got Corsican blood.
[00:03:22] Annie: Aha.
[00:03:23] Jean-Francois: My mother was from Corsica, and my grandmother had a hotel and restaurant in Calvi.
Aha.
Very beautiful Calvi, very nice town by the sea. So my idea was to offer this tour in Corsica from, I would say, my roots, my heart, my blood, to offer a new region to my customers.
I, of course, still do Provence and the Riviera, but Corsica is so different. It’s like going to another country.
[00:03:57] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:03:58] Jean-Francois: Though, the island is… The island is 180 kilometers from Nice.
[00:04:04] Annie: Right.
[00:04:05] Jean-Francois: The ferry boat takes about six hours from Nice to Calvi.And I noticed through my experience that many people, especially Americans, have never been to Corsica.
They don’t even know where it is.
Well, some of them don’t.
Corsica’s Rich History and Cultural Pride
[00:04:23] Jean-Francois: But I mean, it’s famous in the… Because, I mean, Napoleon was born there. He was born and raised there.
True. True.
So that… it’s a big deal.Oh, yeah, it’s a big deal. Yes.
[00:04:35] Annie: Going back and forth between France and Italy many times, just like many of these islands in that area, when’s the last time… when did it switch back to France? Do you remember?
[00:04:47] Jean-Francois: Yes. France bought Corsica from Genoa in 1768. So France was bought, and it was Louis XVback then. So since Corsica has been French, finally.
[00:05:06] Annie: Right.
[00:05:07] Jean-Francois: But it was, yeah, it was Genoa Republic was in Corsica for about four centuries.
Wow.
And before, the Romans were there, the Etruscs were there, the Greeks were there.Strategic was the main point of those people.
[00:05:24] Annie: Yeah. Yeah. And when you think about the rest of France, for example, a place like Carcassonne in the South of France, became French in the 1200s, I think it was 1252 or something like that. So, Corsica is much sooner, you know. I know 1750, whatever, sounds like a long time ago, but compared to the rest of France, it’s not that long.
[00:05:48] Jean-Francois: Yes. Oh, talking about Carcassonne, you know, my name Sénéchal, at that time, Middle Ages, Carcassonne was ruled by a Sénéchal.
[00:05:58] Annie: Aha. Yes. Yes. It’s a title, that’s right. It’s a title. Just like mine, a Sergeant is also a title. You… We are title people.
Ah, yes.
A Unique Corsican Culture
[00:06:09] Annie: All right. Okay. So Corsica has a strong flavor of Italy. I mean, it’s really in between, I think, because the language even sounds like Italian.
[00:06:22] Jean-Francois: Yes. Yes. Okay. First of all, never tell a Corsican he’s Italian.
Okay.
Never. First, because Corsican people are very proudof their culture, their language, their foods, their islands. But yes, you’re right, in a way. I still remember my grandmother speaking Corsican, and when she had Italian clients in her hotel or restaurant, they could talk to each other.
[00:06:48] Annie: Yeah.
[00:06:49] Jean-Francois: And many names end with an I.
Yes.
Philipi, Rossi, Guidicelli. So, yes, strong influence from, in fact, the Republic of Genoa.
Right. And yet, its own thing.
As you know, Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa.
[00:07:10] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:11] Jean-Francois: And he was in Corsica. When I do the tour in Calvi, in the fort, there is a monument about Christopher Columbus. So, yeah. Okay, strong. But Corsican culture is Corsican culture.
[00:07:25] Annie: Yes.
Exploring Corsica: Must-Visit Places
[00:07:26] Annie: So where, where does your tour take people, and what would you say are the highlights? The places in Corsica that people should not miss?
[00:07:35] Jean-Francois: First of all, Corsica has everything. Beaches, forest, river, high mountains. So this diversity needs to be seen, I mean, we leave from the coast of France. It’s Nice or Toulon, take the ferry boat. I put the van in the ferry. We all go there. I book everything.
And the trip I have in mind, which is already booked in June next year, we go from Toulon to Ajaccio. And then we drive the coast, we drive the western coast, all the way up to Calvi. But we stop in Piana, the famous Calanque of Piana. And in Porto, we take a boat for about two or three hours and we visit the cave, grotto, and all along the coast.On the West Coast of Corsica, the rocks are red.
The forest is green. So it’s pure nature. Corsica is very wild. Not like the Côte d’Azur or the Basque Coast.
[00:08:38] Annie: That’s true. That’s a big difference, because the Côte d’Azur is like every millimeter is occupied.
I know, I live there.
Yeah.
[00:08:47] Jean-Francois: Yeah. Côte d’Azur has become a concrete jungle.
[00:08:51] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:08:52] Jean-Francois: You’re not stopped from Monaco to Toulon, more or less.
[00:08:55] Annie: Yes. No, I agree. It’s striking. When I drive from Toulouse to Nice, for example, which I’ve done a few times. It’s a long drive but I’ve done it a few times. The closer you get to the Riviera, the more it’s like high density everything. There’s hardly any space for cars,or gardens or… I mean, there are some very wealthy…
[00:09:20] Jean-Francois: Or oxygen.
[00:09:21] Annie: Yeah, yeah. There are some people who are very wealthy that have very big gardens, beautiful, whatever.
Sure.
But it’s very few. Mostly it’s very densely populated apartments, short apartments, not big towers, but lots and lots of density.
Yeah, luckily we have rules. But anyway.
Yeah.
[00:09:40] Jean-Francois: It is not the case in Corsica.
Right.
Corsican people and the local government, the Territorial, whatever, they preserve their country.
[00:09:49] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:09:50] Jean-Francois: So for example, for the last, I don’t know, 20 or 30 years, it is forbidden to build anything by the sea.
[00:09:59] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:10:00] Jean-Francois: So it’s wild. For example, you have wide beaches with no one, and you can see cows on the beach. That, I’ve seen many times. The area of Saint-Florent.So then we arrive in Calvi. We stay two nights in Calvi.And from Calvi, we explore the magnificent uphill villages of Balagne.
[00:10:24] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:10:25] Jean-Francois: Balagne is above Isle Rousse.
And there, I take, okay, let’s see, three villages with stunning views over the mountains on your right and the sea on your left.
[00:10:37] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:38] Jean-Francois: Because the highest peak on Corsica is 2,700 meters.
[00:10:43] Annie: All right, so that’s quite a bit. That’s high.
[00:10:45] Jean-Francois: Yes, yes. The idea of a village is very important for Corsican people. Each Corsican comes from a village.
[00:10:54] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:55] Jean-Francois: They have a family house and they have brothers, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents. So each Corsican belongs to a village. It’s like an identity, very important for them.
