Country:
District:
Park on Chemin Saint-Étienne in Istres, at the foot of Vulturne hill. Shortly after a "no vehicles" sign, there is a small space at the side of the road where two cars can park.
(S/E) Continue along Chemin Saint-Étienne, which climbs through an olive grove and then enters a pine forest. Walk along the edge of the properties and you will soon come to a small oratory on the right.
Red and white markings
(1). Take the path on the left, which takes you almost halfway around the hill. Until you reach the Saint-Étienne Chapel (in ruins), you will see the different stages of the Way of the Cross. Continue along the path after the chapel until you reach a crossroads.
There are no markings for climbing the hill
(2) Take the path on the right that climbs behind a barrier, to the left of a red cistern. At the top of the hill, you will have a view of Istres, the Étang de Berre and the Crau. There is an orientation table just above the Saint-Michel Chapel. Retrace your steps.
Red and white markings
(2) Turn right, then immediately left towards the north-east. After about 50 metres, the path splits in two.
(3) Take the path on the right and, after about 200 metres, turn right (the path on the left is marked with a red and white cross). Ignore the path on the left just after this. The path becomes narrower, then turns left and joins a wider path.
(4) At the crossroads ahead, there is a ruin. Turn right and follow the path straight ahead until you reach the antennas.
(5) Enjoy the view of the Étang de Berre. Follow a path that runs along the edge of the hill, turns left and then arrives at a T-junction. Turn right and, after 800 metres, you will arrive at a crossroads.
Red and yellow markings (but I didn't see many markings at the beginning)
(6) Take a path that descends to the left. Follow it for several hundred metres. It turns right (west) at a fence that encloses an olive grove and, a few hundred metres further on, arrives at a T-junction. A barrier blocks the path to the right (north). Turn left towards the south for about 250 metres.
(3). Continue straight ahead to the crossroads at the oratory, leaving the path to the orientation table and Saint-Michel Chapel, which you took earlier, on your right.
(1) Continue straight ahead on Chemin Saint-Etienne to return to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
