Fontaines d’Ozillac Castle and a variant of the GR®360

The car park is on Route des Halles, on the north side of the church and the cemetery. Alternatively, use the town hall car park situated to the south of the church and the cemetery.

(S/E) Leave the car park by turning right onto Rue des Halles. Follow the road carefully straight ahead until you reach the hamlet of Le Portail Rouge.

(1) Turn right and follow the road carefully towards the hamlet of Chez Pelletan. Drive straight through the hamlet and continue to the junction with a farm track on your right, in a wide left-hand bend in the road.

(2) Turn right and continue to a T-junction. Turn right and carry on to a crossroads where four paths meet. Turn left onto a shaded path which heads towards the Seugne; it runs alongside the river for a while before crossing it via a footbridge at the hamlet known as Le Pible.

(3) The path gives way to a small road. Follow it to where it meets the D142 at a place called Moulin du Geay. Turn left and follow the D142 for about ten metres.

(4) Turn left onto the small road leading to the hamlet of La Verrerie. As soon as you’ve passed the houses in the hamlet, the road becomes a farm track. Further on, cross a stream linking the Seugne to the Pharaon via a small bridge.

Immediately, turn left and follow the stream round the field until you reach a small wood. On reaching it, turn right and join the track that serves all the plots in this area (the track in the middle of the area). Turn left and continue until you reach a small road. Turn left again and follow this road carefully, passing close to the hamlet of Les Grenouillères on your left.

(5) Shortly afterwards, turn right onto the path which leads to Château de Fontaines after crossing a seasonal stream near a small pond.
Note: if the stream is flowing too strongly, you can wade across it before the small pond and join the path leading to the château by walking along the edge of the field.
Walk round the Château de Fontaines on the left-hand side.

(6) When you reach the road leading to the château, continue round it, then turn left in front of the outbuildings. Go straight on until you reach a T-junction.

(7) Turn left onto the path which joins a small road. Turn right, then keep left, and follow the road carefully until you return to the hamlet known as Le Portail Rouge.

(1) Finish the walk by following the road, which becomes Rue des Halles as you enter Fontaines-d’Ozillac. Just before reaching the church, the route returns to the car park on the left (S/E).

This walk across varied terrain requires suitable footwear.

This walk is signposted at the start of the route, up to the D142 road at a place called La Verrerie:^GR® 360, an alternative route signposted in red and white. The rest of the route is unmarked. Consequently, it is advisable to follow the directions in the description and on the map, whilst also paying close attention to the landscape. The waypoints (with their GPS coordinates and the distance from the starting point) serve as aids for walkers exploring the route for the first time.

Hike completed by the author on 5 December 2019

Fontaines-d’Ozillac is one of the stops on a signposted long-distance walking route, the^GR® 360.

Places and monuments

Saint-Martin Church in Fontaines-d’Ozillac. A 12th-century church damaged during the Wars of Religion. It is notable for its Romanesque portal with three arches decorated with monsters, birds, angels and knights. It has been listed as a historic monument since 2002.

Tumuli of the Fief des Rois: aerial photographs reveal the outlines of tumuli forming a necropolis.
Source: Wikipedia (excerpts)