And those villages, how would I say that? You just walk around. People say, “Bonjour.” You sit in a restaurant, eat local specialties with a view. You know, we have no stress. Though Corsica, I said Americans usually don’t know Corsica, but it’s very popular with the French and Europeans.
[00:11:29] Annie: Yeah, very.
[00:11:31] Jean-Francois: Example, the Germans, they love Corsica.
[00:11:33] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:11:34] Jean-Francois: The French, too. For the French, it’s like going to the Caribbean. It’s an island.
Yeah.
The water is turquoise, so clear.Sandy beaches, endless beaches.
[00:11:47] Annie: Yeah.
[00:11:47] Jean-Francois: Not the case on the Côte d’Azur. So we visit those villages. And then we carry on to Saint-Florent. Saint-Florent is the beginning of the Cap Corse. Saint Florent, go to the street market, and then we have wine tasting.
[00:12:03] Annie: Yeah, they make a lot of wine. Yeah.
[00:12:05] Jean-Francois: You know me by now, I’m a gourmet, wine lover, and gastronomy. So we go to Patrimonio. Patrimonio is an area very well known for wine. They do rosé, white and reds.So wine tasting in Patrimonio.
Then we go to Nonzza, N-O-N-Z-Z-A. Nonzza is a very special village on the top of a rock, above the cliff.
And the beach there is black because of volcano.
[00:12:37] Annie: That’s always strange seeing a black beach. I mean, I’ve seen a few.
Yes.
It’s like, “Oh, weird.”
[00:12:44] Jean-Francois: So there, I know a restaurant with a view, top of the rock. It’s just… breathtaking. You are speechless when you are there.
[00:12:52] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:12:53] Jean-Francois: Then all the way up to Cap Corse, at a point where Corsica is so narrow that you can see East and West Coast.
[00:13:02] Annie: Wow.
[00:13:03] Jean-Francois: Same day, same time. You just turn left and right. Then we go to Corte in the middle of the island.
Corte and a Little History Lesson
[00:13:10] Jean-Francois: Before, Corte was the capital of Corsica.And there is a citadel, a fort. And Corte is well-known because Pascal Paoli…
[00:13:20] Annie: Mm-hmm
[00:13:21] Jean-Francois: … is even, is at least as famous as Napoleon.
[00:13:25] Annie: Well…
[00:13:26] Jean-Francois: Pascal Paoli was the first to think about independence of Corsica…
[00:13:32] Annie: Yeah
[00:13:33] Jean-Francois: … against the French.
Right.
And, let’s say, he couldn’t beat the French. What he did, he asked the English to come and help him in Corsica. So they had battles, Corsican and the English against France. It’s amazing.
[00:13:50] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:50] Jean-Francois: And I think you all know Trafalgar Square in London, there is a column, and at the top, there is a man.
[00:13:57] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:58] Jean-Francois: It’s Admiral Nelson.
Nelson was the worst enemy of Napoleon on the sea.
[00:14:04] Annie: And Nelson lost his eye in Calvi,
[00:14:06] Jean-Francois: Oh!
… in a battle.
[00:14:10] Annie: Wow.
[00:14:11] Jean-Francois: So if you look at Nelson pictures, you see he misses an eye.
So Corte is famous for this.
Ajaccio and Napoleon
[00:14:17] Jean-Francois: And then from Corte to Ajaccio, we take the train through the mountains. Corsican people are people from the mountains first.
[00:14:27] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:14:28] Jean-Francois: So it’s very important. Small villages where they stay all their life. So with the train, we cross the mountains, beautiful landscape and sceneries, and arrive in Ajaccio. There we spend a day, so it’s mainly history of Napoleon. In Ajaccio, everything is Napoleon, square, streets, boulevard, fountain. You can see him everywhere.
Yes.
… Okay? So everybody knows him.
Unique Bonifacio
[00:14:56] Jean-Francois: And then we go to the South to Bonifacio.
[00:14:59] Annie: Yeah.
[00:14:59] Jean-Francois: Bonifacio is, I think it’s probably unique in the world. Bonifacio is built on white cliffs, top of the rock. There we stay two days. In front of Bonifacio, there is Sardinia.
Well, when you are in Bonifacio, you can see Sardinia. And there are boats that crosses the channel. It’s like 40 minutes, 45 minutes on the boat to go to Sardinia, which is Italian.Bonifacio, we visit the old city. And something new, okay, if the tour stops in Bonifacio, people take a flight to go back wherever.
[00:15:38] Annie: Yeah.
[00:15:39] Jean-Francois: Paris, or Nice, or… and carry on their vacation, or go back home.
One, two, three, four, four airports in Corsica.
Something new for next year, there is an extension to Sardinia if people want to carry on.
[00:15:54] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:15:56] Jean-Francois: But that’s another thing, the topic today is Corsica.
[00:16:00] Annie: It sounds like your tours are pretty long, like it’s eight, nine days or something?
[00:16:04] Jean-Francois: Yes.
[00:16:05] Annie: And you move on every night, except for a couple of places where you stay two nights?
[00:16:11] Jean-Francois: True.
I know it’s a… it’s a lot. I know it’s a lot. It can be longer but usually, people don’t have that much time.
Right.
So I will do this next year. I’ve got a group booked already.
[00:16:24] Annie: Yeah.
[00:16:25] Jean-Francois: I know them. So I know they don’t mind about this rhythm.
Yes.
To change places every day or every other day. But it can be longer or shorter. If it’s shorter, we do only one part, of course.
[00:16:39] Annie: Right. Right.
[00:16:41] Jean-Francois: Because many windy roads, so it takes time to drive.
[00:16:45] Annie: See, that’s the thing. I do something similar with the bootcamp where we spend 10 days, but it’s always a problem because there are so many places we’d like to go, but it takes too long to drive there. And then you don’t have enough time to… once you get there.
Like for example, I would like for the boot camp to go to Bordeaux, but you know, if you spend five hours in the car really to get there and back, you don’t have that long there. Like you’d have to spend an overnight. That’s always a problem with when you do tours is how often do you move on. Like, if you want to stay put, sleep in the same place, then you end up spending a lot of time in the car. And if you move on…
[00:17:30] Jean-Francois: That’s what I do in Provence.
[00:17:32] Annie: Right.
[00:17:33] Jean-Francois: In Provence, we have a base. Let’s say everybody stays in Aix-en-Provence-
Yeah.
… or Avignon as a base. And from there, we go to Pont du Gard, we go to lavender fields, we go to Luberon, we… So it’s easier.
Right.
Corsica, you know, 50 kilometers doesn’t mean half hour. It can mean an hour.
Yes.
Especially when two Corsican friends meet, they stop on the road and chat. And you’d better shut up because,
how do you say ‘susceptible’ in English?
