SAINT REMY DE PROVENCE - Pèr draio e pèr Camin in mountain bike

Depuis le parking vous parcourez les coussouls de la Petite Crau, cette étonnante steppe faite de galets étaient autrefois le lit de la Durance. Les Fauvettes mélanocéphales et les Alouettes sont furtives mais guettez bien le haut des buissons de Genêvrier cade.

The coussoul is a steppe-style pastoral lawn, whose rough vegetation grows on very fine soil. This soil covers pebbles from the old bed of the Durance. Less than a meter deep, there is a layer of pebbles, cemented naturally by a crust of mineral salts, called "pudding". Within the Petite Crau, it is possible to find spaces of coussouls well preserved, giving it an exceptional ecological richness.

La lisière à gauche semble propice à la nidification de l'engoulevent. Celui-ci vient chasser dans les zones semi-ouvertes comme l'on peut voir sur la droite du chemin. Des travaux de réouverture de milieux ont été réalisés pour conserver cet habitat ouvert, propice à la chasse des rapaces diurnes et nocturnes, à celle de l'Engoulevent et du Rollier mais aussi à la nidification de nombreuses espèces de passereaux... Rendez-vous au crépuscule de juin pour tenter d'apercevoir l'engoulevent....

La vigne peut offrir un milieu de vie à certaines espèces d’oiseaux appréciant les paysages ouverts, comme le Pipit rousseline ou l'Alouette lulu. On perçoit nettement la différence entre une vigne désherbée chimiquement où la vie est rare et une vigne conduite avec des pratiques agricoles raisonnées ou en agriculture biologique, qui offre entre autres, des bandes enherbées productives d'insectes et des zones de repli pour les oiseaux.

Venez tôt le matin d'avril à juin pour essayer d'observer les outardes canepetières qui sont en pleine parade : l'oiseau si discret devient très démonstratif. Selon les années et les cultures les outardes peuvent se cantonner dans n'importe quel champ pas trop dense et trop haut autour de ce point. C'est aussi l'occasion d'observer les oiseaux des cortèges agricoles : Bruant proyer, Busards (au passage), Bruant zizi, Pipit rousseline, Tarier pâtre...

La Petite Crau is a land of pastoralism. The extensive grazing of goats and sheep is a guarantor of biodiversity, preventing the encroachment and closing of environments, and at the same time contributing to the fight against fire. Herds appreciate the vegetation of the coussouls, as evidenced by this old sheepfold, now in ruins. ;

Inaugurated in 2006 by the association "Testimony and Heritage", the Heritage Museum exhibits everyday objects given by the inhabitants of the village of Eyragues who do not wish to see the disappearance of local heritage. There are stories about village life, paintings, furniture, traditional costumes and agricultural tools and crafts.

Built in 1920 by;Jean-Ferdinand Michel, the sheepfold testifies to the pastoral life of the village of Eyragues. This sheepfold was home to a herd, which numbered up to 300 animals. The grandson of Jean-Ferdinand Michel practiced transhumance until 1985, and the sheepfold was used to keep a few heads until 1993. Today, the building has been rehabilitated in multi-purpose room by the municipality of Eyragues.

With this park the city of Eyragues pays homage to seven poets, whose works have allowed the maintenance of the Provençal language. There is a statue of Frédéric Mistral and the busts of Joseph Roumanille, Théodore Aubanel, Jean Brunet, Anselme Mathieu, Paul Giéra and Alphonse Tavan. In the background stands the Bastide, mansion, which houses a meeting room and the Heritage Museum.

Saint-Véran is the patron saint of shepherds and transhumance. North of Eyguières, there was once a chapel dedicated to him and a cross, still existing. Saint-Véran, bishop of Cavaillon, protector of the flocks, is known since the 11th century. for having chased the Tarasque, who decimated the herds in the valley of the Durance.

As in the Alpilles, the farmers of Eyragues offer a range of local diversified products, with among others the wine, the olives and their oils which represent a consequent part of the production. The plantations of vines and olive trees are thus structuring elements of the territory, offering agricultural landscapes open on the different neighboring massifs.

The route of the transhumance passed by the Abeiè path, Provençal name given to the transhumant herds. The width of the path was adapted to let them pass. In Noves, this path is called "Grande Draille". After the 2nd World War, there were 10,000 ewes, just on Noves, grazed during the year on the hill of Rougadou and on the flanks of Petite Crau.

The construction of a church dedicated to Saint Baudile was ordered in the 10th century, so as to enlarge an already existing chapel. Saint Baudile was a Roman legionnaire converted to Christianity, who suffered martyrdom in 300 AD in Nîmes. Since then, he has become the patron saint of the Noves village. This Romanesque church occupies the site of an ancient place of worship, which was in the center of a Roman villa. ;

It is on the Lagnel square that a part of the transhumant herds passed the night while waiting to cross the Durance, to leave towards the mountain pastures. Noves remained for a long time anchored in pastoralism and cereal crops: each inhabitant had a few sheep and each house had a sheepfold to shelter them. It is only from the nineteenth century, that the activity of the town is moving towards market gardening and fruit trees.

The Anguillon is a river of 20 km, which has its source in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, at the foot of the Alpilles. It flows from south to north, to go to the Durance, near Châteaurenard. This river has played an important role over the centuries, providing the commune of Noves a refuelling point for livestock transhumance, but also the water needed for irrigation of vegetables and fruit trees.

In the 19th century, the Noves’economy leaves in small side of the pastoralism, to turn to the gardening and the culture of fruit trees. Since then, the south lowland of the village, where the Anguillon River flows, has specialized in apples production. Along this stream, there are many farms that produce mainly Golden and Gala varieties.

In the 15th century, several farmhouses and sheepfolds were built in this area to accommodate herds of more than 1000 animals. Then came the construction of Notre-Dame-de-Vacquieres chapel and its hermitage This chapel is located near a source to which one attributes healing virtues, and a jas: a sheepfold allowing herds to shelter during the wintering period. From there, the flocks came down to drink in Anguillon.

La Petite Crau presents an ecosystem close to its big sister, the Crau, lowland located south of the Alpilles. The landscape is characterized by hedges, groves and old trees surrounding still some natural meadows, typical of the coussouls. More and more plots are being cultivated today, the presence of herds is essential to maintain their ecosystem, because pasture is the only way to enhance the pastoral lawns of the coussouls of Petite Crau.