Mons, La Coste, Le Verdier. A walk in the Languredoc.

A short walk today from Mons (You can park by the church) along the Sentier de Gorges following the yellow/red markers through the chestnut woods to the gorge road.

Turn left and go up into the gorge, then cross the little footbridge to the yellow marked route. Lovely views of the gorge here. Turn right and walk through the woods to La Coste.

Once in the hamlet turn off the yellow route and go straight down the little cobbled path between the houses and through the little fields and orchards until you come to the voie vert. Turn right onto the voie vert and cross the bridge.

Lovely views of the gorge and the Orb /Jaur here. Once over the bridge you will see a small stone with a blue marker. Take the tiny path down to the base of the bridge(Le Verdier Bas) and cross the track.

You will see a small blue marked path between stone walls that follows the river up into the Heric car park. At the top turn left and head to Le Verdier Haut. In the hamlet turn right and follow the blue markers to cross the road.

Now follow the yellow/red markers back to Mons once again through the woods. A lovely walk to do on a hot day. Takes about 1H.15/ 4km. You can stop for a drink or an ice cream in the gorge car park cafe on the way back.

Les balcons d'Arles. Colombieres-sur-Orb. A walk in the Languedoc.

Les balcons d'Arles. Colombieres-sur-Orb. 2H  5km. Blue markers.This is a really pretty little walk. I started it from the car park for the Voie Vert but it really starts from the car park in the gorge. (If you start from the gorge car park walk down to the D908 and turn left after the bridge there is a little road on the opposite side of the road to Les Claps).

Follow it down keeping right after the houses (chemin des claps). Then left onto the little road past the voie vert and down to a tiny footpath. Turn right at a little wall and walk along this tiny path through the woods and past small vineyards.

At a left turn join a large track which continues uphill, over the voie vert again and up the the D908. Cross the road and take the little concrete road to your right. The road bears right at the château and goes up to la Barriere.

Turn left past the forge and up the little street to le Theron. Follow the road up to the church and then bear to the left but take the right hand track uphill. This track goes through the woods and then opens out into lovely views of the valley and the gorge. At a junction turn right onto the yellow/blue path down to Colombieres.

There's a lovely viewpoint of the gorge on the way down. If you have started from the voie vert CP turn right at the steeps and then left. There's a lovely view from the bridge of the gorge and waterfalls.

Cross the road and take the little road on the right down to Les claps. Follow the blue markers carefully as it switches right and then left down a tiny cobbled path before coming back out onto a little road to cross a small bridge over the river.

This route follows a lovely little bubbling channel of water all the way from the river at the top to join the river further down. It's quite fascinating how it winds it's way through the little streets, gardens and chestnut orchards. This is a delightful little walk and well worth doing if you don't fancy and big climb. Lots of beautiful wild flowers along the way and lovely views.

Mons, Les Pradals, Bardou

Mons, Les Pradals, Bardou. A beautiful walk today. 11km, 4H but I did stopped to talk to a few friends along the way. 

Up the Ravine path yellow/red route from Mons to the col de Bardou then on to a lovely spot on the way to the Chapel of St Martin. 

I didn't go all the way up, just a short way for the views. Then down on the Bardou path GR7 for a while before turning off on the blue path which winds it's way down to join the little Bardou road. 

The road finally reaches Les Pradals and once out of the village turn left to reach Mons once again. Beautiful route.

L'Esquirol. Roquebrun. Laguedoc.

L'Esquirol. Roquebrun. Just did a section of it today, between Roquebrun and des Bezenedes and back to Roquebrun. It looks a lovely route but I didn't have time today to do a lot of walking. 

The whole route is 18km 6H. The part I did goes up from Roquebrun with lovely views of the area.

Gorge d'Heric, Baou Filiti, Bardou,ravine route to Mons. A lovely walk in the Languedoc.

Gorge d'Heric, Baou Filiti, Bardou,ravine route to Mons. 11.5km. 3.45m. Mixed markings.A lovely walk of moderate difficulty. Park at the church in Mons.Take the red/yellow marked route and follow it through the woods along the little path from the village to the gorge. 

At the road to the gorge turn left and take the little road that goes for about 5km up the gorge d'Heric. Beautiful scenery all the way, with mountain views and waterfalls. When you reach the Hamlet of Heric turn left into the hamlet past the little cafe (a nice place for a drink or an ice cream). 

You are now on the GR7 (red/white markers) going towards the col de Bardou. The little path descends down to a pretty place beside the river where you will find some small waterfalls and pools. Keep descending down to the pont de Heric and cross the little bridge. 

