L’Ile Rousse is one of my favourite towns, it’s no secret. Whether I’ m staying there on holiday or just visiting for the day, I always have a memorable time and the beach there is one of my favourites in the world.
Paoli Place is the heart of the town and is often a sleepy affair with perhaps no more than a leisurely game or two of boules being played. I’ve also visited when it’s been transformed into an antiques fair, where I bought a number of old black and white postcards to frame and hang on my walls at home. Another time I was there for Fête de la Musique, held every 21st June, when the square was rocking to the sound of live music all evening.
Another June event is set to wake-up the town with the guitar strings of Corsican born, Henry Padovanni, an event I would dearly love to attend. So if you are in the area on Sunday 8th June, please check it out for me, have a glass of wine, some fish soup and perhaps a beer or two and enjoy Festa in L’Isula!
Festa in L’Isula
11:30 Aperitif with the wine masters of La Balagne
12:00 Fish soup and Latina beer tasting
1430-1800 Raffle – first prize – a scooter!
Prizes donated by shop keepers and craftsmen of the L’ACAIR (shop keepers of Ile Rousse association)
21:00 Live music from Laurie and her band, followed by Henry Padovani.
Henry Padovanni
Henry Padovani, born in Bastia in 1952, was a founder member and the original guitarist of the band, The Police, in the late 1970s. The Police went on to achieve huge success and were one of the first ‘new wave’ bands to become mainstream with Sting on bass and vocals, Stewart Copeland on drums and Andy Summers on guitar.
Padovani, meanwhile, never turned his back on music and, after playing with a number of different bands, formed his own, the Flying Padovanis. He later went on to land a VP position at I.R.S. Records, the label founded by Police manager (and Stewart’s brother) Miles Copeland. He left I.R.S. in 1994.
In 2006, one track from Padovani’s solo album features Sting and Copeland and the during the following year, he joined the Police for a performance of ‘Next to You’ during a stop on their reunion tour.
More recently, Padovani, was a judge on the French ‘X Factor’ and his book, ‘Secret Police Man,’ looks back on his brief time with the Police and subsequent adventures with Pete Farndon of The Pretenders, Topper Headon of The Clash, amongst many others. The following video completes the circle, if only briefly, with the performance back with The Police at the Stade de France in Paris, 2007.
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