Punta Liatoghju
2h loop, Ostriconi area
Punta Liatoghju, 2 hour loop
Today I'm taking you to the gates of the Agriate desert about thirty minutes from the house (no there is no fault it does not take s in the plural it's Corsican ;-)), a pretty ballad which starts at a place called Domaine des Agriate (see photo below) which is located on the balanina (road N1197) between Pietralba and Ile Rousse.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Use this space to focus on the thing which make you great.
The departure is right next to the Agriate café.
Once the car is parked, we take a slightly dented track that the shepherds still use to join the few herds on the estate, and also a few horses. The trail is in the shade of fig trees and huge bramble bushes, undoubtedly heavy with fruit in August.
the Pagliaghju
The first step of our journey was to find a place to have a picnic because at half past twelve my youngest daughter was "very very very hungry", and it was quickly found next to a Pagliaghju (landing) where the shepherds s 'sheltered during the transhumance, and where we could also shelter the wheat that had just been threshed in the aghja (era of threshing).
A picture is worth a thousand words. Use this space to focus on the thing which make you great.
The troglodyte sheepfold
After our first stop, we leave and discover a troglodyte dwelling, which lately serves more to house sheep than shepherds (it smells of sheep in it), this kind of construction remains quite rare in Corsica (but we find several in the desert des agriates, historic site of Haute Corse transumance), it is completely integrated into the landscape, its stones being the same color as the rock on which it is based.
Dry stone walls
We then take the right path, the left one leading back to the sea, and after a climb (which goes up well, even if the difference in level on the paper is only 200m), we can admire the landscape and the typical vegetation of the Agriate desert: myrtle bush, strawberry trees, heather as far as the eye can see.
All along the way, we discover dry stone walls, typical of the region, that the ancients built to delimit the plots.
The abandoned village
Along the way, we meet other pagliaghi, a casgile, and even a small abandoned hamlet, with its aghja (threshing floor).
We pass on paths lined with rosemary, which is in bloom on this November 1st, gigantic bushes of myrtle, look like olive trees as they are high, but no risk of confusing the berry with an olive, the subtle scent (and the November wind) suddenly makes me want a little liqueur.
Small fall swim
Once at the bottom, you have one last choice: on the right the sheepfolds of Gradu with its tower which makes it look like a small fortified castle, or the beach ...
What choice was ours on November 1st? ....