Mont Gibaou via the Grotte des Janots

Park in the car park along Avenue des Albizzi. There are over twenty spaces.

(S/E) Start the walk on the Chemin du Berard, a tarmac road, which you should follow until you reach a forest gate.

(1) Go through the gate and immediately take the path on the left that leads uphill. Stay on this wide main path at every junction: several paths are not shown on the maps. Pass another forest gate, reach Chemin du Perthus and turn left.

(2) At the forest gate, take path CQ217 on the right, ignoring a private track on the right. You will reach a junction.

(3) Turn right and you will come to a sort of cistern (which may not actually be one), a concrete water channel. Go round it on the left and take the path opposite that leads downhill. On the left, there is another path that also leads downhill with a visible pipe: do not take this one. Immediately after, you will cross a path which you must take on the left as it climbs. Go under the railway bridge then turn immediately left to reach the Grotte des Janots.

(4) Retrace your steps and take the winding path opposite, which leads to a junction with another, wider path.

(5) Head uphill to the left: Red Cross. Pass the Clos de la Renardière estate, staying firmly on the main path, a very wide DFCI track.

(6) At the junction, continue left, heading up the HC167, and walk for about 300 m.

(7) Take the C115 on the left as you descend. You will pass a few beehives on the left, though they are well away from the path. Make several wide hairpin bends and arrive at cistern no. 21.

(8) Turn left onto the CQ234, marked in sky blue, and head downhill for about 150 m. Turn left again at the sky blue markings and, a few metres further on, take a tiny path on the right that climbs and leaves the marked route. Cross a path that does not appear on the map and turn left uphill at a very distinctive tree trunk to stay on the main path, which is a lovely single track.

(9) At the junction, turn right following the sky-blue markings, marked by a cross of the same colour. However, take the path heading left to reach Mont Gibaou. On this section, the path is strangely reminiscent of that of Sainte-Victoire: very stony, and running along the ridge on a descending single track marked with orange dots.

(10) At the cairn, turn left, almost at a right angle, onto a lovely single track that descends with a view of La Ciotat. Follow the orange markings to reach a junction.

(11) Continue downhill to the left, still following the orange dots, until you reach a junction. Follow the path that turns right, marked with an orange cross, and reach a Y-shaped junction.

(12) Turn left and stay on the main path until you reach the well.

(3) Follow the path back along the same route to reach the car park (S/E).

Organised by: A.M.I.S Rando Aubagne and its Walking Group

Remember to bring a torch for the Grotte des Janots, which doesn’t look like much from the outside but is very beautiful inside. Consider bringing walking poles for the descent, as some stony sections are quite unstable from (10) to (11).