Navigating Corsica’s Mountain Roads: Forests, Maquis, and Driving Challenges
Driving to a trailhead is an exercise in white-knuckled terror and adrenaline induced laughter as you realise that some Corsicans really don’t understand the concept of speed limits. The average Corsican driver seems to have adopted the ‘Gallic shrug’ attitude to road rules with the Italian male’s ability to smoke, talk on their mobile, grab their crotch and drive on twisty mountain roads, all at the same time.
When you get to the trailhead, be aware that the temptation to follow a compass bearing to the boulder field that you saw from the road will probably leave you with gouges, not scratches, on your arms and legs. The thorny shrubs here have more in common with African plants than wussy English/Irish brambles.
Hike along any of the myriad trails that criss-cross the island and you’ll soon understand how Corsica earned the appellation of ‘scented isle’. From early spring onwards you’ll get the smell of juniper, rosemary, laurel, sage, heather, myrtle, wild thyme, rock rose, lavender and Corsican natives like Nepeta (also called mountain balsam, calamint, or Corsican marjoram), and l’immortelle d’Italie (usually called the curry plant).
With this profusion of wild herbs, as well as local specialities like Lomo and Coppa (cured meats), fresh fig jam, chestnut breads, beer (yes chestnut beer, and bloody good too – Pietra), preserves and pastas, sheep and goats cheeses (most of which never make it out of the country due to customs regulations), fortified sweet wines (Cap Corse, Muscat, Vin d’Orange), edible fungi, berries and wild game, there’s more than enough wild and cultivated foods with which to pack your rucksack and head off for a day of biking, kayaking or any other adventure your body craves.
Cooking in the outdoors here requires some special considerations. Due to the hot temperatures, extensive woodland, dry undergrowth and the constant threat of forest fires during the summer, open fires are banned. Cooking is therefore restricted to small camping stoves.
Ingredients
(with French Translation)
