 Hiking |  | | Three hiking paths have recently been waymarked in Villes-sur-Auzon's mountains. |
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The "sentier de découverte"
This path was waymarked by the pupils and teachers of the village school with the help of the local ranger. It gives some insight into the Mediterranean vegetation, and shows the traces left in the landscape by men and women who lived and worked there. The path begins near the sports ground. It is marked with green arrows on wooden posts, and there are many explanatory signs. | | |
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The "sentier des citernes"
Until recently people were living and working in the mountains, pricipally as shepherds and woodcutters. In order to survive they needed water, which is very scarce in this arid limestone region. so they built stone water tanks in strategic places to catch and store rain water. This path takes you to most of these, amidst a landscape of hills and gullies. There are two departure points, one in the village itself, the other 2 km up the D1 road towards Sault. | |
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"The sentier des charbonnières"
Villes-sur-Auzon's forests used to be exploited for making charcoal. The charcoal burners lived in the mountains, cutting wood which was then stacked and covered with earth and leaves so that it would burn slowly and become charcoal. The combustion lasted several days and required constant attention to prevent the wood from going up in flames, so there was nearly always a hut built nearby. This path takes you to about twenty charcoal-burning sites, all of them set in wonderful scenery. The path starts 8 km from the village on the D1 road towards Sault. | |  |
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There are many other opportunities for hiking around Villes-sur-Auzon.
The mountain path from Villes to Methamis
Follow the Nesque road for about 500m. At a bend (yellow signpost marked "Réganeou"), turn right down a small road, and immediately take the path on the left and follow the red and white marks to Methamis. There are beautiful view points over the lower part of the Nesque gorges, and, a little later, towards the picturesque village of Methamis perched on its rock. | |  |
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Les Gorges de la Nesque
There are three interesting paths down to the bottom of the gorges.
1° About 17 km from Villes-sur-Auzon, stop at the second parking place after the second tunnel. A breach in the wall gives acces to a steep path marked with blue dots.
2° At the look-out point, 2 km further on, there is a path going down to the left through a small meadow
3° 1 km after the look-out point there is a path leading down to the Chapelle Saint Michel situated in a cave down below. It is indicated by a yellow signpost, and there are red and white marks all the way down. |  |
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The Mont Ventoux
This legendary mountain is well worth climbing. It takes at least 4 hours to walk from the foot to the summit of the mountain. The view is breathtaking. One of the nearest routes from Villes-sur-Auzon starts at the hamlet of Les Constants (near Sainte-Colombe) and leads up to the summit via the Combe d'Ansis and the Combe Fiole. During the summer months, many people climb up at night to watch the sun rise. |  |
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| Pictures taken from the summit at sunrise |
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| Detailed descriptions (in French) for some walks near Villes-sur-Auzon can be downloaded here: |
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