[00:18:05] Annie: They are prickly.
[00:18:07] Jean-Francois: Prickly?
[00:18:08] Annie: Prickly, yeah.
[00:18:10] Jean-Francois: You just wait, they see you, and then you carry on.
[00:18:13] Annie: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:18:16] Jean-Francois: You know, they can be nervous.
[00:18:18] Annie: Yes.
[00:18:19] Jean-Francois: Hot blood, you know, Corsican people.
[00:18:21] Annie: When you do these tours with, how many people can you take in your van?
[00:18:26] Jean-Francois: Seven.
[00:18:26] Annie: You can take seven people in your van. Okay. So that’s… that’s the maximum. You’ve never done this with like a big bus, right?
[00:18:34] Jean-Francois: No, and I won’t do… In Corsica, I won’t do it.
[00:18:37] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:18:38] Jean-Francois: Because a big bus… if I have carsick people,
we have to stop somewhere.
[00:18:43] Annie: Yeah, and you can’t.
[00:18:45] Jean-Francois: And for example, the Piana calanque, the road is so narrow, it’s complicated.
[00:18:52] Annie: Yeah.
[00:18:54] Jean-Francois: Whereas with my minivan, I can stop and people can go out and do whatever they need to do. Which happened to me already. I had a couple from America about, wow, 10 years ago.
She was carsick, so I had to stop few times.
[00:19:11] Annie: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We had this problem with… when we do the bootcamp, we put the people who have a tendency, in the very front of the bus. But we normally don’t have very many, you know. We normally have one or two, and that’s… Yeah. It’s okay.
[00:19:26] Jean-Francois: Yeah. And usually, people know themselves.
Oh, yeah.
[00:19:28] Annie: Yeah. They do. They know. They can tell you.
[00:19:29] Jean-Francois: So it’s like, okay, two hours drive I can do. One week, mm, no, I won’t buy this tour.
[00:19:34] Annie: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s how it works.
[00:19:37] Jean-Francois: And I always have homeopathy tablets in the van, anyway.
Yes.
I use Cocculine.
[00:19:44] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:19:46] Jean-Francois: That’s very good for carsick.
Okay.
So I always have a box. I’ll stop at the pharmacy.
[00:19:51] Annie: How very French of you. Very good. Very good.
Corsica as a Self-Guided Tour
[00:19:56] Annie: So these are the places you would say people could go. Obviously, I mean, we’d love for people, for listeners to buy your tour, but they can also do this by themselves because there are… I mean, Corsica is a place where you have a lot of visitors…
[00:20:11] Jean-Francois: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
[00:20:12] Annie: … you can book your own hotels, your own restaurants.
High Season in Corsica
[00:20:15] Annie: And in high season, when would you say high season is for Corsica?
[00:20:21] Jean-Francois: June, July, August.
[00:20:22] Annie: Okay. September, no?
[00:20:24] Jean-Francois: September, much less.
People are back to work, kids are back to school, and the weather is fantastic.
Right.
But I would recommend October.
[00:20:35] Annie: Yeah. Why?
[00:20:37] Jean-Francois: Because it’s less hot. Almost no tourists.
You can still swim a little, like late September, early October. Blue sky, beginning of the fall. Perfect.
[00:20:48] Annie: Yeah.
[00:20:49] Jean-Francois: Perfect. Lac de Cote dAzur, October is great.
[00:20:53] Annie: Yes.
[00:20:54] Jean-Francois: But I know most people, they take their vacation in the summer, and Corsica is crowded in the summer.
[00:21:00] Annie: Yes, it’s crowded in the summer. And it’s also very hot.
[00:21:03] Jean-Francois: Yes. Though it’s an island, there is wind. But oh yeah, it’s hot.
[00:21:07] Annie: Yeah.
[00:21:08] Jean-Francois: It’s hot…. and it won’t get cooler with the global warming.
[00:21:13] Annie: No, it’s not.
Corsican Cuisine and Local Specialties
[00:21:14] Annie: So, Corsica is famous for its agriculture as well. They have a lot of citrus. They can grow citrus quite well in Corsica.
[00:21:24] Jean-Francois: Yes, oranges, mandarins, clementine. And I don’t know the word in English, cedrat.
[00:21:30] Annie: Mm, I don’t know what that is either. Cedrat.
[00:21:33] Jean-Francois: Oh, maybe we’ll have to look on the dictionary. Cedrat only grows in Corsica. It’s like a lemon, but the taste is different. It’s more sugary. And with cedrat, they makea liqueur called Cedratine.
Ah.
Delicious. And pate de fruit, they use it for cooking as well. So cedrat, C-E-D-R-A-T.
Yeah, it looks like a lemon with bumps on it.
Uh-huh.
That’s interesting.
So they use it, mainly the liqueur.
[00:22:07] Annie: Aha. Ooh, that’s going to make some good, like, limoncello type of…
[00:22:12] Jean-Francois: Very different.
[00:22:13] Annie: Very different, okay.
[00:22:14] Jean-Francois: Yeah, very different. And of course, so many specialties.
Yes.
So many. Charcuterie, number one.
Yeah.
Oh, the charcuterie. The most famous is the figatelli. The figatelli is a sausage you bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. It’s made out of liver, pork liver.
Oh.
And now, it’s the time where they make the figatelli, in winter.
[00:22:42] Annie: Okay.
[00:22:43] Jean-Francois: So it’s the right time to buy and eat figatelli, wintertime.
[00:22:48] Annie: Hmm.
[00:22:49] Jean-Francois: In summer, it’s dry, it’s… We say in Corsica, “Figatelli in summer it’s for tourists.”
[00:22:58] Annie: Yeah.
[00:22:59] Jean-Francois: So many ham, prosciutto, people will understand that.
[00:23:04] Annie: Yeah.
[00:23:04] Jean-Francois: But very different from Italy. More salty and more pepper. So lots of charcuterie. And the famous goat cheese called Brocciu.
[00:23:16] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:17] Jean-Francois: The Brocciu is a white cheese made with goat or cow… no, goat or ewe milk, female sheep, brebis. And this is used in cooking.
Mm-hmm.
For example, stuffed, stuffed cannelloni with Brocciu and truffles.
Oh yeah, that’s a killer. Stuffed trout with Brocciu.
Or dessert, the famous fiadone. A fiadone is like a cheesecake, but made with this cheese.
[00:23:45] Annie: Aha.
[00:23:46] Jean-Francois: It’s homemade usually. You don’t have big industries in Corsica.
[00:23:51] Annie: Okay.
[00:23:52] Jean-Francois: So the Brocciu would come from a local farm where they have goats and sheep. And those animals are free, you know, in the country.Wine, of course.
