France and Corsica
To look at a map of the Mediterranean Sea, you might think the island of Corsica, just north of Sardinia, was part of Italy instead of France. In fact, the people of Corsica spoke Italian until the late 1800s, but the island today is proudly French. It's a great place for a quick stopover where you can experience that nation's culture within easy travel distance of Sardinia or the Italian mainland. Paris is also within easy striking distance of Italy, and you can compare how world-renowned French art and culture stacks up against your favorite memories from Italy.
Corsica
The island of Corsica is best known as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. It's 114 miles long with 620 miles of coastline and more than 200 beaches — which of course means jam-packed summertime resorts and all the sunbathing that your skin can stand.
Beyond its beautiful scenery, Corsica is known for its food — a blend of Italian and French cuisines that can't be found anywhere else in the world. Corsica has its own wineries, milk that comes almost exclusively from sheep and goats, and meat that is typically raised in free-range style in the enclaves of the island's mountains. Pork is the primary meat, and local delicacies include prizutto (like Parma ham in Italy) and figatelli (smoked pig-liver sausage).
Fact
The veal that you see in Corsican markets may look paler than what you're used to finding at home. There's nothing wrong with it; in fact, the color comes from the fact that “unnatural” foods or drugs are rarely used to “aid” the growth of Corsican animals, unlike on most industrial-size farms in the United States.
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Paris
Entire libraries have been written about Paris, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the entire world. To walk along the river Seine on a sunny day is an experience that cannot be matched, and much of the art in the city's museums is just as historic and impressive as what you will find in Rome and Florence. Whereas a trip to Florence will help you to appreciate Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Donatello, an afternoon in Paris can introduce you to Monet, Cezanne, and Degas.
Luckily, Paris is an eminently walkable city, which means that even if you have only a single day to look around before or after your trip to Italy, you can make more than a few memories. It is entirely possible to see the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-élysées during the morning (before the afternoon tourist crush), enjoy a leisurely lunch of crepes and local cheeses alongside a bottle of French Bordeaux or Burgundy wine, and then tour part of the Louvre — which, interestingly given your overall Italian tourism theme, is home to da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa.
Essential
The Louvre isn't the only place to hold master works by French Impressionists. In 1986, a grand Paris train station was converted into the Musee d'Orsay, whose holdings focus on French works created between 1848 and 1915 — the height of French Impressionism. This is the better museum if you want to see works by Monet, Cezanne, and Degas.
By high-speed train, the trip from Milan to Paris can take as little as seven hours and costs less than the equivalent of $75 for an economy-level fare. Overnight routes are available, with sleeping cars, at higher prices. Websites such as