Keep left after the bridge still following the red/white markers. It's a steep zigzagging path through lovely old chestnut woods and when you reach the col you can take a little side trip for lovely views. At the signpost turn right but don't follow the yellow/red markers go straight on and follow the blue markers for about 100m. 

You will soon come to the lovely Baou Filiti, a wonderful lookout where you can enjoy an amazing view down into the gorge. Now go back to the signpost at the col de Bardou and turn right, but almost straight away you take a left signposted to Mons red/yellow markers (Mons is only 5km from her so don't worry about the signpost saying it's 8km, it's not). Stay on this lovely path above Bardou until you reach a split in the trail. 

Take the left branch and keep following the red/yellow markers. There are lovely views down into the ravine here. Stay on this route and don't follow any other coloured routes they are all smaller more rocky routes that lead back down the slopes of the gorge. 

There are beautiful views of the Jaur valley just before you reach Mons. The yellow/red markers will take you back into Mons but you may find the last bit rather challenging as it's steep. If this is so turn right onto the path just before it descends into the village and follow the blue triangles, it's much easier. 

The car park it at the bottom of this road. It's a lovely route. One of my favourites.

Les Cascades de Mauroul. Saint Julien a lovely little walk in the Languedoc.

Les Cascades de Mauroul. Saint Julien (turn off the D14 from Olargues). Blue markers, graded very easy, but had a 2 year old with us and me with my silly ankle. 1.7km/45 mins, but you can extend the walk a little to take in the beautiful views of the valley too. 

After leaving the D14 and taking the little road down to Mauroul, park in the visitors car park and walk down the little track to the first cascade. There is a view from the top and also from the bottom. Cross the stream at the bottom of the waterfall and your will come to a pool called the marmite de sanglier where you will see the ferns and moss glistening with the dripping water. 

Then go back to the bridge and walk down to the source (a lovely spring of bubbling fresh water coming out of the ground as clear as can be). New walkways make it very easy to enjoy this lovely walk with young children. It's quite a magical place. 

Follow the stream back up to the bridge and cross the second stream. Soon you will come to another beautiful waterfall and then another! Keep going up and if you fancy a side trip, follow the little path to your right that takes you out on a lovely level path with glorious views of the valley, mountains and all the wonderful yellow bloom covered slopes.

Follow the path back and then rejoin the blue walk past another waterfall and the double cascade du dragon de l'Espinouse. Soon you will come to the edge of the village turn right and go to the top of the village where the path bear left around the the village and then back to the car park. It's a most beautiful spot for summer picnics, walks and paddles. 

Looks like you can join the GR7 by a path a the top of the hamlet for longer walks. The menu for the Auberge there looked good too.

Les Yeuses, Lunas a pretty walk in the Languedoc.

Les Yeuses, Lunas. 4.4km 1H30 but it took me just over an hour.Blue markers.A lovely easy little walk with fine views and lots of wild flowers. 

The walk starts in the village centre next to the Mairie. Go to the left of the Mairie and walk up to the railway track. Turn left and cross the track then up the little road until it turns left and goes under an overhanging rock. 

The road becomes a track as it bears left again and continues uphill. At a viewpoint over the village the track bear right and the GR soon joins the track. 

The wide track continues uphill until it reaches a ruin and a small house shortly after this the route turns right down a small path and winds its way downhill. At the railway track it bear left over the track and then right down to the river. 

Crossing the river on a small bridge and then turning right and almost up to the road before joining a track that follows the river. 

After the tennis courts the route goes up some steps and then onto the road turning right once again to go back to the Mairie. Make sure you visit the village too as it's very pretty and there are small nice places to eat there.

Les balcons d'Arles. Colombieres-sur-Orb

Les balcons d'Arles. Colombieres-sur-Orb. walk details say 2H but I took 1H15. 5km. Blue markers.This is a really pretty little walk. 

I started it from the car park for the Voie Vert but it really starts from the car park in the gorge. If you start from the gorge car park walk down to the D908 and turn left after the bridge there is a little road on the opposite side of the road to Les Claps. 

Follow it down keeping right after the houses (chemin des claps). Then left onto the little road past the voie vert and down to a tiny footpath. Turn right at a little wall and walk along this tiny path through the woods and past small vineyards. 

At a left turn join a large track which continues uphill, over the voie vert again and up the the D908. Cross the road and take the little concrete road to your right. The road bears right at the château and goes up to la Barriere. 

Turn left past the forge and up the little street to le Theron. Follow the road up to the church and then bear to the left but take the right hand track uphill. 

