The best traffic-free bike rides in Réserve Naturelle Du Méjean

After bypassing the monumental gate of Maguelone, the path crosses the peninsula to the Mediterranean and opens onto Pilou beach. This natural beach is one of the two main bathing areas of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, along with Prévost beach. Between the sea, ponds, and natural spaces, the coast remains sparsely urbanized here. The lifeguard station marks the supervised swimming area. The place also holds the memory of a much darker episode: in 1942, the Maguelone shore was mined by German forces to prevent a possible Allied landing. During the demining operations undertaken after the war, the bomb disposal expert Pierre Coutou was mortally wounded here on March 1, 1945. A stele pays tribute to him near the beach.

This monumental gate marks the entrance to the Maguelone estate, between the Rhône à Sète canal and the coastal ponds. Officially named "Portail de Maguelone", this monument is also commonly called "La Porte de Maguelone". Despite its appearance as an ancient gate, it is a 20th-century construction, erected following the conflict that opposed at the beginning of the century the owner of the estate, Frédéric Fabrège, to the municipality of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone concerning a path giving access to the beach and the existence of a servitude right.

Between the Palavasian ponds and the Mediterranean, the Maguelone peninsula occupies a former island space whose history dates back to Antiquity. Old maps still show Maguelone surrounded by lagoons: in 1570, it appears as an island, and its insular position is still clearly visible on a map of the diocese of Montpellier dated 1641.

From the lieu-dit Le Pilou to the eponymous footbridge, this path takes us to the heart of the lagoon landscape of the Arnel pond. A space where human developments coexist with the characteristic environments of the Palavas ponds: lagoon, sansouire and halophytic vegetation. Arnel is today a protected natural area, integrated into the Natura 2000 network and the classified site of the Palavas ponds. But the lagoon also bears the traces of a long history of exploitation: fishing, old salt pans and hydraulic structures have shaped this amphibious territory for several centuries.

From the locality of Le Pilou to the eponymous footbridge, this path takes us to the heart of the lagoon landscape of the Arnel pond. An area where human developments coexist with the characteristic environments of the Palavasian ponds: lagoon, sansouire (salt-tolerant vegetation) and halophytic vegetation. L’Arnel is today a protected natural area, integrated into the Natura 2000 network and the classified site of the Palavasian ponds. But the lagoon also bears the traces of a long history of exploitation: fishing, old salt pans and hydraulic developments have shaped this amphibious territory for several centuries.

Stretching for over 4 km between Palavas-les-Flots and Carnon, the Étang du Grec covers nearly 190 hectares. This coastal lagoon belongs to the vast Palavasian lagoon complex, a remnant of an ancient lagoon system progressively fragmented by coastal evolution and human development.

At the exit of Palavas-les-Flots, the voie verte follows the mouth of the Lez river in contact with the ponds. The coastal river joins here the coastal plain and its lagoons, including the Étang du Grec, a vast protected wetland. Reed beds, sansouïres and halophytic vegetation make up a magnificent landscape.

The Porte de Maguelone is an ochre stone arch located at the entrance to the Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone peninsula. It symbolizes a historical conflict related to private property in the 19th century.