And the grapes they use in Corsica are a little different from Provence or Bordeaux or Bourgogne.One of the most famous grapes is vermentino. Vermentino, used for mainly white wine. It’s an Italian grape, grows in Corsica.
We use it in France as well, but we change the name. It’s Rolle. Very good wine, not too dry. Excellent. And fabulous rosé.
[00:24:30] Annie: Yeah.
[00:24:31] Jean-Francois: Fabulous rosé. And also, chestnut flower.
[00:24:36] Annie: Aha.
[00:24:37] Jean-Francois: I mentioned the mountains. When we go from Corte to Ajaccio in the mountains, lots of chestnut trees. Chestnut flower, I remember my grandmother and mother, they used to make chestnut-flower beignet, like pancake.
[00:24:53] Annie: Mm.
[00:24:54] Jean-Francois: They make a beer with chestnut as well. They make cookies, biscuit. So very important, chestnut, everywhere.
[00:25:02] Annie: And also, in France, I don’t know if they do this in Corsica, but in France, you take chestnuts and pork and you make a beautiful stuffing with chestnut and pork.
[00:25:12] Jean-Francois: Yeah, like for Christmas.
Yeah.
We do this inside the turkey.
Exploring Corsican Cuisine
[00:25:17] Annie: Yes, yes.
[00:25:18] Jean-Francois: La dinde aux marrons.
[00:25:20] Annie: Yes, Yes. It’s delicious.
[00:25:23] Jean-Francois: Well, You live in Southwest, huh?
Yes.
Famous for cuisine.
[00:25:27] Annie: We like to eat. And I like to eat a little too much, as a matter of fact.
[00:25:32] Jean-Francois: Yeah, well, it’s not that light, but you know, once in a while.
[00:25:35] Annie: Yes.
Tour Packages and Itineraries
[00:25:35] Annie: So I assume that in your tour, you take people to very nice restaurants all along.
Mm-hmm.
Is it all in… like, do you… So how does it work? Do you charge for the whole package, which includes meals and hotels? How do you work that out?
[00:25:51] Jean-Francois: Okay, it depends, but, you know, Annie, almost all my customers are American.
[00:25:58] Annie: Yeah.
[00:25:59] Jean-Francois: … so they don’t know Corsica at all.
[00:26:01] Annie: Yeah.
[00:26:01] Jean-Francois: So, I send them the itinerary with everything. The ferry, hotels, restaurants. I book everything as well, so they have nothing to worry about. And in the package, everything is included except meals.
[00:26:18] Annie: Okay.
[00:26:19] Jean-Francois: Breakfast is included, hotel room, my service, transportation, ferry boat, blah, blah, blah. And lunch and dinner… So lunch, usually I share lunch with them.
[00:26:30] Annie: Yeah.
[00:26:31] Jean-Francois: We carry on talking about everything and, you know, I translate the menu, the dishes, I explain. Dinner, they are on their own.
[00:26:40] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:26:40] Jean-Francois: We say goodbye, bye 5:00, 6:00 PM.
I drop them at the hotel.
They do whatever they want, and we meet again next morning.
[00:26:49] Annie: Yes.
[00:26:50] Jean-Francois: So, yeah, everything is booked. Everything.
[00:26:53] Annie: That’s really good.
[00:26:54] Jean-Francois: Unless they have something particular they want to see, so I adapt, I’m very flexible, like this group in June, they wanted to go to two or three restaurants they saw on the internet.
[00:27:07] Annie: Yeah.
[00:27:08] Jean-Francois: And I said, “Sure, no problem.”
[00:27:09] Annie: Yeah. Were they any good?
[00:27:11] Jean-Francois: Oh, yeah.
[00:27:12] Annie: They were good? Okay.
[00:27:13] Jean-Francois: That’s the one I mention on the…
[00:27:15] Annie: With the view from the…
[00:27:17] Jean-Francois: Yes. So you can mention those two restaurants, huh? Scalini in Sant’Antonino and La Salsa in Nonza. It’s not only the food, but it’s the… the scenery. You sit here and… yeah, speechless.
[00:27:32] Annie: Yeah. Yeah.
Cost of Living in Corsica
[00:27:33] Annie: In general, is Corsica expensive? More expensive than the Riviera or is it about the same?
[00:27:40] Jean-Francois: Same.
Okay.
I would… No, I’d say a bit more.
[00:27:43] Annie: A bit more? Okay.
[00:27:44] Jean-Francois: I’d say a bit more. Like, for example, gas is more expensive, food, yeah, a bit more, by let’s say, 10%.
[00:27:52] Annie: Yeah.
[00:27:53] Jean-Francois: Cigarettes are less expensive, but I don’t know why.
[00:27:56] Annie: Yeah. Hm. That doesn’t do me any good. Most of your customers probably don’t smoke anyway.
[00:28:02] Jean-Francois: They don’t.
Right. Right.
[00:28:04] Annie: Yes. So islands are typically a little bit more expensive than mainland, but 10% more is not anything, you know. I mean, there’s some French islands where it’s like 40-50% more, so…
[00:28:16] Jean-Francois: Ah, yeah. St. Barts or Tahiti or…
[00:28:20] Annie: Yeah. Guadeloupe even, is quite a bit more expensive, food is more expensive.
So Corsica, it’s about the same or just a little bit more, perhaps Paris prices then.
[00:28:30] Jean-Francois: But you have all kinds of… you know, you have all kinds of hotels, all kind of restaurants, many, many campsites.
[00:28:37] Annie: Uh-huh. Well, French people love to camp, so I’m not surprised.
[00:28:41] Jean-Francois: Yes.
[00:28:42] Annie: And Germans too.
[00:28:43] Jean-Francois: And the Germans too.
[00:28:44] Annie: They come camping, yeah.
[00:28:45] Jean-Francois: In the summer, oh, my God, you see many campers. From Holland, from Germany, from Belgium, from Switzerland. Or, the Germans are well known to ride their big motorbikes.
[00:28:58] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:28:59] Jean-Francois: With a backpack, and they go all around Corsica.
[00:29:02] Annie: Yeah. (Mid-roll ad spot)
Traveling Around Corsica: Must Have a Wheels!
[00:29:05] Annie: Now, we should say that Corsica, you cannot do without a car or a vehicle of some sort. You have to have wheels.
[00:29:11] Jean-Francois: No way.
[00:29:12] Annie: So you do one, one section of your trip on the train because I assume the train ride is very scenic.
[00:29:20] Jean-Francois: Yeah, but very limited.
[00:29:22] Annie: Mm-hmm. Yeah, really, for a place like Corsica, you need a car or a motorcycle. Bicycle, I’m not sure, it’s got to be very hilly.
