The easy bit!
It starts to get interesting
Looking down onto Corconne
Well worth the effort!
Just occasionally, not being able to read French is probably an asset, and one of those times was yesterday morning. I picked up the guide book of local walks just to take a quick peep at our planned route, and apart from a very small icon of a mountain in one corner with a few figures next to it, I didn't really absorb much. I did manage the bit about the 13th Century Chapel being rebuilt in 1870 from the original stones, and something about a grand view across Corconne, but the rest was a bit fuzzy.
So once my nose was pressed against what felt like a sheer wall of rock and I paused to watch the walker in front trying to squeeze through a chimney pipe ahead of me, I wondered if I should have take more care with the fine print, and not skimmed the bit about "Difficultes particulieres".
There are two routes that take you to the chapel and the cross atop the mountain behind Corconne. You can slog straight up a stone staircase from the middle of town, or take the route up through the ravine which starts out looking like the A9 but quickly changes into a scramble up a rock filled watercourse.
One of the first things I needed to understand were the markings on the rocks. Apparently the yellow cross meant "Not this way" and the straight yellow bar meant "this way". Having leapt into the lead working on the assumption that if I did it quickly, I wouldn't realise I was doing it, I went into Lesotho mountain goat mode and began scrambling up the stone blocks, hunting for hand holds and gripping onto overhanging branches, only to realise that my companions were strolling up well marked stone pathways slightly to the right of me.
Of course there were areas where it was impossible to avoid the steep bits, but with a haul from above and a nudge from below, and the occasional fireman's lift for the dog, we all arrived at the top and were well rewarded with the view from the chapel.
My geographic bump isn't always the best and I do tend to get a bit turned around, so it was with complete surprise that as we descended from the 10km route around the mountain top, and returned to the terra firma of Corconne, I found that we were totally on the other side of town. Never mind - the walk was great, the company excellent, the feet a bit sore but the spirits high.
I know I should always read the fine print, but this time, I was quite glad that I didn't!
