Monday 25th February 2002

We drove to Calenzana, which is where the GR20 and Tra Mare e Monti walks start. We mooched through the village and found the start point. We then drove a little further on to start our walk.

We decided to walk to Montemaggiore. We set off along a nice broad path. Just after crossing a stream we stopped for lunch. Soon after this the path seemed blocked. We climbed over the blockage and on, only to find ourselves in a field with some sheep, two farmers and a very young sheepdog. They directed us towards another sort of path, in a very strong accent and with very few precise directions. Soon we found ourselves scrambling through the maquis which is quite hard work. After a good half an hour we got to the outskirts of Montemaggiori and skirted them until we found a ridiculous route in over some rocks behind everything. Once we made it into the village we had a snack and made friends with a lovely grey-and-white cat.

We set off from Montemaggiori only to find someone had built a house across our footpath. We continued along the road. The next footpath, though waymarked, was deliberately blocked with a bedstead. When we reached Cassono we were accosted by an old man who wanted to explain the route to us. When we finally got him to understand where we wanted to go, he directed us through a sheepfarm as a shortcut. We took a wrong turning in the sheepfarm and had to go back, when we met the farmers - the same ones who had directed us up through the maquis! They were pleased (and surprised) to hear that we had found Montemaggiori, and let us climb their sheepfolds on our way home. After that it was easy!

Panorama from Montemaggiore (with Jeremy)	Montemaggiore	Montemaggiore
Panorama from Montemaggiore