The Aurence Valley via Le Meynieux

The walk can start from the car park at the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Primary School on Avenue des Écoles, just below the Bayles swimming pool.

(S/E) With your back to the school, walk between the swimming pool and the care home, cross Avenue du Château and continue straight ahead to walk alongside the Bois des Bayles via Rue du Parc.

(1) At the junction, take Allée de Montplaisir (which is one-way) almost directly opposite; follow it to the end, then turn left onto Chemin des Cailloux. Once you’ve taken the left-hand bend, leave the road and take a path on the right leading to a junction.

(2) Go straight on to follow the Chemin des Renards, which leads onto the Route de Thias; follow this road by turning left.

(3) Turn right onto Chemin de Gigondas (opposite Chemin de la Seybanne). About halfway along the track, you will find the geographical centre of the commune.

(4) Continue straight on.

(5) Pass the path on your right – which you’ll take on the way back – and come out onto Route de Gigondas. Turn right, then right again about a hundred metres further on, to follow Chemin du Séquoia, which crosses the railway line.

(6) Turn right, keeping an eye out for the remarkable tree, and carry on to the footbridge, then cross the Aurence. Then turn left to walk along the river on the right bank. When you reach the Chemin du Meynieux (a stony track), turn left and carry on to the mill.

(7) Take the path that climbs to the right, following a small tributary of the Aurence to the hamlet known as Le Meynieux. When you reach the road, turn left and take the second path on the right, called the Sentier du Randonneur.

(8) When you reach the hamlet of Mas de l’Aurence, turn left and follow the road to the Château du Génétie. Continue until you reach the Chemin du Puy du Tour on the right.

(9) Turn right, then right again about a hundred metres further on, following a path down towards the sewage treatment works. Cross a small tributary of the Aurence and come out onto the Route d’Isle à Nieul.

(10) Turn right, then take the first path on the right. Once you reach the top of the Mas de l’Aurence and are near the hamlet of Mas de l’Aurence, turn left and follow the road to the left-hand bend.

(11) Take the Chemin du Séquoia, which is on the right. Then turn left to follow the path back to the footbridge over the Aurence and cross it.

(6) Turn left, cross the railway line again and follow the route you took on the way there.

(5) Turn left onto the Chemin des Sangliers, walk alongside the reservoir and continue along the Route des Garennes.

(12) Continue to the right, staying on the Route des Garennes, until you reach the Route de Thias; cross it and follow it to the left.

(13) Turn right onto the Chemin des Écureuils and return to the junction you passed on the way there.

(2) Carry straight on, staying on the Chemin des Écureuils, which winds its way before joining the Route du Ventre Noir.

(14) Turn left and continue to the roundabout. Go round it on the left, then take the second exit to follow Avenue des Basses Vignes.

(15) Turn right onto Avenue du Stade, then left to go past the care home, then right to return to the car park on Avenue des Écoles (S/E).