Corsica's maquis (wild scrubland) smells amazing, and one of Mrs B’s hopes here
was to be able to visit an essential oils producer, or at least source some
locally produced oils. Our first attempt, a producer we’d seen advertised near
Calvi came up with a no longer used web domain, so we left it in the lap of the
gods, hoping we’d happen upon somewhere else. . .
And we did! An organic
producer not far from Aléria, in Antisanti, due to have an open weekend for
visitors… but a couple of days after we were due to leave the island…
Undeterred, we emailed, as
it seemed that individual tours or visits just might be possible, and although there was no reply by the next day
and we were due to leave, we thought we'd try anyway, on our way out of town,
and headed off into the hills, armed with directions from a flyer picked up at
the local tourist office.
The drive was beautiful, up
windy roads, then a track, crossing a stream, and still a little further until
we arrived at a gate. We parked up and walked the short distance up the hill,
not knowing what to expect. We arrived at the farm to a bustle of activity,
with a picnic area being set up under the shade in readiness for the weekend. Next
to it, a couple of farm buildings and outside, a still for the oils, powered
mostly by solar. Even the water here is purified via solar power, with bottled
gas just for those very dull days.
Patrick, the owner, was
eventually located, working on the farm, by a lovely helpful woman, who, it
turned out, was the artist-in-residence, creating sculptural installations
throughout the site. Patrick kindly agreed we could look around and walked us
to the start of one of the farm trails, telling us about the different plants
en route and was then happy (as were we, with all those amazing smells!) to let
us wander for half an hour or so.
The time spent there was a
real treat, and we left happy, with essential oils (myrte vert, cyste
ladanifère and immortelle) plus some olive oil and myrte liqueur.
If you’re in Corsica and
fancy dropping in, it’s best to call first. You will find the farm here:
J&S
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