Route des Croisettes starting from Coulaines

Depart from the car park on Avenue Lyautey, opposite the Carrefour store.

(S/E) Follow Allée d'Avila, then turn right onto Rue de Santander. Turn left twice, onto Rue de Cadix and then Rue du Villaret. Cross Rue de Bonnétable at the traffic lights. Turn slightly left onto Rue du Muguet to reach Chemin des Fontenelles, which you will follow to the right. Pass under the four-lane road.

(1) Ignore the path on the left, which will be the return route, and continue straight ahead. Pass by an old ford, now channelled (guard rail), where two streams that were once channelled towards the Fontenelles aqueduct meet. Continue along this road and, at the top of the slope, once you reach the tarmac, turn left onto a descending dirt track.

Pass under a small bridge, one of the last vestiges of the old steam tram company that served the Sarthe countryside until the early^20th century.

(2) At the junction with the road, turn right and then left onto Chemin Saint-Roch.

(3) At the junction with Route du Ponceau, turn left then right to follow Chemin des Bodinières (tarmac). After about 400 m, at the bend to the left, turn right to follow the dirt track and continue straight on to Route de Val de Monnet. Take Chemin des Pommiers opposite.

(4) At the bend veering to the right, continue along this tarmac road, which quickly becomes stony, for about 800 metres before turning left onto a descending path. At the Prieuré crossroads, continue straight ahead, walk alongside an apple orchard before turning left onto Chemin de Prionde, which becomes a path.

(5) Turn right then left. Walk alongside the Croisettes prison. At the end of the path, follow the road to the right. Cross the D300 with caution (no protected crossing) and follow the Richemont road opposite.

(6) At the junction with Chemin des Aillandes, turn left and, at the fire hydrant, take the grassy path that leads to Route de Ballon. Cross the road and follow it to the left along the verge until you reach a small grassy path leading down to the right. At the junction (calvary) with Chemin du Monnet, follow it to the right. Cross the stream and pass the Monnet manor house before turning left onto a shaded path. Follow it for about 350 m, then turn right onto Chemin du Bourg.

(7) Turn left onto Route des Stades, then right onto Chemin des Grands Plessis.

(8) At the crossroads, continue straight ahead until you reach the farmhouse.

(9) Turn right and immediately turn right onto the grassy path that descends rapidly. Continue along this path, which becomes steep and narrow, turning right at the next crossroads.

(10) At the junction with the road, take the path opposite, which opens up after the dirt esplanade.

(1) Turn right onto Chemin des Fontenelles to return to the starting point (S/E).

Hiking boots recommended: during rainy periods, some sections of the sunken paths can be very muddy.

Chemin des Fontenelles

This sunken lane, an ancient Roman road, connects Le Mans to Sargé.
Note the magnificent trees with their impressive branches. Their specific pruning technique ("têtards" or "trogne") densifies their branches and provided firewood for the entire rural population.

Aqueduct of Les Fontenelles

One of three aqueducts that supplied water to facilities in Roman times (baths, public fountains, etc.) in the commune of Vieux Mans (renamed Plantagenêt). Measuring 4.2 km with a slope of 0.68 mm/m on the Gironde plateau, the water comes from numerous springs that flow near the "Les Fontenelles" embankment. The catchment areas remain unknown. This aqueduct, built at the end of the first century, was probably abandoned towards the end of^{the fourth} century. A section is on display in Coulaines (Maison des Chemins Creux).

1897 steam tramway bridge (Le Mans-Bonnétable line)

"Rocher Saint Roch" The site is located at the beginning of the path, on the right. There is a legend surrounding this place, which is described on a sign. According to the legend, Saint Roch, born in Montpellier in 1348, a pilgrim and healer of plague victims of his time, would sit here to rest. A terracotta statue can be seen in the church of Sargé.

Boulevard Nature: A route reserved for soft traffic (pedestrians and bicycles) encircling the urban community of Le Mans (currently under construction).

Le Grand-Monet Manor

This place is steeped in history, that of the seigneury of Monnet.
It was undoubtedly the Monnet stream that gave the fief its name, around the^10th or^11th century. Unless it was a communal mill, most likely attached to one of the buildings, that gave it its name ("monée" meaning "grinding" in Old French). One thing is certain: Pierre Monnet's career is mentioned in 1230 in a donation to the Abbey of L'Épau by Queen Bérangère (wife of Richard the Lionheart).

One of the first lords to own the fiefdom was Jean Turpin (before 1290). Many others followed, including a canon of Le Mans Cathedral, Maître Jean Broullier (1545), and the Counts of Tessé (from 1732 until the Revolution).
The manor house is thought to have been built by the Courtefosse family, who owned it in 1470. This is confirmed by several architectural details: the steeply pitched roof, the mullioned windows and the arrow slits (manor houses were designed to be fortified dwellings). The walls are 95 cm thick and feature large roussard stones.
The manor house's current form dates back to 1760.