 |
| Les Goudes |
This is a fantastic mountain walk only some 7 km from
the centre of Marseille. Best for winter and out of the hot season (little
shade), but to be avoided in high winds and in wet weather. The view as just superb
all the way and the 360 degrees views from the top of Marseilleveyre is
magnificent. As a bonus you pass the massive Cave de Saint-Michel on the way
up. Well worth a visit (15 minutes extra). From early May till almost Christmas
time you could also take a refreshing swim at the beach at Calanque de
Marseilleveyre on the way back (30 minutes extra for the swim). You could also visit
the tiny Port des Croisette and Cap Croisette on the way back to les Goudes
(extra 20 minutes all the way out).
Attention: This area is often closed to the
public from 1st June till 30th September because of the risk of forest fires.
But call 0811 201313 for exact information.
 |
| On the way up to Sommet de Marseilleveyre. |
You park anywhere near Port des Goudes (no problems
out of season) and start the walk up Chemin de la Batterie. This is the Red trail
No 1 on the map (marked red in the terrain) and after only 15 minutes you join
the GR51-98 trail for a short while further uphill. After only some 5 minutes,
the Red No 1 trail leaves the GR trail off to the left (well marked on stone).
Some 25 minutes later and much higher up, the red trail joins a yellow marked
trail. You want to stay on the yellow trail No 3 (takes off shortly to the
right) in order to see the Cave Saint-Michel (5-6 minute’s walk – one way) and
you see the massive entrance from far away. It’s a massive big Cave worth visiting
for a look (lamp recommended).
You might have noticed that Green trail No. 1 joined
your yellow walk on the small hill top before you reached the Cave. To continue
the walk you want the joint yellow/green trail back to the hill top, where you
want to take off to the right along the Green No 1 trail heading north here.
You follow the green trail for about 10 minutes till it joins the red trail,
which is the route you want for the top of Mount Marseilleveyre, where you will
be in another 40 minutes. This is the main viewpoint and it is quite a large
area up there, so easy to find a place for lunch.
 |
| Grotte Saint Michel |
The way down from the top on the Red 1 path is quite
steep and as usual in these parts full of rolling stones. Keep a sturdy foot!
The steep path you start on downhill is the joint red, yellow and blue trails.
After about 15 minutes downhill, you want to branch out to the right and follow
the Blue No 1 trail direct to Col de la Selle, where you will be in about 20
minutes.
It should be noted, however, that if you want to avoid
this somewhat airy part of the blue trail, you could stay on the red trail all
the way down and at the “bottom” take right onto a yellow trail for the climb
back up to Col de la Selle. It is slightly longer, but takes about the same
time and is easier walking. The only thing you will miss is keeping the hight (you
walk down and up again) and the lovely views along the mountain ridge.
 |
| Sommet de Marseilleveyre |
At Col de la Selle the walk turns south for the sea,
and you will follow Yellow path No 2 (starts off south-west from the Col).
Follow this path for about 40 minutes till you see a massive great boulder only
a few meters from you on your left just before the hill top marked 149 meters.
The trail is marked yellow 2b on old maps, but is no longer marked in the terrain.
The path is shown on most free landscape maps, so you find the position with a
GPS. Just behind this boulder you will see the path going down steeply, and you
follow the steep path down till it joins the green trail No 3 going down the
valley below in about 20 minutes. Now you turn right down the green path and
you will be on the beach of Calanque de Marseilleveyre in about 5-6 minutes.
Here it should be noted that you could easily avoid
the unmarked and steep path down from just before Col de la Galinette (at the
big boulder) by taking off from the yellow trail after only some 15 minutes
walk from leaving Col de la Selle. Here the Green trail No 3 takes off down
into the valley and you will be on the beach in about 30 minutes (20 minutes
quicker than on the longer but more scienic route along the yellow trail).
 |
| The beach at Calanque de Marseilleveyre |
The beach at Calanque de Marseilleveyre is the biggest
in these parts and well suited for a swim. The local café serves just coffees
or full hot meals (no electricity out here, but nice basic food). The
restaurant is not open every day all year around as in the old days, but you
could consult their Facebook page for more information: Search for “restaurant
chez le belge”.
 |
| La Grotte at Callelongue looks like any odd Cafe/Restaurant from the outside. |
The main path along the sea (GR51 and Black path 2)
will take you to Callelongue in about 45 minutes and the way proposed for
getting back to the car will take you another 30 minutes. There is a very nice
Café/Restaurant in Callelongue and in les Goudes you will also find places
open. Could be well worth delaying the departure home till after rush hours! It’s
worth noticing, however, that the drive back to Pertuis only took us 1 hour 10
minutes starting at 17.00 at les Goudes on a Monday in January (using the toll
tunnel directly from le PRADO).
 |
| Calanque de Callelongue |
For the shortest way back to the car (about 30
minutes), you walk out of Callelongue along the main road uphill all the way to
the top. You turn left into the parking area here and follow first the highest
path for the hill just in front of you. Well before you reach the top, however,
get down on the wide path/track road going along the northern side of the hill.
Follow this path passed the hill top (great views of the local harbour and
Marseille all the way) and where it seems to stop, you walk up a little to join
the path going down on the ridge itself in a northern direction.
 |
| Les Goudes. |
Head for the monument on top of the next hill, but
before you get this far you see a narrow path cut out in the rocks taking off
to the right. This path takes you directly to the village les Goudes. The path
takes you first down to another surfaced path which you take to the right. Very
soon you see some stairs going further down directly to the harbour (with a
signpost). Take down the stairs and you are soon on the main road going into
les Goudes. Follow the main road into les Goude and around back to the car.
Basic information:
Duration: 6h (including 1h for lunch)
Distance: 11 km.
Ascent: 620 m (accumulated)
Difficulty: Difficult
Start/finish: Les Goudes or Callelongue (Marseille)
Map: IGN Les Calanques de Marseille á Cassis (1cm=150 m)
VisoRando
Lien.
Pour le fichier GPX, vous pouvez télécharger à partir
d'ici (voir ci-dessus) ou mettre à jour via ce lien VisoRando où vous pourrez
également voir l'itinéraire sur une
bonne carte:
For the GPX-file, you
could download from here (see just above) or go to this VisoRando link where
you also will see the route on a good
map.
If
you have problems with this VisoRando link, download the GPX-file from above
and import it to VisoRando or other application.
TET:
2019, December, Jacky made a slightly longer walk, but without the coast.
2019, December, Jacky made a slightly longer walk, but without the coast.
No comments:
Post a Comment