Over the years, I have learned that a goat-trail and a cow-trail are fairly safe trails to follow if you want good green grass and a precarious but stunning view of the mountain ranges around you. Goats and cows will climb really crazy places when they are hungry and I can recall more than one occasion when I have followed a farmer (cursing under his breath) as he clambered up a non-existent path to rescue a bleating goat or a miffed calf, stranded halfway up a hill with no way to go further up and no way to turn and climb back down.

But following cows and goats has other uses as well – you are bound to get to a fresh source of water. Like we discovered this afternoon when we spotted a lone black calf who had left his grazing herd and clambered down the meadow-side to a little brook that was quietly babbling its way along.

The water in the brook was clear, refreshing and soothing. We spent half an hour around the herd as they grazed and we walked, and munching and the sound of the brook kept us company, apart from the sounds of an occasional rooster in the distant.