The best gravel rides around Poussan

The view plunges over the Thau lagoon and its immense checkerboard of shellfish farms. These regular alignments are the breeding facilities where the oysters and mussels of the lagoon are produced. Bouzigues holds a special place in this history: in 1925, Antoine Louis Tudesq and other Bouzigues oyster farmers developed the "Pyramid" technique, which contributed to the development of shellfish farming in the lagoon. Thus, the panorama allows us to read the landscape differently: behind this vast expanse of water lies a real production area, shaped for over a century by the work of the "sea farmers".

From La Catonnière, the view plunges over the étang de Thau and its immense checkerboard of shellfish tables. These regular alignments are the breeding facilities where the lagoon's oysters and mussels are produced. Bouzigues holds a special place in this history: in 1925, Antoine Louis Tudesq and other Bouzigues oyster farmers developed the "Pyramid" technique, which contributed to the development of shellfish farming in the étang. The panorama thus allows us to read the landscape differently: behind this vast expanse of water lies a true production space, shaped for over a century by the work of the "sea peasants".

From this path, the view descends towards Vic-la-Gardiole and its pond.

The greenway runs here on a narrow strip of land between the Étang de la Moulière and the Crique de l’Angle. To the south, the view opens up beyond the Crique de l’Angle over the Étang de Thau, then over Sète, dominated by the silhouette of Mont Saint-Clair (183 m).

This sector offers a climb on a limestone ground characteristic of the massif. The view opens up magnificently over the Thau lagoon and its shellfish farming tables. On a clear day, you can also enjoy a panorama of the Combe de Saint-Félix and the ruins of the ancient Benedictine abbey of Saint-Félix-de-Montceau.

From Frontignan to Palavas-les-Flots, the route follows the Canal du Rhône à Sète through one of the large lagoon complexes on the Languedoc coast. After the Étang d'Ingril and the Aresquiers, the canal successively crosses or runs alongside the Étangs de Vic and de Pierre-Blanche, then passes between those of l'Arnel and du Prévost before reaching Palavas. The canal itself is a major historical element of this landscape. Its construction began in 1701 under the name Canal des Étangs, in order to ensure continuity between the Royal Canal of Languedoc – today the Canal du Midi – and the Rhône. The route, completed in 1829, passes through Frontignan, Maguelone and Palavas before joining Aigues-Mortes and then Beaucaire. In Frontignan, its opening in the 18th century profoundly modified the landscape: the canal notably separated the former Étang de Frontignan into two complexes, giving rise to the Étang d'Ingril and that of La Peyrade.

From the greenway, the panorama opens onto the Étang de Vic. This vast coastal lagoon of over 1,000 hectares stretches between the Gardiole massif and the Aresquiers lido. Protected within the Natura 2000 site of the Palavasian ponds and recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention, the pond forms a vast landscape of lagoon, salt marshes, and wetlands here. This opening allows its full extent to be appreciated from the surroundings of Vic-la-Gardiole.

The greenway between Frontignan and Vic-la-Gardiole is a cycle path of about 9 kilometers, entirely safe and without elevation gain. It runs alongside the departmental road D114, offering a route of great beauty between the sea and the ponds.