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To reach the starting point: either from Saint-Georges-d’Orques or from Pignan, take the D5E5 and head towards Vignogoul Abbey.
Important note:
This route takes you along numerous paths and trails; using a GPS or mobile app will make navigation easier.
(S/E) From the Abbey car park, head right onto the path known as ‘du Carreau’; at the junction, carry on straight ahead, go round the 100-metre mark, ‘Le Grès’, and walk alongside the properties and fields.
(1) Below contour line 104, as you emerge from the fields, at the cairn, turn right into the undergrowth (the ascent is obscured by the thicket) and then left; at contour line 111, head north-west to the left. Keep to the left, passing the sewage treatment plant on your right. At the three-way junction, join the D27E road on the right, following the edge of the bridge for a further 50 m.
(2) Turn left onto the start of the track for about 10 metres, take the path on the left (which may be hidden by grass) between the field and the hedge, then climb over a low wall. Turn right and go round the field (vineyards) on your left. Follow a track until you reach a fork in the path. Turn right; after a left-hand bend, you’ll reach a T-junction. Turn left, heading west, follow the stony track and cross ‘Les Tières’. Ignore all turn-offs to the left and right
(3) At the crossroads, head straight on (Domaine de la Gachelle), keep to the left and turn right at the next road. Ignore the turn-offs to the right and cross the resurgent stream.
(4) Turn left onto the ascending path, ignore the turn-off to the left and turn left towards “Pioch Serié”.
(5) Cross a road and continue along the path heading west. Ignore all turn-offs, cross the summit area “La Rouquette” and continue heading south-west
(6) At the crossroads of paths at the 184-metre contour, head to the right and keep to the right-hand side. Pass under the high-voltage power line; at the final junction, turn left, cross the hillock and join the road.
(7) Cross the D27 road, take the path opposite heading south, keep to the right, cross the woodland and walk along the right-hand side of the hamlet “Pioch Guillen” heading south; turn left onto the path, rejoin the D27 road, then turn right heading east.
(8) At the fork, leave the road, turn right heading south onto the path running along the boundary of the property; at the end of this path, turn right and continue downhill for 70 m. At the fork in the path, by the cairn (on the right), turn left onto the (steep) uphill track through the woodland, heading west.
Continue through the woodland (passing the two high-voltage pylons) until you reach a crossroads. Cross the track heading south-east. At the start of a path (signpost and stone pillar on the right-hand side), continue through the woodland. Come to a fork in the road; turn left onto the path, which descends steeply, at the cairn. Pass under the power lines. Reach a crossroads.
(9) Continue straight on heading east (this path is not shown on the map), keeping to the right. Walk alongside a stream. Avoid all side paths.
(10) At the 140-metre mark ‘la Dourque’, keep left then turn left onto the road known as Rue Louis-Antoine de Bougainville. Cross the junction and the roundabout, heading north-east. Take thesecond exit onto Rue Lapérouse, ignore the exits to the left and right, and continue to the right onto Rue de l’Ancien Four. Avoid the exits to the left and right and cross over to Rue de La Vierge.
(11) At Place de La Vierge, turn right onto Rue de la Triane, then left onto Rue de l’Église, and left again onto Rue des Porches. At Place de la Vierge, head right downhill and turn left at the stone column onto Rue de l’Ancienne Mairie. Cross the junction, continue straight ahead along Route de Bel Air and ignore the four turn-offs.
(12) Turn left onto Rue Suzanne Ivanes-Chupin; after about 40 metres, turn right onto the tree-lined path to reach the archaeological site, the Oppidum Saint-Julia.
(13) Facing the Castellas, heading north-east, turn right, ignore the left-hand turn-off and take the second right. At the junction, cross the D102, avoid the two turn-offs and keep to the right onto Avenue du Champ des Moulins. Continue along this road, keep to the left, leave the street and follow the path to join the D27E, then cross it.
(14) At the Croix de Cade, heading south-east, join the track and turn left. Keep to the right, go round the 116-metre-high hill on your right and ignore the two turn-offs on the right. Walk past “Prose” and the 104-metre-high hill to rejoin the track you took on the way there.
(1) Turn right and follow the route back to the (S/E).
Visorando Member
Easy 
Association / Club / Walk leader
