Around Ors and its oyster channel at Château-d'Oléron

Walk around the village of Ors, its oyster channel and Grésillon.
Ors was the arrival and departure point for tourists during the heyday of the ferry (1945–1966) until the viaduct was built (1966). Traffic jams are guaranteed in the narrow, winding streets!
Stunning views of the Oléron viaduct and the old Ors jetty, which linked the mainland to the port of Chapus in Bourcefranc.

Details

7874825
Creation:
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.51 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 4 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 3 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 7 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 2 m

Photos

Description of the walk

The route starts at the viaduct: easy parking.

(S/E) Follow the path below, running parallel to the road. Beautiful view of the viaduct and its foundations.

(1) Go round the small headland jutting out into the sea and join the path leading to the first hut on the Ors Channel via a narrow passage.

(2) The Ors channel is a major oyster-farming site. It is the longest on the island (1.5 km). Continue straight ahead.

(3) Note the wide variety of oyster huts. Some have been renovated, others are abandoned, a symbol of the crisis in vocations that is also affecting the oyster farming trade. Look out for the hut with the somewhat eccentric exterior decoration (see photo)! Keep going straight on, up to the roundabout with the three small colourful huts at La Chevalerie and on to the old little station.

(4) The old Chevalerie station was part of the railway line that ran from the south to the north of the island. All the details are on display inside. Continue to the Saint-Trojan roundabout and follow the cycle path to the hamlet of Grésillon. At the first bend, take the path on the right and you’ll come to an enclosure where you can see a llama, an alpaca, goats and a billy goat.

(5) Follow the path through three consecutive 90° bends to reach the D26. Cross it with care (no pedestrian crossing) and head towards La Chevalerie by continuing straight ahead.

(6) The village of La Chevalerie borders that of Ors. The narrow streets provide shelter from the winds blowing in from the Atlantic. Go straight on for a few metres along Rue Gilbert Ranson, turn right onto Rue des Pêcheurs, then left onto Rue des Forges.

Turn left onto Rue du Marais, then right onto Rue des Côtines, and follow it to Rue des Vignerons. Just before Impasse des Sternes, turn left to reach Route du Viaduc. Follow it to the right for about fifty metres, then turn left onto a path leading to the D734. Cross carefully and take the path opposite; turn right a little further on and head back towards the D734.

Follow it for 50 metres, then turn left in front of the K-bane restaurant. Cross the small bridge visible on the right, then cross the salt marshes.

(7) From here, you have a fine view of the old slipway at the Rocher d’Ors. Before the jetty (1938–1966), this slipway allowed boats to reach the port of Chapus (Bourcefranc) regardless of the tidal range. Make your way to the dolmen.

(8) The Ors dolmen, also known as La Piare in the Saintongeais dialect, or La Pierre Pouille or La Grosse Pierre, is the remains of a burial mound. From the nearby former jetty, there is a fine view of the Coureau d’Oléron and the viaduct. Make your way quickly to the
viaduct (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 5 m - Oléron Viaduct car park
  2. 1 : km 0.09 - alt. 3 m - A little tip
  3. 2 : km 0.68 - alt. 4 m - Ors Channel oyster farm
  4. 3 : km 0.92 - alt. 3 m - Oyster huts on the Chenal d'Ors
  5. 4 : km 2.53 - alt. 4 m - The small station at La Chevalerie
  6. 5 : km 3.84 - alt. 6 m - The "mini zoo"!
  7. 6 : km 4.64 - alt. 4 m - La Chevalerie
  8. 7 : km 7.15 - alt. 5 m - Former slipway at the Rocher d’Ors
  9. 8 : km 7.39 - alt. 4 m - La Grosse Pierre (Le Château-d'Oléron)
  10. S/E : km 7.51 - alt. 6 m - Oléron Viaduct car park

Notes

Take great care when crossing the A20 motorway near the Oléron viaduct. Traffic can be heavy at times in summer.

Worth a visit

(4) La Chevalerie station: for more information, follow this link: https://www.oleron.fr/aventure-ferroviai...

(8) Ors Dolmen.

Near (8): the old jetty.
Before the construction of the viaduct, which opened in 1966, a pair of jetties allowed people to cross the Coureau d’Oléron by ferry. 1936 – paid holidays, a major social advance. Salt resources were beginning to run out and, with the arrival of numerous holidaymakers eager to explore the island, the islanders discovered a new resource to exploit: tourism. But boat crossings remained long and slow. This is why the Charente-Maritime General Council decided to establish a motorised ferry linking the Pointe du Chapus to the Pointe d’Ors. This project, which began in 1938, started with the construction of reinforced concrete jetties on either side of the channel, one 700 metres long on the Chapus side and the other 1,300 metres long on the Ors side. It continued with the installation of 350-metre-long gangways weighing 350 tonnes. (source: Bourcefranc Town Hall).

Reviews and comments

3.6 / 5
Based on 8 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.5 / 5
Route interest
3.4 / 5
thor.veyziat
thor.veyziat

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 09, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Thank you for sharing this walk. It’s a lovely, easy walk, though there’s a slight tricky bit at the start along the ponds where the path is hard to spot. The rest of the walk is straightforward.

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mac guyver
mac guyver

Overall rating : 2.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 10, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Parking is hard to find. The oyster farm is interesting. The signposting is terrible.

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Baladeuse66
Baladeuse66

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

The first part of the walk, from the viaduct to the oyster huts, is interesting and beautifully colourful.
The ‘lavishly decorated’ hut displays, among other things, oyster spat collectors from all eras, and this provided an opportunity to chat with one of the oyster farmers, who spoke passionately about his trade, illustrating his points with anecdotes.

Once past the huts, the route becomes uninteresting and, above all, very noisy due to the proximity of the major road that runs alongside it on both sides.

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lolok70
lolok70

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 08, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk.

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randopatchris
randopatchris

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 23, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

To round off my initial thoughts on this route, you first need to know where the municipal workshops are – that’s the starting point! Again, it’s not easy, as they’re not actually near the town of Château d’Oléron.

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saintjeandelaruelle
saintjeandelaruelle

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 06, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

After point 6, the road that runs through the village to the cul-de-sac connecting to the D 734 is monotonous, uninteresting and tiring in hot weather due to the tarmac. The first part of the walk is as described and interesting

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brigitteguyot
brigitteguyot

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 17, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk along the Chenal d'Or, past the little oyster-farming huts. However, the return journey through the villages is long and rather uninteresting

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Jieffe17
Jieffe17

Hello Bernard,
Thank you for your comment.
If you have any feedback on the software’s features, I’d advise you to submit your suggestion directly to the Visorando moderators.
JF

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langevin bernard
langevin bernard

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 10, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Good morning or good evening, Madam or Sir
I would like to thank everyone who creates these worksheets.
I’ll give it a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ – for me, a mark is preferable because nothing is perfect; we can always improve.
On another note, I’m struggling to get used to your new route-planning software. But perhaps I’m just too used to the old one.
Thank you to your team. Best regards
Bernard Langevin

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