Route de La Valette in Villiers-Charlemagne

From Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne, take the N162 towards Laval. At the four-lane section, take the exit towards Villiers-Charlemagne. Park near the church.

(S/E) With your back to the church, turn right onto the small Rue Sainte-Anne. Turn left and then immediately right to reach the lake. Walk along the right-hand side of the lake and join the road.

::1: Turn left and walk past the wash house. Continue along Rue de Maladrie, then along a track until you reach a tarmac road.

(2) Turn left: pass in front of ‘Le Domaine des Mille Oiseaux’ (La Pironnière lodge). Continue towards Le Grand Genêt, go past the hamlet and arrive at a crossroads.

(3) Turn right. Turn left to join the N162 and cross it via the tunnel. Immediately take the tarmac path on the left. At both junctions, keep to the path on the right.

(4) At the third junction, stay on the track to the right. Continue to its end on the tarmac road.

(5) Turn left, then immediately right towards Petit Gaudre and continue to the first track.

(6) Turn left onto the green path. At the junction of two paths, take the one on the right to go round the field to the end, into a wood.

(7) Turn right, then left to join the D4, taking a road at the end.

(8) Follow the stony path opposite. At the Moulin de la Rongère, continue straight on until you reach the first stream.

(9) Turn left towards La Rouillère-sous-l’Eau. On the other bank of the Mayenne, you can see the Château de la Rongère and its listed gardens. Follow the path back up to the edge of the A162.

(10) Turn left, then right to go through the tunnel. Continue along the path leading to the lake and the holiday village, skirting the lake on the left.

(11) Leave the lake’s banks to go round the campsite. Cut across a roundabout by heading straight on to the second pond. Walk along the same bank. After walking along the second lake, turn right
onto Rue Saint-Martin to reach the church car park (S/E)

Villiers-Charlemagne Town Hall - 7 Rue Saint-Martin, 53170 Villiers-Charlemagne // 02 43 07 70 16

Restaurant: Le Café de la Place

Toilets: lake, Place du Commerce, holiday village and fishing area

The Mayenne and the towpath: once a major transport route, the Mayenne is now a delight for boaters. In the past, boats were pulled up the river “by tow”, hauled by horses or men from the path running alongside the river. Today, this path forms an 85 km route linking Mayenne to Daon through an exceptional natural setting.

Lakes and holiday village: the Tannerie and Erveux lakes were created in 1990 by farmers who needed to irrigate their crops. This area was expanded in 1995 with the creation of a fishing-themed holiday village featuring chalets on the water’s edge.

Pont de Valette: situated between Villiers-Charlemagne and Houssay, it dates from the 19th century and consists of five arches. The central arch, destroyed in 1871 by the French to hinder the advance of the Prussian army, was rebuilt identically shortly afterwards. In 1944, the Pont de Valette was the only bridge over the Mayenne that the Germans forgot to blow up.

Château de la Rongère, La Roche-Neuville: built in the 15th century and remodelled in the 19th, it comprises three wings of different periods and styles. A notable feature is the park, which has the characteristics of a formal garden featuring a round pond, a maze, arboured walkways and green rooms.