Circular route from La Ville-aux-Nonains to Senonches

Parking is available near the church.

No signposts

(S/E) With your back to the church, follow Rue du Pressoir opposite. Walk past the old workshops of "Étains du Manoir". After the last buildings, the road becomes a path. You will reach a fork.

(1) Keep to the right and continue straight ahead until you reach the D140.

(2) Cross carefully and continue straight ahead on the tarmac path. Walk alongside the Bois du Rouvray. Shortly before the end of the woods, turn left onto the path that crosses it. Ignore a path on the left and continue straight ahead. At the end of the woods, follow the path opposite towards the Boulangeries farm.

(3) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead until you reach the small road near Les Thesseries. Turn right onto this road, cross the hamlet, noting a pond on your right, and continue to the entrance to Le Buisson. Turn right onto the road and continue for about 300 metres.

(4) Turn left onto the first path:views of the Saint-Cyr valley. This path passes behind the houses and rejoins the road at the entrance to Senonches. Follow the road to the right.

(5) Cross Rue Jean Grandon carefully at the pedestrian crossing on the left, then follow Rue des Laitiers opposite. It runs alongside the former Étang de l'Isle, now dry:a remarkable protected site, currently being developed. Arrive at Rue de Launay.

(6) Cross carefully at the pedestrian crossing, turn left and then immediately right onto Rue de Pontgouin. Go up to the bend, then turn right onto the path that crosses the Ruisseau de Saint-Cyr via a footbridge. When you reach the edge of the Étang Rémy, follow the bank to the right. Cross the sluice gate and arrive at the wash house on Avenue des Evés.

(7) Turn right and continue to the small roundabout. Cross the street carefully and turn left onto Rue du Château. You will arrive at the entrance to the château:a visit is recommended. Take the alley on the right or cross under the market halls to reach Place des Halles. Turn left and you will arrive in front of Notre-Dame Church. Turn left down Avenue Poucin. Take a detour to the right to walk through the Petit Bossard square:children's playground - picnic tables. Leave via the central path which leads to Rond de Battenberg.

Yellow and red markings for the GRP® "Vallées de la Blaise et de l'Avre"

(8) Continue along the water's edge. Go around the Butte des Sarrasins on the left, pass in front of the statue of the fisherman and follow the fitness trail, which leads to Allée de la Tourbière. Follow it to the left, along the edge of a second pond. Pass in front of the international motorhome reception area and arrive at the fence of the horse paddock.

No signposts

(9) Continue along the fence, passing behind the tennis courts and then the gymnasium. Join Avenue de Badouleau near the transformer. Follow it to the left until you reach the entrance to the Huttopia Holiday Village, then continue straight ahead: access is permitted during the season to the bar-restaurant on the banks of the Étang de Badouleau.

(10) Then return to the entrance. When leaving the holiday village, turn left and follow the fence. Pass the stadium and rejoin the GRP®.

Yellow and red GRP® markings

(11) Continue straight ahead, enter the forest and continue to a large forest crossroads. Cross the stream on the metal footbridge, called Le Pont Noir, and continue along the large path opposite. After 200 metres, turn left, following the fence of the holiday village. Cross a stream on a small footbridge and continue up to the pumping station. Walk along the fence, cross the forest lane andtake the path along the edge of the forest opposite, which is also a bridle path. It crosses the Tuilerie line at its end:view on the left of the buildings on the site of the former tile factory. Thenwalk between a wood on the left and the forest and continue to a confluence of streams.

No markings

(12) Shortly before this, take a path on the left, which crosses the embankment and leaves the forest. Follow the wide path to the D155, which passes close to the houses of La Maladrerie. Head left and follow the road for about 100 metres to the next right-angle bend. Then turn right onto the path across the plain. Continue straight on to La Marnière.

(13) Follow the D140.12 to the left for about 200 metres, then take the small road on the right. Pass in front of "Les marchés" (la Gratte on the IGN map) and continue to the D24 at the entrance to Ville-aux-Nonains.

(14) Cross very carefully and follow Rue de la Mare des Marchés opposite. At the end of the pond, follow a path on the left. Go through the gate on the right, arrive in front of the church's caquetoir, and continue to the car park (S/E).

Wear good waterproof shoes.

Suggestion: set off late in the morning, have lunch in Senonches, visit the town and castle, then return to Ville-aux-Nonains at the end of the day.

(4) Follow the road straight ahead for 900 metres to reach the Boussard site.

Along the way:

La Ville-aux-Nonains:

This former small village of barely 200 inhabitants has been part of Senonches since 1972. The village was built from the 13th century onwards around a former convent of nuns attached to the nearby Abbey of Belhomert. Abandoned during the Revolution, all that remains of this religious establishment is its memory, perpetuated by the names given to the village and two of its streets.

The former Rémy factory, later known as Etains du Manoir:

Rue du Pressoir is a reminder of the village’s long-standing wine-growing traditions dating back to the days of the abbey.

