Napoleon was born in Ajaccio 3 months after France trampled on the independent Corsican Republic. Of course, Poles and residents of the United States claim that it was theirs that had the first constitution, but this is not so: the first constitution of the modern era was in Corsica, 40 years earlier.
Since then, Corsica has continued its little-known struggle for independence. The flag of the republic - the head of the Moor (like the constitution, adopted by the idol of Napoleon, the first and last freely elected Prime Minister of Corsica, Paoli) - France was forced to allow in 1980. Now it looks out from everywhere and is used aggressively under any reasonable circumstances:
Do you know what else is everywhere in Corsica?
Moor makes modern logos well. Frequently used signs are simplified - if everything continues as it is, soon a couple of strokes will be enough to protest and express national identity:
Any face drawn with a stamp or stencil, as the Moor used to be, now marks the political agenda. Here is an activist of the independence movement killed by the mafia in 2019 (like 20 more Corsicans this year, and so every year for the last decades), but became a symbol ():
Or not any:
In our country, few people know how many giant languages were destroyed by the Unitarianization of France: both large dialects with their developed literature (like Walloon (no, not that Walloon. See, even the name is stolen)), and just other Romance languages (like Occitan).
In 1951, France again allowed the study of the native language - but only the languages of minorities from the peoples of other European countries - German, Dutch, etc. The rest for talking at school in their home language was punished until the 70s. In the new millennium, Corsican is taught as a subject in the beginning.
Now the second largest native language in France is Arabic.
French retraining begins from childhood (French school from 4). Samuel from Ajaccio, 4, to his brothers Axel, 17, and Max, 13: "I found a switch in my backpack":
Before the trip, I was sure that Corsican is a transitional Romance language between the areas of Italian and French, but it turned out that it is the closest relative of the Florentine dialect, on which modern Italian was built. Speak Corsican:
The cultural continuum! Corsican bread is made from baguette dough and baguette technology, but in the ciabatta form factor:
The last time I saw so many shot signs, like in Corsica, was in Siberia.
Unshot signs are usually loaded with understandable political messages. The nationalist militant wing, the FLNC, blew up Corsica from 1976 until a unilateral ceasefire in 2014 announced by their leaders. Corsican troubles surprisingly passed by the mass consciousness, the tourist flow has only grown all these years (like in Egypt). Now the deletion of the French language from road signs has become, it seems, the main non-political method of the struggle for independence. But now only 49% are in favor and migration to the island from neighboring France continues.
Corsican roads:
This sign is temporarily not shot:
Very nice.
(like in Australia)
But the real masters on the Corsican roads and in the Corsican air are the French military. The Corsicans can only cuddle to the side of the road and cut circles in the waiting areas. The widespread militarization of Corsica by France continues to affect security throughout the region:
* * * Ajaccio * * *
Capital:
Very beautiful (in Corsica they like to erect monuments to Napoleon in the image of the Roman consul, the same is in Bastia)
Children go to the citadel of Ajaccio but never reach it: it is occupied by the French military and is closed to the public.
Playing petanque:
I love French war monuments because of the amount of artistic insanity. They are all very different, but at the same time they are all very recognizable as French military monuments -
Here's another, for example, from the Ardennes region of neighboring France - a monument in the city of Eb (spelled Haybes !! 111) EVPOCHIA:
Paoli's bust in style, for some reason, SHKY:
There is no product in Ajaccio that cannot be advertised with Napoleon's cocked hat:
Even the sign warning about speed bumps in Ajaccio looks like Napoleon's cocked hat:
French vocabulary is simple: you already know all French roots either from scientific terminology, or from English, or because you are Russian:
The spirit of time:
Local way to wear a mask:
Embankment:
Almost like in Papeete:
Front:
Aqueduct:
Calls look very Italian too:
Local model of shutters against the sun with vents below:
Central Market, signed in Corsican - Mercatu d'Aiacciu:
But a completely unique Corsican feature is the toilets attached to the balconies of old high-rise buildings in the historic centers of all big cities:
Whether because of hanging toilets, or because everyone is pissing anywhere, a thick smell of urea hangs over the whole city:
It's getting dark:
