Argelès-sur-Mer
A « classical » hiking in the Pyrénées.-Orientales. The circuit, very pleasant, offers magnificent points of view crowned at the top by an exceptional panorama on the Vermillion coast.
5h45 / 14 km
LOCATION
Argelès-sur-Mer, at 30 km south-east of Perpignan by D914, exit n°12
PARKING
At Valmy Castle
TO DISCOVER ON THE WAY
Valmy Castle and its park, the Massane Tower, chapelle
HERITAGE
The Valmy castle
A surprising edifice, which, backed by the Albères mountains, embraces the vineyards and the Mediterranean sea. Art Nouveau style & unique to the Belle Epoque, it is the work of the Danish architect Viggo Dorph Petersen, who came to Paris to complete his training, then to Perpignan to realize the Grand Hotel du Casino in Vernet-les-Bains. In this prosperous industrial period, he finds in the department a wealthy bourgeois clientele that allows him, while respecting certain principles of the “beaux arts”School, to give free rein to his imagination. Many buildings such as the Château Paul, the former Café de la Loge, the Villa Les Tilleuls, the Esparrou castle, are also part of his achievements.
MARKING
Yellow
DIFFICULTIES
None.
1 From the car park, take the road for 150 m, then turn left.
2 Do not cross the fording, but take the track on the left which goes along the wall of the castle Valmy. At Mas Peyrot, follow the path to the left. To reach higher on a track; take it to the left. Reach an intersection where you have to climb a path through the cork oaks to reach the dolmen of the Cova de l’Alarb.
3 Continue uphill to reach a crossroads. Take the second trail on the left, cross the track, then turn right and left again. At dolmen dels Collets de Cotlliure (274 m), continue on the path that goes up to the track (363 m). Turn left, cross the crossroads, then, ten meters after a reservoir, reach a path departure on the right.
4 Engage in this path that rises. Above, cross the track again and go further under a power line. Get on the track (Coll del Camp d’en Selva – 489 m) and stay on it until its end. There, take the path on the right that leads to Coll de la Plaça d’Armes.
5 Turn right towards the Massane tower and follow the path in line of ridge. From the tower (exceptional panoramic view, 793 m, caution in case of strong wind), leave first at full North, then go down to Coll del Pomer (554 m). There, leave the path that goes left to continue to the crossroads of Roc del Grill (532 m).
6 Go right, then go down until reaching a new intersection (380 m). Ignore the path that goes to the right and continue straight. Further down, reach a crossroads and a track at the height of the mas d’en Pardès (ruins). Take the track to the right and follow it to the Mas de la Monja.
7 Take the track downhill. Ignore lower the one that starts on the right and continue until the Mas Blanc. Follow the road that leads to the park car park of Valmy Castle.