Landscapes of the Garonne at Langoiran from the hillsides and riverbanks

Langoiran Town Hall car park, Place du Dr Abaut

(S/E) With your back to the car park, cross Avenue du Général de Gaulle and turn slightly to your right onto Rue René Urarre until you reach the footbridge spanning the Grand Estey. Cross it and, immediately on your left, take the path that runs alongside the Estey as far as the Garonne. Leave the footbridge on your left and turn right onto a path lined with plane trees. Walk past the Tramasset Shipyards, a listed historic monument, and continue until you reach a small road branching off to your right.

(1) Leave the banks of the Garonne and take the small road on the right until it ends. Turn right again until you reach a roundabout.

(2) Take the^first street on the right (Rue de Verdun) then the^first street on the left (Rue François Mauriac). Continue to the Grand Estey at the junction with the Chemin de l’Estey.

(3) Turn left there, following the right bank of the river. Head upstream, pass under the D10 and continue to a footbridge spanning the Grand Estey. Cross it and turn left to follow the left bank until you reach a bend in the road. Continue along the riverbank for about 150 m until you reach the Langoiran exit onto the D240. Follow it to the right until you reach the roundabout.

(4) Go straight through the roundabout. Turn left and walk through the car park by the shops, following the D20 until you reach a small road on the right (Chemin de Berquin). Follow this for a few dozen metres, then take the path between the two houses on your left. This path climbs quite steeply, leading up to the vineyard-covered slopes overlooking the Garonne alluvial plain. Once you reach the vineyard plateau, continue straight on along the track between the vines for about 150 m until you reach the track on the left.

(5) Follow this, then turn right after a few metres, passing a small stone hut on your right which was once used to store farming equipment. At the far end of the vineyard plot, leave the track to take another one on the left and head uphill to a tree-lined sunken lane.

(6) Turn right and follow the sunken lane until you reach a small tarmac road that continues from the lane; ignore the paths to the left or right. The track joins a bend in the road; keep to the right and continue to a crossroads in the hamlet of Le Pin.

(7) Turn left, continue straight on, passing a small road on your right that descends into a valley, then head back up towards Langoiran le Haut. Pass Château Chauvin on your left and, about 300 m further on, reach the start of a farm track on the left, near a small hut and a vegetable garden.

(8) Follow this track for about 100 m and turn left onto the farm track heading north-north-east. Keep going in this direction until you reach a bend in a rutted track. Follow it to the right just before reaching a house. Continue to the road (D119), walk along it to the left for a few dozen metres; just before a bus stop, note the presence of a fire hydrant.

(9) Immediately afterwards, take the rutted track on the right. Walk to the bottom of the valley where it meets another track. Take this one to the right. The track then becomes grassy and turns sharply to the left. Stay on this grassy track at the bottom of the valley; do not take the paths that climb up the hillsides. The track runs alongside a wooded area and, a few dozen metres after a left-hand bend, you’ll reach a path that descends to the right.

(10) It descends steeply for a few metres and crosses the woodland. Turn 90° to the left at the edge of the woodland, then 90° to the right along a vineyard plot, then left along the perpendicular plot and finally right onto a path leading to a house from a small local road.

(11) Follow this road downhill to a hamlet crossed by a gully. When this road turns sharply left, leave it and head straight on along the path between the vineyards and the woodland. Climb up to the end of this plot to join a small road.

(12) Turn right onto this small road, which stays on the crest of the hillsides (there are several views of the Garonne valley to enjoy). Ignore all the side paths, then pass a civil aviation control tower on your left before reaching a junction shortly afterwards.

(13) Cross the junction and take a vineyard track that climbs up the roadside embankment before turning right along the vineyard. At the^first junction with another vineyard track, turn left; at the^second, turn right, continuing straight on towards the west along the vineyard plots. You’ll arrive near Langoiran Castle. Do not head towards the castle but turn right onto the track leading down to the D119 below.

(14) Cross the D119 and turn left onto the track at the foot of the vineyard, running parallel to the D119. Follow the edge of the woodland on your left for about 500 m. Then turn right onto the track between the vineyard plots, heading north-north-west to join a rutted track. Turn left and ignore the property at the top of the hillside on your right. This path climbs quite steeply towards the top of the hillside, marked by a few shrubs that are clearly visible from below. Stay on the top of the embankment; the top of the hillside is marked by a small ‘low wall’ of limestone. Follow the path as it curves slightly to the right (northwards).

(15) Continue along the path between the vineyards, on level ground, until you reach a road. Take the road to the left and walk past the cemetery. Pass in front of the gate to Château le Biac and continue to the wayside cross, set slightly back from the road on your left.

(16) Head towards the wayside cross, pass to the right of the monument, then take the path that veers to the right between a wooded area and the boundary of the property. After a few dozen metres along the property’s fence, it descends steeply into the Garonne valley between two properties at the D10.

(17) Cross the D10 (take care) and follow the footbridge on the right, built along the banks of the Garonne. Pass under the bridge (incorrectly known as the Eiffel Bridge, as it was actually built by the contractor Five Lilles), and continue to the mouth of the Grand Estey. Do not cross the Grand Estey.

(18) Walk up the Grand Estey via Rue de Berquin. About 200 metres further on, turn right into the pedestrianised Rue des Écoles to reach the town hall car park (S/E).

Picnic tables are available on the banks of the Garonne near the mouth of the Grand Estey.

The paths that cross the vineyards are often private paths used to access the plots. Hikers are tolerated here. However, do not cross the vineyard plots; stay on the paths between the plots. Stay as far away as possible from the buildings and structures in the vineyards, as these are often the headquarters of the wine estate where you are walking.