The shortest route out of Girolata on foot is to the south, where an old track joins the road at the pass known as Brocca A Croix. The lower road is known as the Sentier de Guy le Facteur, the path of Guy, the postman. He was an ex-legionary who for many years delivered the post to the village, travelling this route on foot or by mule in all weathers. He became quite a celebrity in France, with a couple of documentaries made about him.
The path is a lovely trail, winding through mature maquis of holm oak and other trees which meet around you, occasionally opening up to show the sparkling water below. Or at least it was sparkling when we started. After about two hours it clouded over, started raining, and went on raining for the rest of the day. This at least kept us cool, not least as we had foolishly believed a 'sans precipitation' forecast, and had no waterproofs with us.
The route goes via the Anse de Tuara, which would be a possible anchorage in calm weather. The beach is pebbly sand, cut by a stream bed of sharp rocks awaiting the last of the snow melt. It meanders back into the hills amongst sheets of euphorbia and marsh grass (in the picture above). There is also an unpleasant amount of litter brought in by the prevailing winds, making this not the most inviting spot for a swim. We passed on.
There were pigs grazing as we went across the beach, who eyed us balefully and made sure Mum was always between us and the youngsters. Not that they were true wild boar of course; we'd not have crossed their path. We took the piglets' pictures anyway. It is common on Corsica to turn the pigs out to graze on the maquis. Because there are tax breaks for ownership but not for good husbandry this has the perverse effect of encouraging fire setting, to release grazing, which is a major contributor to the forest fires which plague Corsica every year.
This time we didn't encounter cattle grazing free, but the little spring, with its accompanying water trough, in the woods that lead up to the pass was an obvious favourite spot, judging by the droppings. We did see some of the traditional long horned beasts in the field near the beach.
The pass itself was a disappointment, being shrouded in clouds. It has one little café run by a very grumpy man who refuses to serve café au lait! We had some café and then ate our packed lunch as we walked back down to the Anse de Tuara.
On the way back we took the alternative route from the beach going over the top of the hill. This led us past some amazing red rocks and black cliffs, which left us relieved about the unlikelihood of earthquakes as we walked underneath. It also led us by the tiny cemetery of Ghjirolatu (the Corsican name). There were only three or four names on the gravestones, testimony to the tiny community It's well kept, with a lovely view. We took lots of pictures on this hike, and a few are in the relevant photo album.
We enjoyed the walk but found it to take 3.75 hours out and 3.15 hours back - a lot of walking. Our book suggested over three hours, but the man in the Capitainerie had assured me that it wasn't too far, just about an hour and a half. Yeah, right! Of course it stopped raining when we returned, and we had a lovely swim off the back of the boat.