Ooh.
[00:29:31] Jean-Francois: Yes, possible if you’re fit.
[00:29:33] Annie: Yeah, if you’re very fit.
[00:29:36] Jean-Francois: If you’re very fit, if you can slalom between tour buses, tourists, locals, yeah, good luck.
[00:29:44] Annie: Yeah, yeah.
[00:29:46] Jean-Francois: Good luck. Or maybe what I would recommend for those who’s going to listen this podcast, you choose a base.
Like, I don’t know, you choose Calvi. You rent an apartment or a hotel for three, four, five days and you go around Calvi. There’s so much to see.
My philosophy has always been to do less, but well.
[00:30:08] Annie: Mm-hmm.
[00:30:08] Jean-Francois: But this trip I’m launching now, is not this. We have to do a lot in a week, eight days. But I’m flexible. You know, I’m going to try this because I know those people. They were with me in June this year in Provence, and we moved almost every day. It’s their style of traveling.
[00:30:27] Annie: Yes.
[00:30:28] Jean-Francois: You know, they are retired. Their hobby is to travel. That’s all they do.
[00:30:32] Annie: Yeah, so they have plenty of time.
[00:30:33] Jean-Francois: But it can be less, of course.
Yeah. Yeah.
… Which I prefer.
[00:30:36] Annie: I’m of two minds when it comes to travel. You know, do you stay put for a few days? I tend to like staying put for a few days, personally, because I sleep much better if I go back to the same bed every night. But you want to cover a lot of ground, then you just have to move on. That’s just how it is, you know?And that’s the point of traveling, but, you know, it depends on people. Yeah
[00:31:01] Jean-Francois: Once again, I’m so flexible, if they tell me, “Oh my God, too much driving, Jeff. Can we do less?” And, “Yes.”
Same amount of time, still about eight days, but we do less.
[00:31:14] Annie: Especially in the summer, if they are beach people. “Okay, let’s have a beach day, to relax, to do nothing.
[00:31:21] Jean-Francois: That’s part of being on holidays as well, “Let’s do nothing today, guys. Ah, let’s go to the beach, have lunch, a nice cocktail by…” and that’s it. Yeah, fine.
Wine Tasting and Wineries
[00:31:32] Annie: I bet in Corsica, you could also have like a day when you go visit wineries. And I assume that if people are not doing this with you, they can go to the local tourist office and find a tour guide who will take them around to wineries.
Or just go to the winery without booking.
Oh, you can do that in Corsica?
[00:31:53] Jean-Francois: Yeah, yeah. High season, hmm, maybe not. But you can easily stop in a winery and say, “We’d like to taste something,” and it’s usually free.
[00:32:03] Annie: Yeah.
[00:32:04] Jean-Francois: In return, you buy some bottles.
[00:32:06] Annie: Yes. Right, so that’s like in the Southwest.
[00:32:09] Jean-Francois: Yes, Provence, same.
Yeah. I mean, typically, now more and more, there are places where they say, you know, there’s a small fee because they have to reserve… You know, especially if I show up with a group in a bus.When you go to a winery for a informal tasting, you would taste one white, one rosé, one red. For free. That’s it.
[00:32:30] Annie: Yes.
[00:32:31] Jean-Francois: For my customers, I book wineries because it’s at least… Well, usually it’s between six and nine wines.
[00:32:40] Annie: Yeah.
[00:32:40] Jean-Francois: So the guy there or the lady takes time.
Like, two white, two rosés, two or three red. And in Corsica they make a delicious Muscat.
[00:32:50] Annie: Aha.
[00:32:51] Jean-Francois: Muscat is a sweet wine.
[00:32:53] Annie: Yeah. Okay, so their Muscat is sweet.
[00:32:55] Jean-Francois: So that’s seven.
You know, with a snack or tapenade or cheese or charcuterie. So for this, yeah, I always, always book.
[00:33:05] Annie: You book it and you pay a fee.
[00:33:08] Jean-Francois: And we have someone with us. And sometimes if it’s possible, we may have lunch in the winery.
[00:33:14] Annie: Mm.
[00:33:14] Jean-Francois: I do this in Provence, with the same chateau for years. Wine tasting, visit and lunch, same place. In Corsica, I have to check.
[00:33:24] Annie: Yeah.
[00:33:24] Jean-Francois: Because it’s great to have lunch in a winery.
[00:33:26] Annie: Yes, yes, if they can arrange it, it’s very nice. And I’ve tried to send people your way for tours in Provence, and sometimes you’re booked already.
[00:33:36] Jean-Francois: Well, this episode was popular. Thank you, again, Annie. I had many people contacting me, ” Oh, we heard you on Annie’s podcast.” And I took them.
Yeah, that’s great.
I took them to the lavender fields and great experience.
Yes.
Great. Even now 10 years later.
[00:33:55] Annie: Yes. Well, that’s the great thing about travel podcasts, is that it doesn’t really go… I mean, it doesn’t go stale. Like, you know, in 10 years we’ll still have lavender fields.
[00:34:04] Jean-Francois: Yes and no.
[00:34:05] Annie: Oh, maybe not? Do tell.
[00:34:07] Jean-Francois: Yes and no.
Challenges in Agriculture Due to Climate Change
[00:34:08] Jean-Francois: Last summer, okay, it’s not about Corsica, but it’s interesting for people, because of global warming, it’s warmer and warmer every year. So the harvest is earlier than before.
[00:34:20] Annie: Yes.
[00:34:21] Jean-Francois: So I was there, I forgot, 15 or 16 of July, and maybe half of the fields were cut already.
So I used to say mid-June to mid-July. Now I say mid-June to let’s say, 10th of July.
If they want to see all the fields still in bloom.
And sunflowers.
[00:34:43] Annie: Yes.
[00:34:44] Jean-Francois: Second reason, local agricultures, local farmers, they don’t make a good living with lavender anymore.
[00:34:51] Annie: Ah.
[00:34:52] Jean-Francois: So they change crops, so now it’s more wheat than before. So, less lavender. Or they let the land with nothing.
[00:35:03] Annie: Fallow.
[00:35:04] Jean-Francois: Ah, the word I was looking for ages.
[00:35:07] Annie: Fallow.
Ah, en jachère.
[00:35:09] Jean-Francois: Oh, okay.
[00:35:10] Annie: Jachère, fallow.
[00:35:12] Jean-Francois: Thank you. Okay. So we arrive and there’s nothing, but I explain and they understand, huh?
The soil needs rest for about a year.
[00:35:21] Annie: This is something I’ve explained to people on the podcast many times. It is agriculture, therefore this is not like a… I mean, it’s become a tourist attraction going to the lavender fields, but it’s agriculture.
