Contour round

Comme
il n'y a pas eu
de fin du monde
faut bien
s'occuper
de Noël

Dans le Financial Times
de l'autre week-end
une réponse de l'écrivain anglais
James Meek
What is the best piece of advice a parent gave you?
When I was a boy I used to walk in the Grampians with my father. "Contour round" he used to say:
"Don't lose the height you've gainded, follow the contours of the land to get where you're going, even if it looks as if it would be quicker and more direct to go down (into) some hollow and scramble up the other side."