Gémenos — Saint-Pons Abbey & Nature: private taxi tour

Some places seem outside time, and the Saint-Pons park is one of them. A few minutes from Gémenos, you leave the road and plunge into a wooded valley where a stream with icy water flows, even in midsummer. The Cistercian abbey, founded in 1205, is now in ruins, but you can still make out the nave, the ambulatory and the particular light that once filtered through the stained glass. The Bernardine nuns who lived here chose this valley for its silence and coolness. I let you walk to the ruins, then we continue into the natural park that extends the site: centuries-old holm oaks, shaded paths, waterfalls murmuring below. It is one of the few places near Marseille where you can truly breathe in summer. Only a few minutes to return to Gémenos, but you come back different. Call +33 6 98 46 63 34.