Finestret - Baillestavy - Pic Marbet

(en français:
http://www.walks-vernetlesbains-canigou.eu/wikiloc/finestret-baillestavy-marbet.pdf)

A long, rewarding walk, high above the magnificent Lentilla valley, between the ancient and handsome villages of Finestret and Baillestavy.

1 - START - Near the mairie (town hall) of Finestret, on the D25 road at the northern end of the village. We follow the D25 road as it crosses the River Lentilla. Immediately after the bridge, we turn right, and we follow a street up into the old part of the village. We turn right again and we follow a narrow street, through the old village. The street takes us to the southern end of the village.

2 - Footpath (on the left). We go up the path and we leave the village. The path climbs... At a junction (building on the right), we go straight ahead... At a bifurcation, we go to the right ('Baillestavy')... We cross a canal and we immediately arrive at:

3 - Road (D13). We cross the road and we follow a path on the other side of the road... The path zig-zags up the side of the valley.

4 - Path junction. We go to the right... The path winds around the hillside for some distance, mostly in woodland. Sometimes we have views over the Lentilla river, far below.

5 - Junction of paths and a track. We cross the track and we take a path which goes to the right.

6 - Sahilla. We emerge from woodland at the edge of an open field. We follow yellow-and-white waymarks to the right of an isolated farmstead. We cross a track and we go along the edge of another field. We re-enter woodland and we continue to follow the waymarked path... We cross a steam (Còrrec del Malpas)... We see the D13 road again, below on the right.

7 - Path-track junction (just above the road). We go to the left, up the track. Where the track turns sharply to the left, we go straight ahead, on a path. The path soon descends towards:

8 - Path-road junction. We turn left, and we go along the D13 road... We enter a part of Baillestavy which is called La Farga... We go to the right, on a short, narrow lane to the:

9 - Medieval bridge over the River Lentilla. We cross this bridge and we go to the right*. We follow a path which goes parallel to (and close to) the river.

10 - Medieval church (recently restored). We go straight ahead, below the church. We follow a track which has red-and-white waymarks. (This is the GR36 long-distance path - we follow it all the way back to Finestret.)
(* Alternative route: after we cross the medieval bridge, we follow a path up to the old village. In the village, we look for the red-and-white waymarks of the GR36 long-distance path. We go below and to the right of the village church. We follow the waymarks, which take us out of the village, on a track... The track turns to the right and winds down to the restored medieval church (10).)
The GR36 path stays quite close to the river for about two kilometres.

11 - Bifurcation. Ahead, a track goes down to a ford in the river. But we follow a track to the left, as the GR36 begins to climb the hillside... We cross the line of a stream... The track swings to the left and here we go to the right, on a path... The path climbs steadily, for about another two kilometres.

12 - Junction of paths. We go straight ahead... We soon arrive at Pic Marbet, where there is an excellent viewpoint... The path then descends steeply, for some distance... At the bottom of the steep section, the GR36 goes to the right and it follows a track. We cross a terrace, in semi-open land... The track turns to the right and it zig-zags downhill... Eventually the track meets the D25, where we return to the start of the walk (1).

(A pdf version of this walk description is at:
http://www.walks-vernetlesbains-canigou.eu/wikiloc/finestret-baillestavy-marbet.pdf - or click on 'View more' below.)