But it was here, in the agricultural machinery workshop founded in 1912 by Albert Rémy, that the famous ‘soleil’ hay rakes were manufactured – rakes used throughout France in the 1960s for swathing hay. After this small business moved to Senonches, it was taken over by the American firm John Deere, which had bought the factory and expanded it to employ over 400 people. The reputation of this hay rake has endured; working examples can still be found on small farms.

The former Rémy factory – Les Étains du Manoir:

A foundry specialising in artistic pewter work then moved into these premises, producing magnificent decorative items for the table: jugs, vases, wine tasters… These are still highly prized by enthusiasts in France and abroad.

The Parish Church of Saint-Pierre: Nearby stood the small convent founded in the 13th century by the nuns of the Priory of Bellhomert. Although it became a parish church, it continued to be under the authority of Bellhomert Abbey until the Revolution. The building, which was already restored at the end of the 19th century, is once again in need of major restoration. Work is planned but remains on hold pending full funding. An appeal for donations has been launched.

For further details, see the detailed study of the commune’s buildings:
https://patrimoine.centre-valdeloire.fr/gertrude-diffusion/dossier/IA28001109

Les Thesseries
According to Paul Alexandre, a local historian, the name probably derives from ‘tessier’ – a weaver

The Saint-Cyr valley
The path behind the hamlet of Le Buisson offers views of the valley:
You can see the cemetery, in the centre of which stands the Chapel of Saint-Cyr, the patron saint of Senonches, once the site of an annual pilgrimage on 16 June. Around this date, a very popular fair has been held since the early 16th century and continues to this day.

The Ruisseau de Saint-Cyr and its leat powered several early industrial sites: mills, forge furnaces and lime kilns.

The site of the Boussard mill has recently been redeveloped and transformed by the “La Forge des Arts” association into a magnificent venue for cultural activities. (900 m from the route via the D 320.2 – turn right onto the D 320, then left onto the track. – Group visits possible by appointment)
https://www.laforgedesarts.org/pages/contact.html

Senonches: Castle-Museum dedicated to the forest and its management. ‘L’Orée du Bois’ sensory discovery trail – Hotel – Restaurants – Lodges – Shops.

http://www.lesforetsduperche.fr/culture-et-tourisme/office-de-tourisme/

The Square du Petit Bossard: Formerly marshy ground overgrown with scrub, it was transformed into a public garden by the local council in the 1970s during the tenure of Senator-Mayor Jean Grandon.
Plans for a spa resort using water from its numerous springs had been drawn up but had to be abandoned as the Second World War approached.

Lake Arthur Rémy:
Dug out on the site of the former Launay pond and marshes in the 1960s by Albert Rémy, Arthur’s son, who had taken over his father’s factory and was then mayor of Senonches.

La Hutte Equestrian Centre. Situated on the site of the former farm, it uses part of the surrounding land for grazing the horses. The rest of the site has been used for the construction of a large sports and leisure complex.
https://www.parc-naturel-perche.fr/voir-faire/nature-et-loisirs/centre-equestre-de-senonches-768635

The Huttopia Holiday Village: Set around the Étang de Badouleau, it welcomes numerous tourists from April to October, mainly from northern countries. Accommodation is provided in wooden and canvas cabins in a unspoilt setting, close to the forest and nature.

La Tuilerie: from the edge of the forest, on the other side of the Pontgouin road, you can see the buildings of a former tile works that operated from the second half of the 18th century until after the end of the First World War. The clay was extracted from ‘clay pits’ located on the northern side of the D 24. The wood needed to fuel the kilns was brought from the forest via the track that we cut through and which can still be seen climbing towards the buildings, though it has now disappeared into the fields. To the right, it crosses the entire low-lying woodland from the edge to the Rond du Grand Veneur in the south.

La Marnière: the name has an obvious explanation. It is a place where large quantities of marl were quarried. There were numerous marl pits to the north of Senonches and many lime kilns which, right up until the 1950s, produced high-quality hydraulic lime.

La Gratte: this strange name may derive from the presence of land that was difficult to cultivate or thorny; or it may have referred to a barrier (a ‘gratte’).
(according to Paul Alexandre, “Balades en toponymie senonchoise”).

Nearby:

La Saint-Fraise, 3 km away .
Horse riding: Les Écuries du Grand Chemin.
https://www.parc-naturel-perche.fr/voir-faire/nature-et-loisirs/les-ecuries-du-grand-chemin-769287 (Horse Riding Centre).

Nolimit Aventure tree-top adventure coursehttps://nolimit-aventure.com/digny/s.

Fontaine-Simon, 9 km away : Parc Aquatique du Perche – campsite – swimming pool – water skiing – hotel and restaurant – shops.
https://www.terresdeperche.fr/pages/parc-aquatique-du-perche.

Manou, 11 kmaway : the Froux peat bog, a site developed by the Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels for exploring rare and protected plant and animal species.

La Loupe , 12 km away , SNCF railway station.
Les Caves de l’Histoire https://www.lechateaulaloupe.fr/
Commemoration of the 1944 air raids.

La Ferté-Vidame, 16 km away . Espace Saint-Simon – Park and ruins of the Marquis de Laborde’s castle.https://www.maisonsaintsimon.com/
Réveillon Chapel – frescoes –