Exploring the “plans inclinés”

Hiking distance : 9, 10, 15, 11 and 10 km ; Hiking time : 3 to 4 1/2 hours
information panel at les Pinèdes
info panel a the Pinèdes tower

Just north-west of Alès, these five different walking routes explore the ruins and visible remains of the “plans inclinés”, a nineteenth century mountain rail transport system built to move coal from the remote Broussous valley to a railhead in La Levade. The network was operated between 1859 and 1867, just 8 short years before being abandoned (and then swiftly dismantled) in favour of conventional rail transport. (read about the system here.) The area covered by these walks includes the Broussos valley, the mountain pass at Portes, the Pereyrols ridge above La Vernarède, the Pinèdes valley and the Luminières valley.
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The Calanques of Marseille

Hiking distance : 1er jour : 15.5 km ; 2ème jour : 12.9 km km ; Hiking time : 1er jour : 07.00 ; 2ème jour : 05.00
Mediterranean shore near the Melette islet
Mediterranean shore near the Melette islet

In south central France, everyone has heard of the “Calanques”, a zone of low but craggy white limestone peaks, arid valleys and narrow sea inlets between Marseille and Cassis. Calanque refers to a particular type of narrow inlet or cove – typically deeply indented into the coastline. In 2012 a national park was created here covering an area of land and sea. The Calanques area is frequented by many different users including divers, climbers, and hikers. For hikers, a waymarked trail runs more or less parallel to the coast all the way between Cassis and the southern end of Marseille. The trail is a stretch for a single day walk (22 km and about 2000 m cumulative climb) but easy to complete in 2 days so you usually need an overnight stay near one of the trail heads and an arrangement to be picked up at the chosen endpoint. Continue reading “The Calanques of Marseille”

A coal mining valley

Hiking distance : 10.6 km km ; Hiking time : 03:00
former mine workshops : Pourcharesses
former mine workshops : Pourcharesses

La Vernarède was a coal mining town in the second half of the 19th century and is now a sleepy village at the bottom of a deep valley below the Portes castle. In a companion article, I provide the background to a remarkable coal transport system called “les plans inclinés” that started in La Vernarède and transported coal over 2 mountain passes and an intervening valley to a railhead at La Levade. In this article, I describe a pleasant walk through the Vernarède valley in September where we spotted a number of interesting trees and plants and a few vestiges of the coal mining past. Continue reading “A coal mining valley”

Mas de l’Ancienne Église

Hiking distance : 16,6 km ; Hiking time : 04:30
Belvezet, ruined church
Belvezet, ruined church

This easy loop starts from the town hall in Aigaliers and goes through some surprising countryside between the towns of Aigaliers and Belvezet.

On leaving Aigaliers, you get a fine view of the hamlet of Foussargues which you will also traverse later on. Then follows a walk up a narrow “combe” until reaching a high point and a right turn to head down to the Mas de l’Ancienne Église in Belvezet. While the normal meaning of “mas” in this area is “old – large – farmhouse”, in this case, “mas” refers to the hamlet itself, no doubt begun as a group of buildings around the original farmhouse.

In this hamlet, there is indeed an old church which has been left to fall into ruins until recently (the pictures here date from 2008). By 2012, the structure was threatening to collapse. Then around 2015 the Belvezet town council obtained financial assistance and decided to renovate the old church for use as a town meeting room and cultural centre.
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