The other thing that happens, when I was there last summer and I drove around a lot of these places just to see for myself. Well, what I could see is that a lot of them were not weeded very carefully anymore because they don’t spray Roundup on a lot of these fields.
And so you have lavender fields with huge weeds in the middle, and people are like, “Oh, it’s…” I’m like, “Yeah, well, if you don’t spray Roundup, that’s what’s going to happen.” They’re not going to hand-weed the field, you know? The machines later can take care of the weeds.
[00:36:08] Jean-Francois: And next to this one, there is a well-manicured field, and it means they still work and make a living on this.
[00:36:15] Annie: Yes.
[00:36:16] Jean-Francois: If they have weeds everywhere, it means they gave up.
[00:36:19] Annie: Yeah.
[00:36:20] Jean-Francois: Yeah.
So there is still lavender this year with weeds, maybe next year less, and in two years, psht, nothing.
[00:36:26] Annie: Right, because lavender will come back year after year even if you don’t do much with it.
[00:36:31] Jean-Francois: Yeah, and there is some competition from, I forgot which country now produces lavender. Anyway, but. Right.
So no lavender in Corsica. It’s not their specialties.
[00:36:41] Annie: Right, no. No, but they have a lot of citrus, they have a lot of fruit.
[00:36:45] Jean-Francois: Oh, yes!
[00:36:46] Annie: … They grow avocados.
[00:36:48] Jean-Francois: On the East Coast. The East Coast is flat.
[00:36:52] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:36:53] Jean-Francois: … So it’s great for agriculture.
Yeah.
The West Coast is rocks, windy roads, so no, you can’t plant anything.
[00:37:02] Annie: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:37:03] Jean-Francois: Agriculture is the East Coast, which I don’t take people because there’s nothing to do there.
[00:37:09] Annie: Right.
[00:37:09] Jean-Francois: No, it’s fields, fields, flat, nothing.
And an Air Force base. That’s all.
[00:37:15] Annie: And an Air Force base.
[00:37:16] Jean-Francois: I mentioned… I forgot to say, in Calvi there is a big Foreign Legion camp.
Ah.
Big. One of the biggest in France, Foreign Legion.
Ah. Cool. Legionnaires are usually very interesting people. The only ones I’ve ever talked to were very nice, very respectful, really trying to be good representatives of their… I agree.
[00:37:40] Annie: Yeah.
[00:37:40] Jean-Francois: I agree. You know, as I said before, they are very proud people, so they’re happy to show their culture, their food, their wine, their manners, and a great sense of hospitality.
Even if at the first sight, ugh, it may look like ice.
[00:37:58] Annie: Yeah.
[00:37:58] Jean-Francois: Go further, in French we say they would give you their shirt.
[00:38:03] Annie: Yes. But you have to talk to them. You have to talk to them. And this is true in all of France. Just talk to people andbe nice, be kind. Don’t be demanding. Demanding never works in France.
[00:38:14] Jean-Francois: Exactly. When you go to a shop, say, “Bonjour,” even if you don’t speak the language, at least, “Bonjour. Merci. Au revoir.”
That’s all.
[00:38:24] Annie: Yeah.
[00:38:25] Jean-Francois: And people like this.
[00:38:26] Annie: Yes.
[00:38:27] Jean-Francois: They need tourism, of course, but-
Industries in Corsica
[00:38:29] Annie: Yeah, that was one question that I wanted to ask you, is what’s the… I mean, is tourism a major industry in Corsica, or are there other major industries?
[00:38:40] Jean-Francois: Oh, yes. Definitely. I would say number one, like the Cote d’Azur and Provence.
[00:38:45] Annie: Uh-huh
[00:38:46] Jean-Francois: … or France, anyway.As you know, France is still the first visited country in the world.
[00:38:51] Annie: Yes.
[00:38:52] Jean-Francois: Corsica, yeah, I would say that Corsica, tourism first, then fruits.
[00:38:57] Annie: Yeah, and agriculture.
[00:38:58] Jean-Francois: Like now, in our supermarkets now, we get the Corsican clementine.
[00:39:04] Annie: Yes.
[00:39:04] Jean-Francois: With the green leaves.
That’s the time, winter.
[00:39:07] Annie: Yes.
[00:39:08] Jean-Francois: And I bought some yesterday and they are delicious.
[00:39:11] Annie: So I have a mandarin tree and I just harvested it today, and it gave me tiny little…
[00:39:17] Jean-Francois: Ah, lucky you.
[00:39:18] Annie: It’s just a year old. They’re very tiny little mandarins, but they are delicious. Delicious.
[00:39:24] Jean-Francois: Yes, so tasty.
[00:39:25] Annie: Yes. But they’re not big. Next year, I will fertilize it better. I mean, this year, I didn’t want to fertilize it because this is something that people don’t know necessarily, but it… when you plant a fruit tree, it’s better not to fertilize it the first year. It has to establish itself by itself.
[00:39:42] Jean-Francois: Yes.
[00:39:42] Annie: And then you can help it the years after that. But just that first, leave it be. Just, if it doesn’t like the ground, it’s not going to do well anyway. So you might as well, you know-… let it be.
[00:39:53] Jean-Francois: Growing is based on patience.
[00:39:56] Annie: Yes, it is. And right by my mandarin tree, I have a pomegranate tree that gave me one fruit this year after 10 years. It’s been in the soil 10 years. I bought it, it was like a foot tall and now it’s bigger, but it’s still-
[00:40:13] Jean-Francois: Pomegranate, yeah.
[00:40:14] Annie: Yeah. it’s a slow-growing tree and so you have to give it time.
[00:40:21] Jean-Francois: It takes years.
Yeah.
Yeah. It takes years. We have one at, as well.
Corsican History and Culture
[00:40:23] Annie: And I wanted to before maybe we stop, I wanted to mention the rich history of Corsica.
Yes.
[00:40:29] Jean-Francois: Not today, and if people join us for this trip, I will tell them,just one thing because since the Greek, you know? So how many weeks have you got, Annie, for this- … for our Corsican history? I think many people know the French connection.
Started in Marsaille.
[00:40:46] Annie: With the Greeks. Yes.
[00:40:48] Jean-Francois: Okay. Gangsters. Yeah. Drugs.
[00:40:50] Annie: Oh, the French connection. That French connection.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
[00:40:55] Jean-Francois: It’s not that glamorous, but the French connection started in Marseille with two Corsican brothers.
The mafia is pretty big or was pretty big. Let’s say was. The mafia was pretty big in Corsica so those two brothers went to Marsaille, they were poor and they started the whole thing.
