MUSÉE DE L'ARDOISE

Discovery trail: this route is dedicated to the slate industry, of which Trélazé remains the capital. It would be wrong to think that a walk through the heart of an industrial site is a melancholic experience, as beauty is evident throughout the route. All this adds up to a magical experience, which can easily be rounded off with a visit to the beautiful Slate Museum – a fitting tribute to the nobility of a material and a craft, tracing the history of slate mining.

Channelled and culverted, the Mongazon flows beneath your feet; you’ll discover it as you walk. You’ll come across other watercourses – the valley is full of them. You’ll follow the banks of the Authion upstream towards the village of Trélazé. You’ll return via the Levée Napoléon. You’ll climb the Butte du Buisson, which offers an unforgettable view over the valley.A route set mainly in natural surroundings, offering the chance to discover the flora and fauna typical of this ‘industrial wasteland’.

As you pass through parks, gardens and former railway lines now converted into shared-use paths, discover former slate quarries and the housing of this former working-class town. Comprising small villages scattered around former slate deposits, the town is taking on a new look by ‘harmoniously’ integrating its industrial heritage with modern urban planning.