The best traffic-free bike rides around Adissan

The terrain here takes on a red hue, but these rocks are not the ruffes of Salagou! These are continental sedimentary formations laid down in the Paleocene, about 65 to 61 million years ago. Deposited by ancient watercourses, these materials include conglomerates, sandstones (certainly the red gravels observed here), and marly limestones. Their reddish coloration is linked to the presence of iron oxides. The contrast with the ruffes (local name for the red rocks of Salagou) is as chronological as it is geological: formed in the Permian, about 271 million years ago, they are nearly 200 million years older. They result from the accumulation of fine sediments, notably clay and silt, in continental basins on periodically flooded plains. These deposits, subjected to an alternation of flooding and drying periods, gradually consolidated into red pelites, the color of which is also linked to iron oxides.

This small village has assets to showcase. Do not hesitate to linger to visit its church, its old collegiate chapel converted into a media library, its well or its presbytery.

Superb route. But can one always pass between the Château d'Aumelas and the Rouvière plain???

About 2.5 km east of Castelnau-de-Guers, in the heart of the pines, this small chapel preserves the memory of a place much older than itself. The site is attested as early as 1106 under the name Ecclesiam S. Nicholay de Talpussiac. Archaeological surveys carried out in 1992 also revealed nearby the remains of a rural settlement from late antiquity, testifying to an ancient occupation of the area. The current chapel, with an oblong plan, is much more recent: it was consecrated in 1819 and is now disused. It is located on the edge of the fishmonger's path (cami peissonier), an ancient route connecting the Étang de Thau area to Pézenas.

The AOP Picpoul de Pinet is the most important white grape variety in terms of production volume in Occitania. It gets its freshness from the proximity of the étang de Thau. Here you cross the vineyard and its landscapes mixing the green of the vine, the blue of the sky and the red of the earth.

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Pézenas is not just about Molière, even though the playwright stayed there several times between 1650 and 1656 under the protection of the prince de Conti. The city was for a long time one of the most influential in Languedoc: the States of Languedoc met there regularly, and Louis XIII, Richelieu, or the prince de Conti stayed there. While strolling through the narrow streets, keep your eyes open: many doors still retain their original knockers and ironwork, testaments to the skill of Pézenas artisans. A tradition that is perpetuated today by the Musée de la Porte et de la Ferronnerie, unique in France. Finally, one last curiosity: the famous Maison de Molière should not be misleading. Despite its name, there is nothing to confirm that the playwright lived there. Local tradition rather holds that he liked to settle in the barber Gély's shop, where he observed the inhabitants and their foibles, a source of inspiration that is said to have fueled several of his future characters.

Les Crozes are one of those places that you only discover by leaving the classic routes. At the end of a small road lined with holm oaks lies a remarkably preserved hamlet. Its main treasure is the Saint-Martin church, mentioned as early as 990 and completed in the 12th century, whose beautiful pentagonal apse makes it a little gem of Languedoc Romanesque architecture. Also take the time to see the communal oven, restored in 1994, a testament to a time when the whole village came to bake its bread there.