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Park near the Le Baou hotel on Avenue Gustave Etienne, just after the roundabout at the entrance to Ramatuelle, as there are a few parking spaces available there. However, just above the next roundabout, there is a large, convenient car park that is rarely full (at least out of season).
(S/E) Walk up Boulevard du 8 Mai 1945, crossing this car park, and further up, after a large bend on the left, you will find another car park, also called Parking du 8 Mai 1945, from where you have a beautiful view of part of the village and the plain below. About 50 metres after this car park, you will find a staircase on the left.
(1) Go down these steps (next to which there are public toilets) and you will come out onto Rue Georges Clemenceau. Walk up this street to the right towards the centre of the village to reach Place de l'Ormeau, so named because a very old and very large elm tree once stood in the centre of the square. Unfortunately, this remarkable tree died from a disease endemic to its species and was replaced by an olive tree in 1983.
(2) The church is directly opposite. Go around it on the left, passing in front of its superb serpentine door, then in front of a bakery where you can buy the famous tarte tropézienne.
Continue through the narrow streets to appreciate the charm of the old village, which you can cross diagonally until you reach Rue Victor Léon.
(3) Take Rue Victor Léon on the right, then at the next crossroads turn right into Rue du Moulin Roux, then right again into Rue du Clocher. You will come out again at Place de l'Ormeau, behind the church.
Then turn left towards the signs indicating, among other things, the mills of Paillas.
(4) Turn right and make a detour via the town hall entrance to admire the building and enjoy the magnificent view of the village and, in winter, the snow-capped mountains of the Alpes Maritimes in the distance.
You will come back to the Paillas road, which you climb on the right towards the mills. You can either stay on the road (which is never very busy outside the summer season) or take the paths parallel to it.
You will easily reach the Paillas mills, where there are several mills, the first of which has been completely restored and is open to visitors. The walk includes a visit to this mill; see the timetable in the "Practical information" section.
The road on the left leads to the village of Gassin. Take the road on the right, which climbs towards the Barri de Gassin radio beacon.
(5) About a hundred metres after the mill, there is a track on the right that quickly leads to the Castellas district and the village of Ramatuelle. Leave it immediately and take the path on the left that runs alongside the road.
This path runs through cork oak trees and, at its highest point, joins a dirt esplanade where there is a cistern and where it joins the DFCI A 16 forest track.
(6) Take this forest track, which descends steadily through a beautiful, well-maintained forest of cork oaks.
After a good kilometre of descent, you will pass a vineyard and a rather rusty cistern flanked by a magnificent umbrella pine. Continue for about 700 metres before reaching the Ramatuelle road at a place called Carbonel.
(7) Turn right onto the road towards the village of Ramatuelle. Once at the roundabout at the entrance to the village, follow the signs for "Ramatuelle Centre" and you will return to the car park where you started (S/E).
Visorando member
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