Passing again through the Spelunca gorge, we drove the highest mountain pass on the island, linking the two Corsican dรฉpartments of Sud-Corse in the west and Haute-Corse in the east. The forested way tops out at an impressive elevation of 1470 metres but the surrounding snowcapped peaks, Punte Licciola, are much higher than the col of the Rotondo massif. A monumental statue of Christ Roi by Corsican sculptor Noรซl Bonardi stands at the summit of the ascent (the previous picture is of a smaller shrine with votive offerings at the gorge at the foot of the mountain).
The profusion of yellow blossoms are shrubs called immortelle (Helichrysum stoechas, the straw flower or common shrubby everlasting or the curry plant for the smell it excudes whilst moisture-proofing for the summer) for their reputation for hardiness and medicinal properties. The twelfth day of the month of Vendรฉmiaire of the French Revolutionary calendar is named after the plant and generally corresponds to 3 October.
synchronoptica
one year ago: Trump Always Chickens Out (with synchronopticรฆ) plus assorted links to revisit
fourteen years ago: language acquisition plus US and Israel launch a cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure
fifteen years ago: plutocracy plus the US unveils its Cyber Command
sixteen years ago: language translation with context
seventeen years ago: a surfeit of pillows
