les coupures du sentier principal

11:40 Sep 11, 2016 

Thank you for your help, interesting debate and detailed discussions. I have checked sense of term with client who has confirmed AllegroTrans' earlier posting of "side paths" - so now we know!

20:40 Sep 10, 2016 

What KudoZ calls prior research

20:33 Sep 10, 2016 

Maps or Earth? Yes, already done:

38.036402, 12.582419 Erice 38.024348, 12.551218 Trapani

What's the point on obsessing on dictionaries when the most relevant information is just waiting to be picked up?

15:11 Sep 10, 2016 

...of following it on Google Earth?

11:31 Sep 10, 2016 

One more comment: a short cut is usually a "raccourci' in French. Does this fit in with the context here?

11:28 Sep 10, 2016 

I do not see why "coupure" should stand for a shortcut or branches leading off... Should it not just mean that the main trail is sometimes damaged, not in a good state of repair, but something to be ignored?
Just carry straight on...i

06:36 Sep 10, 2016 

PS. I think this may have been written by a French person, not an Italian. This company seems to use a variety of writers who are not always Italian.

06:29 Sep 10, 2016 

The rest of the text is quite simple. But this is not a "short cut", as it would have to describe where it is leading to in order to be one. I am sure this is some sort of "side branch" as Allegro Trans has put, only "branch" would not work in this context unless we said "paths branching off" or something. The rest of the text is very general, e.g.:

Allez à la station et dépassez-la en la laissant sur votre gauche.
Descendez les escaliers après la station de télécabines.
Au bout de l’escalier, prenez la route en descente vers la gauche.
Prenez le chemin à droite en suivant le panneau pour ‘Belvedere San Nicola’ (c'est un hôtel).
Dépassez l’hôtel en pierre sur votre droite et prenez à gauche le chemin évident.
Vous suivrez ce chemin pour la majeure partie du parcours.
Après quelques pas, le panorama en face de vous s’ouvre : Trapani est à vos pieds, légèrement sur la droite, vous voyez les Iles Egades, et sur la gauche les salines de Trapani.
Ignorez toutes les coupures du sentier principal que vous trouvez près d’un pylône des télécabines.
Ignorez le sentier à droite au niveau d’un grand pin.

03:51 Sep 10, 2016 

This being in Italy, the original text would have been in Italian? Or written by an Italian, in "Italian French"?

Without any additional information "une coupure du sentier" would be a short missing section of the pathway, which does happen not so rarely when you follow a trail - some section is missing and you just try to recognise where is the continuation of the trail.

BUT in this case it simply makes no sense - when you check the whole route of this cable car between Trapani and Erice on Google Earth all there is around each pylon is one path winding down the slope and another one going straight downhill.

So presumably you are advised to ignore the shortcuts going straight downhill.

21:40 Sep 9, 2016 

side paths to me

21:13 Sep 9, 2016 

short cuts to me