Boucle de Mairé

Park in the Rue de la Mairie car park opposite the post office.

(S/E) Cross the street and go down to the right along the post office. Turn left at the first street, Rue de la Baraudrie. Then turn left again until you find a path that branches off to the left at the corner of the street. Continue until you reach a street.

(1) Turn left (Résidence du Château) and then left again onto Chemin de la Digue. At Rue de Saintonge, turn right and after about 100 metres, take the path towards the level crossing.

(2) Cross the railway line and follow the path to the road. Turn right and, after about 200 m, turn right again. Pass in front of the waste collection centre.

(3) Cross the Guirande, then, at the intersection, turn left and carefully follow the D174 for about 200 metres.

(4) When you reach Saint-Maurice, turn right onto Route de Saint-Florent and continue until you can turn right onto Rue Saint-Maurice. Before you reach the level crossing, take the stone path on the left. Go past the crossroads and further on, turn left, leaving the path that leads to the ring road.

(5) Turn left, then, when you reach the road, cross it and take the grassy path immediately on the right. Continue under the power line and turn right onto the tarmac road.

(6) At Haut-Mairé, opposite the water reservoir, take the street on the right and at the end of the street, continue along the path to the Malpaudrie farm and take the road on the left, then turn right onto Route de Haut-Mairé. After about 300 m, turn right.

(7) Turn left: Bas-Mairé. Cross the hamlet, then continue along the path. Cross the bridge over the Guirande.

(8) Turn left and continue straight ahead.

(9) Turn left and after about 300 m, turn right. Continue along the path, cross the small road after the plane trees and continue under the power line.

(10) Before the hamlet of Le Bouchet, turn left.

(11) When you reach the road, after the garage, turn right, and a little further on at the stop sign, turn left. Cross the bridge over the railway line and continue along the D106E Rue de la Gare.
Please note that this section is dangerous. Be careful and stay on the left-hand side of the road.
Cross over to the right-hand side of the street at the Aiffres sign.

(12) Turn right to enter the cemetery. Walk past the church and exit at the back. Return to Rue de l'Église and take the path on the right that crosses Espace Tartalin.
Then, near the stadium, join the path that runs alongside the Guirande. Behind the Lucie Aubrac school, cross the footbridge and rejoin the street on the left, then turn right onto Rue du Bourg.
A little further on, take the passage on the left which leads up to the esplanade of the Town Hall and Rue de la Mairie (S/E).

Yellow marked route. This Visorando itinerary follows the Rando en Deux-Sèvres certified route called "Circuit de Mairé", available on the Deux-Sèvres Department's hiking website http://randoendeuxsevres.fr/index.php
Flat, stony paths with no ruts. A few grassy paths.
Small roads with little traffic except on the D106E at the end of the route, where you need to be very careful for about 500 m.

- In the hamlet of Saint-Maurice, (4) a dead-end road on the right leads to the ruins of the church of the former parish of Mairé (private property). This 12th-century building has a single nave and several Romanesque arcades.

- After Saint-Maurice, on the stone path on the right, the view extends over Aiffres and Niort, where you can see the belfry of the Town Hall and the bell towers of the three churches: Saint-Hilaire, Saint-André and Notre-Dame.

- At the entrance to the village of Haut Mairé (6), note the entrance porch of an old farmhouse.

- At the entrance to Bas Mairé: (7) an old wash house that is not fed by a stream. The water had to be pumped by hand from the well to fill the basins.
A few metres further on, on the right in the meadow, "la Motte Saint-Denis" is the remains of an old castle (private property hidden under the trees).

- The Romanesque Church of Saint-Pierre (12th century). (12) Only the walls, the side chapel and the semi-circular portal are original; the bell tower dates from the 13th century. In the middle of the cemetery stands a 12th-century hosanna cross.