The lapping of the water is more audible.
Soon the path emerges from a grove of junipers brushed by the wind and propels the walker facing the sea. Granite rocks with gray or pink shades hem the shore.
Behind us, the Genoese tower of Campomoro, round and massive, watches over the entrance to the Gulf of Valinco which is home to Propiano.
We are at the start of one of the most beautiful paths on the Corsican seaside: 20 kilometers protected by the Conservatoire du littoral between Campomoro to the north and Tizzano to the south, on the west coast of the Isle of Beauty.
Here we walk and wander between the taffonis, these curiously shaped cavities dug into the rocks by the wind, the waves and the rain.
Pins and junipers with tortuous silhouettes managed to interfere in the chaos of stones.
Towers and oratories
Sometimes the path comes to vanish on a cove where the sea has deposited driftwood.
Also abandoned by the surf, the posidonia, dried, felt the sound of our steps.
Further south, another Genoese tower, that of Senetosa, punctuates the landscape.
It is one of the last high in Corsica, at the very beginning of the 17th century, to protect the coast against the Barbary pirates who landed to plunder the surrounding villages.
The point of Senetosa conceals another curiosity: a lighthouse with two towers, the only one in France, signaling the dangerous reefs of the Moines further south.
Transformed into an unusual refuge, this immaculate construction with the false air of an operetta castle now welcomes walkers halfway between Campomoro and Tizzano.
“
Are you going for a walk in Cupabia Bay?
Take a knife with you to pick up some sea urchins from the shore
,”
advised us before leaving Thomas Duval, owner of Château Rouher, a chic seaside guest house in Propriano.
On the north shore of the Gulf of Valinco, Cupabia is a popular beach for its crystal clear waters.
A path escapes to the south and climbs in the shade of the foliage.
A cool belvedere on the myriad of rocks that dot the emerald water.
Dark spots in the crevices, the sea urchins are there.
Umbrella pines, wild olive trees, holm oaks… Tree-lined, with steps sometimes drawn by the roots, the path rises gently towards the Capannella tower.
A Genoese elevation with a privileged view of the vegetal swells melting on the sea.
A last maritime path, at Capu di Muru, a promontory that closes the Gulf of Valinco, deserves to be taken for its air of the end of the world.
Here, the path quickly gets lost between the cyclopean blocks of granite and you have to watch out for the cairns to reach the end of the cape.
There, facing the open sea, rocks in the shape of pinnacles, bristling with crosses and oratories, recall the sovereignty of the sea.
Address Book
GETTING THERE: Air Corsica serves Ajaccio all year round from Paris-Orly, from €99 one way, and from Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, Lyon, from €59.
STAY: Château Rouher, from €180 per night.
See lefigaro.fr/voyages/hotels.
WALKING: Campomoro Senetosa, all information on the coastal path.