This track goes through the woods and then opens out into lovely views of the valley and the gorge. At a junction turn right onto the yellow/blue path down to Colombieres.

Les Vailhes. Lac du Salagou, Languedoc.

Les Vailhes. Lac du Salagou. 3km 1H. Very easy. There are a number of walks that you can enjoy at the lake; some long and some short. Today we had a rather enthusiastic two year old trainee with us so a shorter walk was needed with a picnic along the shore, lots of stone throwing and flower sniffing(but not the cactus!).

We walked from the car park near the camp site along the shore on the yellow route and then up to the 10th century ; La chapelle Notre-Dame de Clans on the bike route (yellow bike markers). Turning left onto the track after viewing the chapel. 

This track joins the middle track and then reaches the village of Les Vailhes where you turn left and onto the little road that passes through the hamlet (yellow markers again). The track descends to join the lower path once again and back to the car park. It's a nice short version for those with small children or don't want to walk too far. Otherwise this is the normal route. 

Les Vailhes. Lac du Salagou. 3h30 10km. Medium length with one short climb. Starting from the large car park at Les Vailhes you follow the little path along the edge of the lake. It's a little up and down be not difficult. Lovely views across the lake all the way. Finally you get to the end of the lake, not too far from the dam, here you turn left up the hill with a fairly steep path of little stone steeps. At the top take the path to the left again and keep on this until you get to a junction. Here take the middle path. (The lower one goes back to the lake near the village and the blue path goes up and over the hill on another circular route). Keep on the yellow route with lovely views from this high spot. 

Finally the path turns left when it joins the blue path again and goes down to the village of Les Vailhes. Go to the left and then down the little road to the village. After passing through the village you come to a small gate leading back to the lake. When you join the lakeside path again turn right back to the car park.

A fascinating little wander through the village of Celles. On the banks of Lac du Salagou. The valley having been purchased in the 1960's to create a new water source for agriculture in the area was filled over a number of years until the little hamlet of Celles submerged and abandoned. Some years later it was agreed to lessen the height of the lake and now the little hamlet is coming to life once again.

La chapelle Notre-Dame de Clans. Lac du Salagou. 

The 10th century chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and situated near the bottom of the plateau.The name Clands comes from the bells that rang on the heards that grazed near the chapel. It has a curious legend which tells of a wealthy lady who was traveling with an old mule to Mass on August 15th to the church in Celles. 

The mule knew the way and was jingling his bells to a local tune at every step. To get the ceremony you had to cross the river Salagou but there was a problem. A violent storm had picked up and suddenly the water grow higher. The lady took fright and began to pray the Holy Virgin. She promised to build a chapel on the slopes of the plateau the Auverne if they were saved. 

The mule added that if they were saved it would give to the tower "clans" around his neck. And from the chapel his bells (Clans) watch over the plain of Salagou.

It's an interesting old building with beautiful views. Well worth a visit if you are up there.

l'Arboussie, Roquebrun, a walk in the vineyards of the Languedoc.

l'Arboussie, Roquebrun. 10km / 3h. Blue markings. A glorious walk leaving from Roquebrun and heading up through beauitful vineyards with wonderful views of the Caroux and Espinouse and even down to the snowy Pyrenees. 

The route passes through lush garrigue, the whole route is lined   with an abundance of wild flowers of every colour. Bird song too and even some interesting signs about the grapes varieties.

Park in the little car park near the Tourist information and turn right onto the bridge. At the bridge turn right onto a little road which passes beside the beautiful river (you can also choose to take another track over the vineyards above if you prefer). 

You come to a left turn and take this uphill to another junction where you turn right beside a small mazet with signs for the walk.  Later you cross a junction and keep straight on up the hill ignoring any other side routes. You now find that the route bears to the left as it reaches the top with a beautiful view down to Roquebrun and over to the Caroux. 

You will then see a house at the top of the hill on your right but keep left hill and go down the hill past the pretty vineyard building. The route bear right at a no through sign and continues do the hill until it reaches a little road where you turn left. Keep on this road for a short while and soon you will see a left turn at the top of a rise. 

This track winds down through the vineyards until it comes to the D14. Cross the road and take the little track opposite. This bears to the left and keeps to the left of the river. You will come to the end of the wide track and continue on the smaller path to reach the beach area of the river with more lovely views of Roquebrun. 

At the end of the beach take the steps to your right and turn right to go back over the bridge and the car park. 

The views on this walk are just so beautiful and if I could bottle the sounds of birds and the rich smells of the flowers in the garrigue, the wonderful pines, I would, but it's such a lovely walk, I will leave it to you to enjoy.