Impossible to photograph but easy to store in our primal memory bank of smells is the fragrant aspect of Corsica. The minute I step into the maquis and smell the countless wild herbs, I am brought back to when I last visited Corsica over 20 years ago. Wild rosemary, mint, myrtle, thyme, lavender and a whole lot of other strongly fragrant flowers make hiking in the maquis a thoroughly enjoyable sensory experience.
Flowers being what they are, they don’t only smell good, they also look good. The delicate little blooms are a lovely contrast to the hard and stony settings in which they are found. June is the perfect time of year to enjoy the colours, forms and fragrances before the flowers wither away in the drier and hotter summer months.
Butterflies abound, flitting from flower to flower to feed or performing sexual air acrobatics in partnership with their mates. Bees are also busy, gathering pollen and returning home to the hive to produce Corsica’s characteristically intensely flavoured honey.
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