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Park in one of the many parking spaces on Place du Marché.
(S/E) Face the belfry and head right, following the banks of the Sorgue. At the end, leave Chemin Naquet on your right, continue for a few metres and turn right onto Chemin des Estourans (one-way). Keep to the left to watch the ducks and continue until you spot a path on the left.
Open the gate and cross the footbridge over the Sorgue. Enter the public garden and turn right to go round the pretty dovecote. Leave the park at the opposite end via a footbridge and continue to join Chemin du Moulin at the corner of a building. Look to your right at the small lock and its stone arches.
Turn left, keeping the church in sight, and continue to the Place du Chasselas, with the remains of the ramparts on your right. Turn right into Rue Pierre Goulon and follow it straight on until you reach Rue de la République. Turn right, then left at the pedestrian crossing to reach the forecourt of Notre-Dame-du-Lac.
(1) Go round the church on the right and cross the Sorgue via the bridge. Continue on the left-hand pavement of Cours du Docteur Seigle. At the junction, turn left, then let Route des Taillades go off to the left and continue right onto Route d’Orange for 50m. Turn left onto Route de Saint-Saturnin and follow it to the end.
(2) At the junction, turn right to reach a large roundabout. Head right to find a pedestrian crossing. Cross the D1 at this crossing and first turn left then right onto Chemin de Touzon.
Continue along the path to the junction after the Mas la Poule (stud farm).
(3) Ignore the road to the right and left and continue straight on along Chemin de la Rose. The tarmac gives way to a dirt track and leads to a car park on the left. Ignore the path on the left and go round the wooden gate to climb the stony path opposite.
Continue the almost straight climb along the main path, ignoring all other tracks on either side. At times, small wooden posts, some marked with a yellow arrow, indicate the way.
When you reach a gate, go round it to the right and head for the entrance to Touzon Castle.
Take a tour of the site and enjoy the 360° view of the surrounding area.
(4) Leave the castle grounds and turn left to reach a picnic area. Take a path on the left that climbs towards the rear of the castle and the Chapelle Saint-Pierre located there.
Return to the picnic tables and take a path on the left just after the single bench. The path climbs to the top of the hill, where the stone base of a cross marks the highest point.
Continue to the right to begin the descent, with Mont Ventoux in your sights. Go round the water reservoir on the left and continue for about ten metres along the path.
Look out for a path on the left marked by a small wooden post and follow it into the woods. Continue down this path until you reach a crossroads. Ignore the path on the left marked red and yellow (unofficial) and continue down to the right to join a good path on level ground.
(5) On the right are the Touzon caves (entrance fee applies). Turn left onto the path that continues through the woods. Stay on the main path, ignoring the other turnings, and leave the woods to go round a property on the right. Ignore the road branching off to the right and continue round the house.
At the start of a bend, leave the main path and head under the trees opposite, along a small track.
Further on, ignore a path on the left blocked by a gate and continue through a tunnel of vegetation to the next junction marked by a wooden post.
Ignore this path on the left and the next one 10 metres further on to reach a tarmac road (Chemin Gaffe de Ragachon).
(6) Continue left, heading due south, along this quiet little road. Pass a pretty farmhouse set against a field of lavender, then the road curves left to reach a crossroads.
(7) Turn left onto Traverse de la Tapy and continue for 300m to reach the junction you passed on the way out.
(3) Turn right onto Chemin de Touzon to return to the roundabout on the D1. Cross at the pedestrian crossing and continue straight ahead to the junction.
(2) Ignore the road on the left and continue straight on along Chemin des Mourguettes. Ignore all the streets on either side, cross Route des Taillades and continue along Impasse de la Garancine until you reach a paved area.
(8) Walk onto the footbridge and look to your left to see a small waterwheel turning on the narrow arm of the Sorgue. Continue across the bridge and admire the stone arch opposite and the large waterwheel to your right. Continue straight ahead between the buildings on Place de Verdun, ignoring all the streets on either side. Cross Rue de Verdelin and continue straight ahead into Rue Voltaire.
Ignore the street on the left and carry on until you reach the banks of the Sorgue. Turn left, with the ramparts on your left and the Sorgue on your right. Cross the market square – which is really just a vast car park – to reach the Belfry and the car park where you started (S/E).
nice little circuit.
Visorando Member
Moderate 