And then it becomes huge, international traffic, blah, blah, blah. But it was
two guys, two guys from Corsica.
[00:41:22] Annie: Yeah.
The protection industry, let’s put it that way.
Oh, yes.
I’ll protect you for a cut.
[00:41:32] Jean-Francois: Exactly. That’s a good summary.
[00:41:35] Annie: That’s how it works.
Anyway, Corsica is a beautiful country. It’s a beautiful place.
Well, it’s France, so obviously it’s not its own country. So do you think, just in closing, do you think they will ever be independent? Do they really want that?
Of course not.
Okay.
[00:41:52] Jean-Francois: You know, when we were kids, we used to spend all summers at my grandmother’s.
[00:41:57] Annie: Uh-huh.
[00:41:57] Jean-Francois: And already in the ’70s, it was them already bombing villas or bombing non-Corsican people villas, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah.
But like in the Basque Country, for example, there has always been this spirit of being independent.
You know, since the 17th century or even before. But what would they do without France?
[00:42:19] Annie: Yeah.
[00:42:20] Jean-Francois: Forget it. Some mandarins, and lemons, and charcuterie and what?
Plus the EU. You know, the EU, the agriculture policy sends lots of subsidies, money
to Corsican farmers, as well.
And, you know those guys who bombed whatever, gendarmerie or villas or there were what? 200 or 300 or 400 people?
[00:42:44] Annie: Yeah.
[00:42:45] Jean-Francois: But, now it’s gone.
Now it’s gone. It’s like Ireland or Basque Country and…
Corsican Songs
[00:42:51] Jean-Francois: Oh, I forgot to mention the Corsican songs.
[00:42:54] Annie: Aha.
[00:42:55] Jean-Francois: They sing. It’s only men. They sing a cappella with no music.
That’s very famous.
[00:43:01] Annie: Yes. So it’s like Basque singing kind of.
[00:43:04] Jean-Francois: Exactement. Yeah.
[00:43:06] Annie: It sounds a bit like that. It’s a lot of men and it’s very loud.
It is. It is. So yeah, well, it’s very well known. And they sing in Corsican language.
Lots to discover. Yeah. Lots to discover in Corsica.
[00:43:23] Jean-Francois: They love their language as well.
[00:43:25] Annie: Very good.
Conclusion and Farewell
[00:43:25] Jean-Francois: All right, well, Jeff, it’s been a pleasure. For me too.
[00:43:30] Annie: I hope that you have a wonderful time taking people around Corsica, going forward and also around Provence because that’s where you’re based and that’s where you do most of your business, I assume you spend most of your time in Provence anyway.
[00:43:42] Jean-Francois: Always a pleasure to welcome anyone and share, you know, share my heart and my passion and my roots in Provence and Corsica.
[00:43:51] Annie: Wonderful. Merci beaucoup, Jean-François.
[00:43:54] Jean-Francois: Merci, Annie. Take care.
[00:43:55] Annie: Au revoir.
[00:43:56] Jean-Francois:
Thank you Patrons
[00:44:03] Annie: Again, I want to thank my patrons for giving back and supporting the show. Patrons get several exclusive rewards for doing that, you can see them at patreon.com/joinus.
And special shout out this week to my new Join Us in France champions, Mary Ulrich, Pat Smith, Mary Jane, and Michael and Nancy Armstrong. And thank you, Christine Cunningham, for editing your pledge up.
Would you join them too? You can do it for as little as three bucks a month, as I said, and if you can afford it, I would love you, to have you pledge more so you can have access to more of the rewards.
And to support Elyse, go to patreon.com/elysart.
This week I had my Zoom meetings with patrons. It’s always wonderful chatting with everyone, and thank you for joining me.
Tour Reviews
[00:45:00] Annie: Somebody left this review of my tour this week. So the first one is very nice, “I’ve done four of Annie’s tours, I’m now also a big fan, especially enjoying her stories, The Man Who Walked Through Walls, for example. Fabulous.”
So here’s a person who enjoys my stories, and here’s a person who apparently does not.
So Anonymous says, “If you don’t care about actual history, and just want to hear entertaining stories, it’s a great tour, and Annie is a fantastic tour guide. Annie gives directions, tells you how to find each point, and shares pictures so you can be sure you’re looking at the right thing.
The quality of the sound is excellent as well. The portion about Notre-Dame covers the three doorways and discusses, in some detail, a few of the carvings. If you care about different carvings or statues, make sure to Google before visiting.”
Now, I have to say that this is the part that hurts a little bit because I do care about history very, very much. I suppose maybe this person would have liked it better if I had started the tour like this. “Notre-Dame de Paris is a Gothic cathedral located on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in Paris, France. Construction began in 1163 under the direction of Bishop Maurice de Sully and continued for nearly two centuries, with final modifications completed in the mid-14th century.
The cathedral was built on the site of an earlier Christian church, which themselves replaced a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter.”
Yes, I could have done that, but I decided to go another route and, tell you the tale of Pierre the stonemason at Notre-Dame. The tale is based on very real historical facts, but that was just lost on the reviewer.
Look, when you buy one of my tours, you’re not signing up for a college course. You are signing up to enjoy a moment in Paris with me, and I think that sharing facts about a place only goes so far. We remember stories. That’s what I think anyway. That’s my approach.And yes, I give you the context, but I also help you connect with the place emotionally, not with facts.
And then the reviewer goes on, “The portion about Sainte-Chapelle gets very Catholic, and you need to get out your Google.” Again, the Google. There is very close focus in just a couple of panels.” Actually, it’s three of them. “If you care about different stained glass panels, make sure to Google before visiting.”
Okay. Look, I don’t talk about every stained glass panel because there’s 618 square meters of glass surface, that’s more than 6,600 square feet at the Sainte-Chapelle. They illustrate 1,100 biblical scenes.
You could study this forever. I picked three because my goal is to help you notice what matters most, as I see it, and walk away understanding why it matters, not be overwhelmed with detail, it’s about experiencing the place, and you have time to be quiet and look around.
And is it too Catholic? Well, yeah. King Louis IX of France was a hyper Catholic. That was his whole motivation for building the Sainte-Chapelle. There’s no escaping that. I want you to understand his mindset and the context of his work because I think it matters.
And then moving on to the next portion of this sad review. ” The portion covering the Conciergerie is my least favorite because it almost fully focuses on the Revolution and basically ignores the ancient history of this royal palace or why it was repurposed so many times. This is a good audio tour, but it’s well-made and orients you for these three major attractions. I suggest listening to it at home as a starting point to figuring out why you plan to visit these locations and what you hope to get out of that visit.”
Have a good trip,” blah, blah, blah.
