Drystone shelters and the Tourne Valley

Park in the car park at Pradelle Castle. Public toilets are available at the far end of the car park, at the entrance to Pradelle Park.

(S/E) With your back to the car park, turn left onto Chemin Saint-André (on the GR®42, marked with white and red signs). Cross the bridge over the railway line and continue along this road, which becomes a track and passes under a bridge. You can then make out Bellevue Castle on the left. Continue straight on and stay on the GR®42.

(1) After passing a few houses, take the track on the left, at the electricity substation, to cross to the other side of the stream onto a wide path that turns into a footpath. After about 1 km of a steady climb, enjoy a beautiful view of the Rhône Valley. Keep to the left, passing several houses, until you reach a tarmac road.

(2) Turn right onto it for a few metres. At the ‘Darbousset’ signpost, leave the GR® and take the PR®, following the white/yellow markings to the left and heading towards the Botanical Trail. Continue along this wide path. At the fork in the road, head left and stay on the main path. After a left-hand bend, turn right (follow the signposting) then keep to the right again to walk alongside a vineyard.

(3) You’ll come across a drystone shelter on the left, slightly hidden by the vegetation, with an information board. Continue behind the drystone shelter along the path between the vineyard and the trees, then straight on along the vineyards. At the end of the vineyards, head up to the right along the embankment which leads into the woodland. Take in the panoramic view of the Rhône Valley, the Dentelles de Montmirail, Mont Ventoux, the Provençal Baronnies and the Montagne de la Lance.

(4) You’ll arrive in front of another drystone shelter. From here, head left, then left again onto the path running above it. Walk briefly along a valley. When the path emerges from the woods and joins the farm track you were previously on, follow the signposted path to the right. In an open area, you’ll come out onto a wider path; continue to the right. At the signpost marked ‘Sentier Botanique’, turn left onto a grassy path.

(5) There are two beautiful drystone shelters to discover in an open area: one on either side of the path. Go down behind the one on the right and walk round it. In front of the entrance, follow the track that crosses the botanical trail and continue to the right. At the junction, continue left onto the path that descends to the bottom of the valley. At the stream (often dry), follow it to the right. Further on, cross it and head up to the left onto the signposted path. At the top of the valley, take the wide farm track that runs alongside the vineyards to the road.

(6) At the signpost for “Croix de Romanet”, turn right towards “Coulange 3.1 km” along the small road. Note, after the signpost, a memorial stone in memory of Louis Adrien Romanet, a soldier killed during the First World War. When the path joins the D358, cross the road and take the signposted path opposite, in the bend . Walk for a few metres until you come to a farm track; follow this to the right, alongside the vineyards. At the first fork in the road, turn left and, at the next fork 100 metres further on, turn right. Keep an eye out for the third fork, where you should head down to the right onto a lovely path through the woodland. Follow this main path to a farm, then continue along a small tarmac road that winds down through the trees, turning left then right as it crosses a bridge.

(7) Leave the Chemin de la Chapelle on your left and continue along the Chemin de Saint Ferréol. (The chapel is on private land and entry is prohibited.) After the Domaine Coulange, at the junction, turn left to rejoin the GR®42 (marked with red and white signs). At the Fontaine du Chien crossroads, follow the GR®42 to the right. The route passes through residential areas.

(8) In the Seilloux neighbourhood, take the Allée des Rouges-Gorges on the right. Leave the GR®42 and walk alongside the railway line to the left. 200 metres further on, rejoin the Allée des Rouges-Gorges and follow it to the right. Take Avenue De Lattre de Tassigny on the right. At the first junction, continue straight ahead. At the second junction, turn right onto Rue des Abeilles. Walk downhill to the bridge over the Tourne stream.

(9) Walk round the 19th-century washhouse (information panel) to descend into the Tourne valley and reach the resurgence (world-renowned for underground caving) and the bas-relief dedicated to the god Mithra. (There are two information panels to read.) Then head back up to the right through Parc Pradelle to return to the starting car park.