Coulée de la Divatte in Saint-Sauveur-de-Landemont

Park at the Étang de Rochefort car park and follow the lilac signs.

(S/E) Walk around the pond along the path that runs alongside it. Then, when you return to Rue du Paradis, turn right. Turn right again onto Chemin de Bellevue and continue to the "Le Presbytère" stopover lodge.

(1) At the crossroads, turn right onto Rue de la Divatte and walk up this street for about 200 metres.

(2) Turn left before the cemetery to walk across the fields. Follow this path through fields and woods to reach a small road. Continue straight ahead to reach the hamlet of La Pelleterie.

(3) At the bend, leave the road and take the wooded path straight ahead. Continue through the woods until you reach the Divatte.

(4) When you reach the river, turn left and follow it to the Pertuis car park, where you will rejoin the D353.

(5) Turn left and follow this departmental road for about 650 metres.

(6) Turn left to rejoin the Route de la Roussinière. Continue straight ahead for 200 m until you reach a left-hand bend, then leave the road and take a path on the right. Continue straight ahead until you reach the road leading to Haute Pelleterie and take a sharp right-hand turn. You will come to a four-way crossroads.

(7) Turn left, then left again 100 metres further on to cut across the fields. Continue straight ahead for 200 metres, turn right and ignore the path leading to La Pionnière, continuing straight ahead to the car park at the water treatment plant and the Grotte de l'Ilette.

(8) Turn left to visit the cave, then turn back and take the path on the left. Continue along this path until you reach the Vallée de l'Ilette, a natural landscape site designed for walking.

(9) Continue straight ahead until you reach the D153. Follow the D153, turning left at the roundabout and continuing straight ahead to the Étang de Rochefort car park (S/E).

25% tar.

Saint-Sauveur-de-Landemont
The village of Saint-Sauveur-de-Landemont is built on a rocky promontory overlooking the deep valleys of the Ruisseau de La Forêt du Parc, which feeds the Étang de Rochefort, and the Ruisseau de La Boucherie or "Pissaloie" (literally "a trickle of water as thin as a goose's wee").. They then swell the Divatte on the edge of the commune of Barbechat.

La Divatte is a left-bank tributary of the Loire, with a total length of 28 km. It rises at Puiset Doré. In Roman times, it was navigable, allowing the Romans to travel up the Loire. They established a port at Vieux Barbechat: "Port Tuchurin". Later, its course formed the historic border between Anjou and Brittany. Now it divides the departments of Loire-Atlantique and Maine-et-Loire. A small exception to the rule is La Boissière-du-Doré, which, although located on the Anjou side of the Divatte, is part of Loire-Atlantique.

The Ilette Cave
During the French Revolution, a refractory priest living with farmers where he tended sheep came here to celebrate mass. The apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette date back to 1838. In 1870, a cave was built in Les Mauges in Le Marillais, followed by nearly fifteen others in Les Mauges. These developments in the 1960s completed this unique movement, sometimes referred to as "religious decontamination".
Sources: www.cpieloireanjou.fr

Wild garlic (Allium ursinum)
Shady riverbanks are the ideal place for wild garlic to grow. This highly fragrant species (rub its leaves between your fingers and you will understand its name) is used in wild cuisine, in salads, soups or pesto. It flowers early and can be seen from April to May.
Sources: www.cpieloireanjou.fr

The emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator)
The ponds on the outskirts of the village of Saint-Sauveur-de-Landemont and the Divatte valley are home to more than 20 different species of dragonflies. Due to its size and beautiful green and blue colours, the Emperor Dragonfly is the easiest to spot.

Cynfaël, the Prince of Saffron in Saint-Sauveur-de-Landemont
Visit the saffron farm on request from March to November in the morning. Sabrina will explain how it works and offer you a tasting and recipe cards. You can also buy saffron-based products there.