Although we were following the pilgrim Way of Arles, it was only for the first day of this section that we stuck to the GR653.
On the walk to Vauvert, the heat was so draining that we stopped there instead of continuing to Gallargues-le-Montueux. This was fortunate, as it gave us time to study the map and find another, better route to Montpellier. Instead of 35 km of trudging on a Roman road beside an autoroute, with no villages for the first six hours, we worked out a way, using small local roads, to hop from one village café to the next, all the way to the city. This worked brilliantly, except for a short section from Lunel to Lansargues where we missed the connection with the small road and had to walk on the highway.
One of the chief attractions of walking in France, for us, is the frequent stops in villages along the way. We are not interested in traversing a wilderness – that is something much better done in Australia, which has an abundance of true trackless wilderness.
Montpellier itself was hell to get into and out of (at least for the walker), but a wonderful place to spend a summer evening.
Day 11: Saint-Gilles to Vauvert
Day 12: Vauvert to Lansargues
Day 13: Lansargues to Montpellier