Amadour Trail: stage 3 from Saint-Christoly-Médoc to Pauillac

The start of this stage is located at the small port of Saint-Christoly-Médoc. Take the small path towards the south, parallel to the Gironde estuary. Continue for 1,5 km, always turning left. You will come across the Tour Castillon wine château, where you can stop to taste a glass of wine from the Médoc Crus Bourgeois appellation. For 1,5 km, the path you follow is located 20 m from the shore of the estuary, you can observe the dozens of fishing huts which are less than 100 m from each other.

By lodging the estey (from the Gascon estèir, stream), turn left to take the small bridge on the path to Lamena and follow it. After 2 km, still following the estuarine bank, you will come across the renowned Château Loudenne and its vineyards on your right. It is one of the oldest estates in the Médoc with its three hundred years of history! Don't hesitate to walk the 200 m that separate you from this château to enjoy a tasting or a picnic breakfast of regional products, wine included (all by reservation). After 1,2 km you arrive at the port of La Maréchale in Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne.

You go around the channel of the port of La Maréchale. A guinguette at the foot of the slipway can serve as a place to eat (open in summer). You take the “La Maréchale” sea wall path which runs along the shore for 3,5 km. After 700 m, it becomes shaded and allows you to join the Mapon road under the cool trees.

Cross the Mapon road and turn left safely along the edge of the vineyards. After 1 km, you cross a first bridge over a channel, then a second after 1,5 km. You arrive at the port of Chapelle de Saint-Estèphe with its 1250 hectares of vineyards, this commune is undoubtedly the Médoc appellation that offers the greatest variety of terroirs.

It is from this point that the final 8 km straight line will take you to the centre of Pauillac. The verges are very wide, do not hesitate to change sides of the road to enjoy the shade of the trees on this section. From the edge of the riverbank, you can see almost fifty squares but also on the other bank the famous Blayais nuclear power plant, in Haute-Gironde. You finally arrive in Pauillac, the town with the harmonious façade on "the river" Gironde. Along its endless quays, there are beautiful façades from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, which Stendhal admired! Not forgetting the great wines and in particular the Château Grand-Puy Ducasse which is surprisingly located in the town facing the estuary!