Whale route

Park in the square by the church in La Baleine. This is a good starting point for the walk.

(S/E) Take the path towards the chapel, following the same route as the^GRP®®55towards the manor house. When you reach the D238, turn right and then take the path on the left towards La Doitie.

(1) Cut through the woods and join a path a little further on. Follow it to the left and return to the road. Immediately turn right onto a new path leading to the D198.

(2) Cross this road to stay on the path and continue to the first intersection. Then turn left towards Les Landelles. Ignore the path on the left that leads to Les Landelles and take the next path on the left, which is winding, and turn left towards La Boulinière.

(3) Continue along the path on the right, then at the first bend, cut left towards La Fréminerie. Turn left and follow the small road, turning right then left. At the left-hand bend, there is a path on the right. Take this path to reach the L'Épine de la Mare area.

(4) Cross the road to stay on the path. At the next intersection, turn left, then right onto the road leading to the D198.

(5) Turn right, then immediately left onto a slightly offset road. At the next intersection, follow the right-hand lane, walk a few metres and take the path on the left.

(6) Before La Masure, turn onto the path on the right. This ends at a road. Turn left and take the next path branching off to the right. Follow this path to a road and follow it to the right.

(7) Before reaching Le Haut Bosq, take the path on the left to Les Bretonnières. Turn left onto the road. At the first bend, take a new path starting in a U-shape and continue to Le Vauvenard.

(8) Cross the D398 and continue straight ahead. Ignore the first crossroads. At the second, turn left and then immediately right towards Moulin de Beaufils.

(9) At Moulin de Beaufils, turn around and, at the crossroads, turn right onto the path to rejoin the road.

(10) Continue along this road, pass by the place known as Le Pont and reach the village of La Baleine until you reach the church square (S/E).

Follow the route suggested by this hike, which is marked in blue

Difficulty: none

Water point at the cemetery
Public toilets next to the village hall/restaurant
Picnic tables on the D238
Crêperie and mini golf
Là-bas Laines: Angora goat farm

Curiosity
Don't miss the whale bone ex-voto in the church in the village of La Baleine.

The chapel and the Calvary
Its chapel, built in 1609 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, has been preserved thanks to an association. Restored to worship in 1868, it was a place of pilgrimage.

The Calvary attests to the presence of Newfoundland sailors who, from the end of^{the 19th} century until the 1920s and 1930s, with a decline beginning in the First World War, set sail from the Granville region aboard three-masted ships, brigs or schooners for cod fishing trips off Newfoundland lasting six to seven months: one month for the outward journey, five to six months of fishing, and about three weeks for the return journey, including a stop in Bordeaux where part of the cargo was unloaded to take on salt and wine. Departures took place after the Granville carnival. It is often said that the Newfoundland fisherman never saw a leaf on a tree.