Okay, I wrote another whole VoiceMap tour called Ile de la Cité that goes exactly into the history of the palace, and why it changed attributions over time. I probably should’ve said that in the tour. I probably should’ve said, “Oh, and if you’re missing the bit about the history of the palace per se, get my other tour.”
You know, I can’t possibly say everything in those tours. They are long enough as it is. When I write my audio tours, I have to decide what to concentrate on. They’re not comprehensive, nor do I want to give you a history lecture.
Now, if I had said things that were inaccurate or misleading, the charge that my tours are not for people who care about history would be correct. But I didn’t say anything that was inaccurate or misleading in my tour. He just doesn’t like the fact that I didn’t concentrate on the things that he was after.
Well, you have the Google, okay?
I need YOU!
[00:50:02] Annie: So here’s where I need you, because the only way to counteract a negative review, especially when it’s the first one, is to add more reviews.
So if you’ve taken my latest tour, Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, and the Conciergerie, please take a minute to leave your own review. If you’re not going to Paris for a while, but you’ve bought the tour, listen to it at home. Even this reviewer says that it’s a good way to prepare your trip to listen to this tour. “It didn’t say the things he wanted me to say, but it’s good preparation.”
And when you get to the end of the tour, it’ll ask you if you want to leave a review. Doesn’t have to be long or fancy. Just say what you liked, what you learned, how it helps you enjoy the visit.
Each review helps future travelers know what to expect, and gives a much more accurate picture of the experience. And you’ll be helping me out a lot, too, so thank you in advance.
And if you don’t have this new tour yet, let me remind you that podcast listeners get a big discount for buying these tours from my website. It’s best for me as well, because I get to keep more of what you pay instead of giving it to Apple or Google.
But if you buy directly from my boutique, it’s a manual process, so don’t expect it to be instant like it would be if you are buying directly from the app.
But most of you listening to me right now plan their trips at least a few days in advance, some of you, it’s more like a few months, right? So you’re probably not in such a big rush.
Using my VoiceMap Codes Is Easy!
[00:51:30] Annie: Once you’ve bought the codes from me, to use them, open VoiceMap, on the bottom right, it says, “Tour codes.” Tap on it, enter the code, download the tour. And this is a digital product that you own forever.
Even if you change phones, for example, log into your VoiceMap account, and you can download all of the tours that you own again, forever.
Say, if I update a tour because I decide it’s a good idea to talk about my Île de la Cité tour at the end of the Notre-Dame tour. Okay. I might just add one sentence, but you could get that updated whenever you’re ready. And best of all, those of you who can’t go to Paris as often as you’d like, you can listen in virtual playback from anywhere in the world, and you can see the map and the photos.
I would like you to think about these tours like walking around Paris with your French friend, a friend who loves history, despite what this guy says, also architecture and art, and cannot wait to share it with you. You can take me in your pocket with my VoiceMap tours.
The other thing you can do is plan an itinerary with my help. It’s a busy time for me with these consults, so book your spot soon by going to joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
And there’s two levels of itinerary planning, either one could work for you, you know, right now, it’s very, very busy. So there you go.
Foire du Trône
[00:52:55] Annie: Foire du Trône. Okay, so from April 4th to June 9th in 2025, the Foire du Trône is back in Paris on the Pelouse de Reuilly, and it’s a fun, festive tradition that you won’t want to miss if you’re in the city this spring.
This is actually one of the oldest fun fairs in France. It dates back to the 12th century when it started as a religious gathering near the Abbey of Saint-Antoine.The name Foire du Trône comes from a statue of Christ on a throne. Trône in French, means throne. And that statue was displayed nearby.Over time, the religious aspect faded and the event evolved into the full-blown fun fair that we know today. It’s now held in the 12th Arrondissement. The fair features nearly 350 rides and attractions. Entry is free, and you only pay for the rides or games that you should choose to try.
So whether you like high-speed thrills or looking for something family-friendly, it’s all there. Plus, the usual carnival food, of course, the lights, the music that make the atmosphere so lively. It’s usually a very fun, local experience, and history, and energy, and a great way to see another side of Paris.
May Holidays in France
[00:54:18] Annie: Let’s talk about the May holidays in France, because if you’re planning to visit, you’ll want to know about the bank holidays, or Jours Fériés, that pop up throughout the month.
May is kind of famous in France for having lots of days off, and when you have days off, usually you add one before or after and that makes a bridge, un pont, and we have three of them in May.
It can definitely impact your travel plans, but are we sorry that we take so many days off? No, not one bit. We are very much attached to the tradition. Here are the key days for 2025.
Labor Day, May 1st
[00:54:58] Annie: So Thursday, May 1st is Labor Day, Fete du Travail. This is a big one. Almost everything shuts down, museums, shops, government offices, even some restaurants.
It’s one of the only days when public transportation may run on a reduced or Sunday schedule. In most of France, there is zero public transportation on May 1st. In Paris, they just run on a reduced schedule.
So this is the day that you have to decide what you’re going to do without public transportation and near where you are staying.
Victory in Europe Day, May 8th
[00:55:38] Annie: Thursday, May 8th is Victory in Europe Day, so La Victoire de 1945, commemorating the end of World War II in Europe. There are some closures, but it’s more hit or miss. Many museums and attractions are open.
Ascension Day, May 29th
[00:55:54] Annie: We also have Thursday, May 29th, that’s Ascension Day, L’Ascension, it’s a religious holiday. A lot of places close and many French people take a long weekend by adding the Friday off.
But did you notice, all of them are on Thursdays, so most people they’re going to have Thursday off and they’re going to take Friday off, and then it gives them a four-day weekend, a pont.
Pentecost Monday, June 9th
[00:56:18] Annie: And don’t forget Pentecost Monday, that’s on June 9th, so that’s next month, but it’s also a holiday in some regions and professions, but not everywhere.
So what does that mean for you as a visitor? So you’ll find restaurants open in tourist areas, but expect many small shops, banks, pharmacies, and offices to be closed. Museums vary. Double check on their website. And if you’re renting a car or using public transportation, plan ahead, services might be reduced or fully booked.
Long story short, May is a beautiful time to be in France, but a little planning will save you a lot of headaches, and expect crowds everywhere, okay? Because everybody is out for those holidays.
Many thanks to podcast editors Anne and Christian Cotovan who produced the audio and the transcripts.
Next week on the podcast, an episode about a scenic journey from Montpellier to Toulouse with Craig Anderson.
Thank you so much for listening and I hope you join me next time so we can look around France together. Au revoir!
Copyright
[00:57:26] Annie: The Join Us in France travel podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Annie Sargent, and Copyright 2025 by AddictedToFrance. It is released under a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives license.
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Episode PageCategory: Corsica