French Islands

Bonifacio on Corsica
source: Peter Heinrich / pixelio.de

Some islands and overseas territories still belong to France, because of colonial times. The DOMs (Department d`outre mer) are French Guiana in South America, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Réunion. In all of them you are on French national territory, in the European Union and you can pay with Euro (€). For those reasons those places are very popular among French people as a summer holiday destinations.

There are various French isles, TOMs (Territoire d`outre mer), that have different status in connection to France. First there is Saint Martin in Caribbean sea with a border to Netherlands, that also owns a part of this isle. Further French isles are Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna , Tahiti, Mayotte, New Caledonia. On these islands you find, besides the French language not much French culture left. Happily the inhabitants could save most of their own traditions and culture.

The most famous French isle is Corsica is in the Mediterranean sea, that has a very diverse landscape. You can find everything there from maritime to alpine. In the mountains there is snow until mid-June, but the other parts of the isle are dry and warm in summer. The Island is on half overgrown by macchia - a mixture of evergreen herbs, small trees and bushes. Normally it grows up to waist-high, but might be smaller or higher. In spring macchia starts to blossom and than the whole island smells like it.

The Highest mountain is Monte Cinto (2706m) where passes the difficult hiking route GR20.

Corsica is not only good for hiking. Bicyclers and motorbikers can greatly enjoy this isle, because of various mountain routes that await to be explored. Culinary specialties, like wine, cheeses and sausages, are very popular here. And, of course, the beaches are amazing and worth to visit.