The trail begins in the village and immediately forgets about it.

This episode is the GR20 itself -- from the first brutal stage out of Calenzana to the descent into Conca two weeks later. The northern section in full: the granite world above two thousand meters, the Cirque de la Solitude diversion via the Bocca Minuta, the mouflon on the high cols, and what Vizzavona feels like after nine days on the high route. Then the south: the forests of laricio pine, the Aiguilles de Bavella in afternoon light, and what happens to the mind somewhere around day four or five when the trail stops being an ordeal and becomes something quieter.

You leave knowing: the defining stages of the northern and southern sections, what the Cirque de la Solitude diversion involves, where to encounter mouflon on the route, how to read the mountain weather, and what the GR20 is actually testing -- which is not what most people think.

Part two of two. Listen to episode four before this one.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is a trail in Corsica that begins at the edge of a village and ends, one hundred and eighty kilometers later, at the door of another one.

The GR20 is consistently ranked among the most difficult long-distance trails in Europe. Every year roughly ten thousand people attempt it. Roughly half finish. This episode is everything that happens before Calenzana -- the fitness preparation most people underestimate, the gear decisions that actually matter (trail shoes versus boots, pack weight, sleeping system), how the refuge booking system works and when to book, water management on the high route, and the mental model that separates the people who finish from the people who don't.

You leave with: a realistic preparation timeline, a clear gear framework, an understanding of the refuge booking platform at pnr-resa.corsica, the north-to-south versus south-to-north question answered, and an honest account of what the trail will ask of you before it gives anything back.

Part one of two. Episode five covers the route itself, stage by stage.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The road narrows without warning. And the pig on the road has right of way.

Vanlife in Corsica means narrow mountain passes, long-horned cattle with no interest in moving, and the particular reward of being in a vehicle small enough to follow the tracks that lead to the quiet bays. This episode covers what moving through Corsica by van actually looks like -- the D81 coast road in afternoon light, the forest roads of the interior, and the rhythm of a summer day organised around heat and tide rather than a schedule. Plus the red kite circling above everything, and what it means to move through a place that has always resisted being rushed.

You leave knowing: the wild camping and bivouac rules in Corsica, how the van camping grey area actually works in practice, the best roads and regions for vanlife on the island, ferry booking reality, and why September changes everything.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sea is flat before anyone else is awake.

The Corsican coast underwater is one of the most extraordinary marine environments in the Mediterranean -- and one of the least known to the visitors who spend their summers above it. This episode goes into the water: the ancient posidonia meadows that are among the oldest living organisms on earth, the Lavezzi islands marine reserve at the southern tip of the island, and what decades of protection have done to the behaviour of the fish inside Corsican reserves versus those outside them.

You leave knowing: the best snorkeling and freediving spots in Corsica, what equipment actually matters, how to freedive safely at shallow depth without formal training, and why the Corsican marine reserve system has produced an underwater world that stops people mid-stroke.

No extreme depth. No specialist gear. Just the sea and what lives in it.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some people visit wild places. Others let them in.

In the Maquis is a podcast about moving through wild places -- on rock, in water, on the road. Scripted stories from Corsica, Morocco, Scandinavia and beyond that teach you something before you go and stay with you after.

Surfing the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Freediving the marine reserves of Corsica. Crossing the GR20. Living on the road between three coastlines and four seasons.

New episodes every week. Follow now so you don't miss episode one.

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The ferries arrive full in August. But receiving is not the same as welcoming.

Corsica does not perform for its visitors. It has spent centuries resisting occupation, annexation, and the logic of efficiency -- and that resistance has shaped an island unlike anywhere else in the Mediterranean. This episode is an introduction to what Corsica actually is: its history from the Genoese watchtowers to the short-lived republic that produced one of Europe's first democratic constitutions, its landscape from the Balagne coast to the granite spine of the interior, and the mistral wind that builds winter surf on the northwest coast when the tourists are long gone.

You leave knowing: when to come and what each season actually offers, how the island's rhythm differs from the pace most visitors arrive with, and why Corsica reveals itself slowly -- and only to the people who let it.

In the Maquis -- stories from wild places that teach you something before you go.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.