We make an estimation of the value of the Gromov norm of the Cartesian
product of two surfaces. Our method uses a connection between these norms and
the minimal size of triangulations of the products of two polygons. This allows
us to prove that the Gromov norm of this product is between 32 and 52 when both
factors have genus 2. The case of arbitrary genera is easy to deduce form this
one.Comment: The journal version contains an error that invalidates one direction
of the main theorem. The present version contains an erratum, at the end,
explaining thi