The best running trails around Pézenas

🧚🏼‍♀️ L’Étendoir des Fées – a small moonscape In the middle of the garrigue near Castelnau-de-Guers, this extraordinary landscape suddenly appears. The rock layer, about 50 million years old, made of pink sandstone, was formed by erosion over millions of years and in places really resembles a small moonscape. 🌕👌🏼 The so-called “L’Étendoir des Fées” is about 200 meters long and 50 meters wide. After rain, water collects in the small hollows of the rock and reflects the sky – the place is said to look particularly impressive then. And of course, there is also a fitting legend: On full moon nights, after the rain, fairies are said to have washed their laundry here and then laid it out on the rocks to dry. 🧚🏼‍♀️ Hence the beautiful name “Fairy’s Drying Place”. An unusual spot of nature in the middle of the Mediterranean garrigue and definitely worth a detour. Greetings Marcus ✌🏼

Attached to the diocese of Agde, the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Thibéry is said to have been founded around 770 with the arrival of Attilio, a disciple and advisor of Benoît d’Aniane. First abbot of the monastery, Attilio settled with a few monks near the tombs of the three Christian martyrs Tibère, Modeste, and Florence, executed during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian on November 10, 304 [...]. During the Middle Ages, the abbey was the seat of several councils, such as those of 907 and 1050, bringing together bishops and abbots from the province of Narbonne. All-powerful among the abbeys of Languedoc, Saint-Thibéry declined with the Hundred Years' War.

A few kilometers from Nézignan-l’Évêque, in the municipality of Saint-Thibéry, Château Sainte-Cécile dates back to the 18th century. Originally a "country house" intended for holidays, the estate gradually developed around viticulture, but also silkworm farming and alcohol distillation. This former bastide was profoundly transformed over time, notably by the addition of an Italianate decor: Florentine facade, Corinthian columns, loggia, terrace adorned with Venetian lions, and balustered staircases. This transformation earned it the nickname "Venetian folly". In 1933, the castle was acquired by the father of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the Marquis Jacques de Saint-Exupéry. The writer stayed there regularly in the following years. Today, the castle hosts guest rooms and receptions, while preserving the main architectural elements that have shaped its identity.

This 18th-century residence hosted a vineyard, a silkworm farm, and an alcohol distillery before becoming a bed and breakfast and reception venue today. You can admire its beautiful Florentine facade from the outside, the building having been built inspired by Italian Renaissance castles.

This Benedictine abbey has its roots in the 8th century. Around 770, a monastery is said to have been founded here by Attilio, a disciple of Benedict of Aniane, near the tombs attributed to three Christian martyrs: Thibéry, Modeste, and Florence. The place then became an important pilgrimage center. The abbey occupies an even older site: it is located at the foot of the ancient oppidum and on the presumed site of the ancient agglomeration of Cessero. The current abbey church, largely marked by Gothic architecture, bears witness to the many transformations of the abbey during the Middle Ages and the following centuries. In 1639, the abbey joined the Congregation of Saint Maur and received the title of royal abbey from Louis XIII. The Maurists then undertook a major reorganization of the monastery, of which the conventual buildings still retain elements.

Caux is a superb place for cycling. The village is surrounded by small country roads ideal for quiet riding, with very little traffic. For mountain biking and gravel, there are also numerous dirt paths. All this in a superb landscape of vineyards and causse.

Caux is recognizable from afar by its church, whose bell tower can be seen. The vineyards surrounding the town make the landscape even more sublime.

Amidst the vineyards, the Saint-Jean-de-Bébian priory tells nearly a thousand years of history between religious heritage and wine culture. Occupied since the Gallo-Roman era, this terroir was then shaped by the religious who developed a priory there and cultivated the vine from the Middle Ages. After the French Revolution, the estate became private property before experiencing a new renaissance in the 20th century, participating in the revival of the great wines of Languedoc. Around the old chapel and the historic buildings, the landscape recalls that the vine is not just an agricultural activity: here it is the heir to a long human history. There is a starred restaurant.