From Les Terres Morrines to Le Peu via the Chiron Mallet

Parking is available in the small square in front of the Town Hall.

(S/E) Leave the car park by joining the Route de Brulain and follow it
carefully eastwards.
Pass Rue de la Croix and turn right into the next street, which is lined with vegetation on the right-hand side. There is a wayside cross on the right at the junction. Continue straight on along this street, which curves to the right and heads north-west.

(1) When you reach Route de Saint-Romans, cross carefully and continue straight ahead along the farm track lined with shrubbery.
Cross the D124 with care and continue straight ahead along the farm track which runs alongside a farm on your left. The hedgerows lining the track become increasingly sparse.

(2) Cross the D306 carefully and continue almost straight ahead along a farm track (white track) between open fields.
Carry on straight ahead until you reach the junction with a small road, Rue du Vieux Moulin.

(3) Cross this road carefully and continue straight ahead along the farm track, which is once again lined with hedges for a few hundred metres.
The track reaches a crossroads where the tarmac-surfaced Chemin de la Gillette ends on the right-hand side. Carry on straight ahead. A little further on, the track reaches a T-junction.

(4) Turn right. The track winds around a field in a sweeping ‘S’ shape and becomes a tarmac road. The small road passes under a high-voltage power line and reaches the first houses. It is then known as Chemin des Vignes.
Carry on to the junction with the D104, turn left and follow this road (Rue de la Monge), walking on the pavements until you reach the next junction on the right.

(5) Turn right to cross Rue de la Monge with care and take Chemin du Marais. Continue straight ahead along a farm track when Chemin du Marais turns to the right.
Carry on until you reach a small road. Turn right and, about fifty metres further on, turn left onto a tree-lined farm track.

(6) The track veers away from the bed of an intermittent stream and, with no shade, winds its way through fields before rejoining a small road (Chemin de la Clavaudière) as it reaches the confluence of two intermittent streams. Opposite the junction is a pond.

(7) Turn left and follow the Chemin de la Clavaudière with care. This path winds through fields before rejoining an intermittent stream at a place called Traîne-Bois. This section is particularly shaded.
A little further on, the Chemin de la Clavaudière runs alongside a sewage treatment plant on the left-hand side. Continue straight on until you reach a T-junction. Turn right and follow the new path for about twenty metres before reaching another T-junction.

(8) Turn left onto the farm track which heads east and follows the Guirande, an intermittent stream, at the far end of the fields on the left-hand side. The river’s course is marked out in the landscape by dense woodland.
The farm track reaches the D124 road. Cross with care and continue straight ahead onto another farm track which follows an intermittent stream and winds slightly through the hamlet of La Grande Rivière.

(9) About 150m after a right-angled bend to the left, turn right onto a track. Continue to a crossroads just as the track becomes shaded near the hamlet of Chiron Mallet.

(10) Turn right towards Chiron Mallet.
When you reach the road leading to the houses, turn left, then right at the next junction. Follow the road leading to the hamlet of Bellegarde.

(11) Carry on straight ahead along the track that continues from the road at the Bellegarde house. The track climbs towards the Peu site.
At the crossroads near the summit, carry on straight ahead, ignoring the path on the right which leads to the Peu estate.
The track becomes a farm track and passes under the high-voltage power line before joining the road leading from the hamlet of l’Abîme to Saint-Martin de Bernegoue.
Turn left and follow this road carefully; it soon reaches the hamlet of La Vernelle and leads into Rue de la Figère.

(12) Turn right onto this street and continue straight on until you reach the Route de Brulain (D104).
Turn right and follow the road carefully until you reach the Town Hall. Cross the road and head to the small square where the car park is located, marking the end of this walk (S/E).

The car park is located in Saint-Martin-de-Bernegoue in a small square in front of the Town Hall and near the Foyer Rural. Another option is available nearby in the car park in front of the school (see photo).

This walk across varied terrain requires suitable footwear.

This route is only very partially signposted (blue signs with white dots) but presents no real difficulties. Consequently, it is advisable to follow the directions in the description and on the map, whilst also reading the landscape. Ignore the few yellow markers you come across, as these correspond to other hiking routes that cross this one.

Hike completed by the author on 18 January 2019

Saint-Romans-des-Champs

Although it is the smallest and least populated commune in the canton of Prahecq, Saint-Romans has been inhabited since the Bronze Age (artefacts preserved in the museums of Niort). First mentioned at the start of the 13th century, the village was originally called Saint-Romain-des-Champs. A soldier and Christian martyr of the 3rd century, Romain of Rome was commemorated on 9 August. Every last Sunday in July, the local rural entertainment association organises its traditional threshing festival.

Saint-Romain Church:

It belonged to the archpriesthood of Melle, and its parish was appointed by the abbot of Charroux. In 1536, Hilaire Brisson founded the chapel known as the ‘Brissons’ chapel’ there. The modest sanctuary was vaulted and fitted with a small bell tower in 1688. Demolished in 1866, the parish was then merged with that of Brûlain.

The Oratory of La Fragnée:

This is the only place of worship in the parish. It was built by Jean Cordomi, a stonemason from Saint-Romans, on the Chemin de la Fragnée, near the cemetery which replaced the old one in 1784. A plaster statue of the Virgin Mary, brought from the church in Brûlain, was installed in 1954. Having become damaged, it was replaced in 1994 by another, made of stone, acquired in Lourdes.

The Puits-Neuf washhouse:

In days gone by, women would rinse their laundry with water from the well, which, thanks to a pump, also filled two reservoirs for watering livestock. A face of a washerwoman was carved into the well with a knife by a man who did not, however, frequent the place at the time. The washhouse was renovated in 1995.

Legends and mysteries

Haunted Mound

On the northern slope of Le Peu, situated on the border of the commune of Saint-Martin de Bernegoue, processions of white figures would appear on certain nights at a spring known as the Fontaine Blanche. The commune’s cats would also gather on Le Peu on Shrove Tuesday evening. According to tradition, this mound is said to be a ‘dépatture’ – or a piece of Gargantua’s excrement. Not far from the mound lies the Chirion Mallet, named after the Cheval Mallet, a mythical creature which, at night, would carry straying travellers on its back and throw them into fountains or natural cavities, such as the Ab^me or Fontclairouin (in Saint-Martin de Bernegoue). In days gone by, people would bring offerings to Chiron Mallet to be protected from the evil horse.

The ghosts of the Abîme

The hamlet known as l’Abîme, at the northern foot of the Butte du Peu, has a notorious reputation: one evening, a carriage drawn by six horses, carrying a bride and groom and their guests, crashed and vanished into the pit. Ever since, it is said that during the rainy season, the water in the pit runs red with the victims’ blood; moreover, the ghosts of the wedding party stop anyone passing by the Abyss at midnight.

Gatherings of ‘witch’ animals

At the summit of the Cinq Chemins, the cats of Saint-Martin de Bernegoue would gather on Shrove Tuesday evening to make crêpes and dance. Not far from there, on the night of 6 January, the kids would gather at Champ Chevreau and eat stones there.
Excerpts from “Legends and Mysteries of the Regions of France” by Éloïse MOZZANI