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  5. Stage 8, step by step: Marseille la Barasse to Gémenos, Jas de la Lèbre

Stage 8, step by step: Marseille la Barasse to Gémenos, Jas de la Lèbre

The previous stage ended your discovery of Marseille. You will now leave the Phocaean city and go through the landscapes described by Marcel Pagnol, from the Garlaban to the Sainte-Baume. All the charm of Provence.

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©Slpmm 8

    25 km – Length: 6¼ h – Yellow, Red Marking

    1. Follow Chemin du Vallon de la Barasse on the right. Go through the DFCI CQ 220 barrier on the left and continue on the flat on the little road. Between 1 and 6 secondary linkup via La Penne sur Huveaune  7 km  –  2 hours. After the barrier walk up to the left on the DFCI CQ 204 trail. In La Penne sur Huveaune, go up Chemin de Cassis. Go past the STAB shooting range, and continue on the forest path to where the little road meets a trail (CQ 05 signpost).
    2. Go up left towards La Candolle, La Millière and La Penne-sur-Huveaune and come out 500 m after the Vallon de Luinant intersection (CQ 06 signpost).
    3. Climb up the path to the left following a wide turn and cross a steep area. The climb is sometimes steep, at others on the cliffside and it crosses shelves of rock before reaching a little plateau (alt. 340 metres). Go down towards Vallon des Escourtines very carefully on a stony and sometimes rocky path. Continue left in the dale on a path which winds through the vegetation for 900 metres.
    4. At the CQ 03 sign, leave the Sentier des Escourtines and go right. This path rises steeply in a rocky area, overhangs a cirque, goes across some scree and then, after a shelf of rock, comes out on a plateau. After you reach a path coming from La Penne-sur-Huveaune, continue up to the top and follow a panoramic path along the clifftop. After a rocky part, you will arrive at La Candolle (404 metres).
    5. Take the path opposite, which does a wide loop, before going down a little more than 200 metres. View of the Camp de Carpiagne, Mont Puget and Cap Canaille. Leave the trail to take the path going up to the left towards the ridge, and past the top of Le Télégraphe (you can see a ruined tower). Go down via some ridges to reach Chemin de Cassis (alt. 198 metres).
    6. At the SB 59 signpost, turn right, go past Citerne 197, and 130 metres after it, take the path to the left which does a wide turn before going down, sometimes steeply, towards the bottom of the dale. Follow it left to the little Route de Carpiagne. Go under the railway bridge and continue on this little road, under another bridge, past a military building and you will come to the SB 57 sign, (50 metres before the “50 km/h” speed limit sign).
    7. Where the paths cross, leave the road and go right, under the railway tracks and up into the woods to the upper trail. Go across it and take the little path opposite just above it. Follow it for 350 metres and cross the trail again to take the discovery trail on the left (sentier de découverte) which goes down to the Parc de la Coueste. After the SB 54 sign and a reservoir, go through a barrier and continue along the little road and then Chemin des Espillières.
    8. At the crossroads, go straight on along Allée de la Fourmi. In a bend, go up the steps to the left on Traverse de la Cigale which enables you to go over the motorway. Take Chemin des Espillières on the left which goes down quite steeply. At the crossroads with Avenue du 19 Mars 1962, go straight on along Chemin des Espillières. At the crossroads, straight on along Boulevard Gambetta, then left in Rue Jeu de Ballon. When you get to Lycée Sainte-Marie, go left onto Rue Lucienne Tourrel, then second right, Rue Jardinière. Have a look at the triangular bell tower in pink stone. Go straight ahead across Place Joseph Rau then Rue de la Liberté which comes out opposite the Mairie on Boulevard Jean-Jaurès. Go up it to the right and then take the first left, the narrow Rue Martinot, which becomes Rue Rastègue and comes out on Cours Barthélémy. After No. 16, the house where Marcel Pagnol was born, go across the square in front of the Pharmacie and go straight on along the promenade piétonne du Bras d Or. When you reach the end, go across the square and straight on towards the Pôle d’échange. Go to the train station. (Gare Ferroviaire).
    9. Opposite the station, turn right onto Avenue Jeanne-d’Arc. On the left, go across the 2 squares. Go down the steps to the left of the Porte du Millénaire and take the serviced path along the River Huveaune. Before you get to the bridge, come out by the steps on the left, go down to the roundabout and head for Beaudinard. Go across the bridge over the railway tracks and take the first right onto the D 43a, then on the left follow the D 43b for 2 km, across the agricultural plain of Aubagne. After a riding school (Centre Equestre), go right, take the bridge over the motorway and go right on the D 43c for “Pont de l’Etoile” for 400 m.
    10. At the level of No. 1221, branch off right onto Chemin des Petits-Mellets. A little after the Les Mellets bus stop and an S-bend, and after No. 610, go right. Go along beside a dam and at the crossroads of No. 1061, go left on the D 43d, Chemin de St Jean de Garguier. After No. 1560, at the crossroads, go across, with caution and continue towards St Clair.
    11. After the priory, go right up Chemin de Saint-Jean, and at the roundabout go right and through the housing estate. At point 11, secondary linkup to Plan d’Aups  19 km  –  6½ hours. At the roundabout, go up left towards the Col de l’Espigoulier, Col de Bertagne, La Toulonnette and l’Hostellerie de la Sainte Baume. Go straight down the little road, and past Chemin de la Beaumone on the left. After a vineyard, the road widens. At No. 2, go past Allée des Micocouliers on the left and straight down. Go past Groupe Scolaire La Culasse and before you get to the roundabout, go up to the left on Chemin de Saint-Jean, and then straight on.
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