VERS LES HAUTEURS DE PARDAILHAN

Departure from the Beaucaire canoe-kayak base, near the Ténarèze tourist sign Take the road opposite the sign to join the D939 road. Cross the road and take the road opposite the Espitalès for 200 meters 1. Turn right onto the gravel road and follow it for 800 metres to the top 2. Go along and around the vineyards on your right to join a small path that goes down into a hedge below, on your right. Follow this path down into the hedge towards the stream La Bèze. Walk along it and cross it thanks to the small bridge. Follow the path to reach a tarmac road that you will take on the right for 75 meters 3. Take the path on the left just after the brook, and follow it for 200 meters. Turn right to take the rural path which goes up in a hedge. Cross the small tarmac road and continue across the road on the rural path which continues. It ends up near a farm 4. Turn left onto the tarmac road and continue for 200m. At the intersection with the Turaque road (with a view of the medieval tower of Gardès), turn left and continue on the tarmac for 220 metres 5. Turn left onto the stony path of Birgou and walk along it until you reach the park of a house that you will cross with respect. Keep to the right to join the rural path which continues through a grove leading to a pond. Cross between the two waterholes and go up towards the vineyards which you will walk along and then go round by turning left 6. At the tarmac road, turn left and follow it for 400 metres, towards the hamlet of Béziat. Go straight ahead and then turn right to follow the path which becomes gravelled as you approach the house, then grassy when it enters a hedge. Follow the rural path which goes through a hedge for 250 meters, then forks to the left to cross a meadow and join a grove which will take you up to the place called Puységur which you will go round on the right 7. At the gravel path, turn right to join the tarmac road. Take the Route de Couté opposite and follow it for 400 metres. Turn left after the wood and go along the vineyards. Continue along the young hedge and turn right to go along the meadow, then the wood. At the end of the wood, turn left on a small path which enters the wood and crosses it for 500 metres. Go around the vineyard on the left and join the tarmac road 8. Turn right for 30 meters and then left again to go along a vineyard. Go down to the grove to take a path that winds through the woods, along a small stream. With respect, you will walk for more than 600 meters in a preserved environment, without ever crossing the stream. The path goes up to the left as you approach a farm. Turn left, then immediately right to go around horse pens. At the gravel path, turn left to join the tarmac road 9. Turn right and carefully take the small tarmac road for 500 metres to reach the hamlet of Pardailhan. At the intersection, turn right and pass between the cemetery and the Romanesque chapel. Continue on the road until you reach the artistic installation of the "Château des couleurs" which offers a breathtaking view of the castle of Pardailhan (private) 10. Leave the road to go straight across the meadow towards a hundred year old holm oak. Go straight on to pass between two fields, then go along the hedge on the right 11. At the tarmac road, turn right for 70 metres, then go into the field on your left to go around the field which runs alongside a stream. Cross the stream La Bèze by the small bridge. Turn right on a farm road, then left, to take a rural road that climbs a steep slope through the woods. Follow it until you reach a wire fence that you will bypass on the right. Back on the flat, turn left on the farm track to join the gravelled, then tarmac road near a farm. Turn right and take the small tarred road which goes down towards Beaucaire 12. At the intersection, turn right for 410 meters to the place called l'Espitalès. Go into the meadow on your left and walk along the grove. Take the path opposite which goes down through wood, and continue between two fields up to the road. Go along the field by taking on the right for 80 meters and cross carefully the D939 13. Take the rural road opposite which joins the river Baïse. Go along it for 850 metres. Continue on the tarmac road on your left to return to the starting point.