Walk around Saint-Roman

Walking in the Massif de l'Aiguille, around the Abbey of Saint-Roman.

3 notable points of interest :

• The Rock of Triple Levée (star 1 on the itinerary)
• The summit of the Aiguille (star 2)
• Saint-Roman Abbey (star 3)

Duration of the walk : 2 hours approximately + the time to visit the Abbey of Saint-Roman if you wish.
Difficulty : easy, difficult short passage lasting 200 m to reach the triple rise rock (but this detour is optional, so it can be avoided). Suitable for families.
Height difference : 100 meters
Journey : about 6 km
The + : existence of directional signs throughout your walk to help you find your way around

Start of the walk

We leave our car at the Abbey car park and start our walk with an easy DFCI path, which starts to the right of the car park. The path is identified with a yellow trace.
We reach a crossroads, we continue straight on. Then, you continue your path gently by following the yellow trail.
At the La Croisée sign, take the direction of Morillon. At the next sign (Morillon), go straight ahead.

At the end of the path, you reach a junction with a wider path, take a path opposite to reach the Triple Levée rock (it is indicated), or continue the walk on the left towards the Abbey.

The Rock of Triple Levée

(Star 1 on the itinerary at the bottom of the article).
The Rock is a detour on our itinerary, this stage is optional, but it would be a shame to do without it (duration 10 minutes to reach it).
The climb is certainly a bit steep but the view is worth the detour. At the top, breathtaking panorama of the Rhône Valley where you can see the Gard, Vaucluse and Bouches du Rhône, we are really at a crossroads !
And turn around to continue the walk.

The summit of the Aiguille

(Star 2 on the itinerary at the bottom of the article).
We get back on the DFCI road and we therefore leave on the right (if you did not make the detour to the Triple Levée Rock, then it is on the left at the crossroads).
At the level of the cistern, the path takes a hairpin to the left to head towards the Aiguille, the highest point in the massif. We're taking a break.
Here, the rock forms interesting cavities that remind us of those of Saint-Roman that we will see later. Moreover, we can see it, the Abbey, just in front of us on the other hill !
We have fun crossing this rocky maze - ideal playground for children. If you have planned a picnic, the spot is ideal for resting.

Saint-Roman Abbey

(Star 3 on the itinerary at the bottom of the article).
After going around the Aiguille, we take the small path that goes down just before the route sign. It goes down and then goes up to the Abbey in the middle of pine trees and southern vegetation. It smells like thyme, rosemary, cyst and sage... Barely a few minutes later, there it is, majestic in front of us, this abbey that looks like a cave dug into the rock, it feels like Cappadocia.
You have to take a ticket to visit it but the discovery is really worth it. We are told that this monastery was originally, around the 5th century AD, a refuge for hermits. They dug the rock to settle there and live isolated from the world.
Above the chapel, the terrace offers a breathtaking 360 degree panorama, we are told that the abbey also served as a necropolis for monks and inhabitants of the surrounding villages, and we discover more than 200 tombs lined up, dug into the stone, including children's tombs.

Today, numerous archaeological excavations are taking place in this unique place in Europe.

Return to the car park

After visiting the Abbey, we go back down to the car park by a small, worsened path gently sloping through the forest, it will take us less than ten minutes to reach our car.
This is a very nice walk, accessible to all, which should also appeal to children because the stops are fun and the path easy.