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Departure from the Étang des Trois-Moutiers car park. Access is via the small road leading to the Tourist Office, from the D347: on the left at the entrance to the village when coming from Loudun, on the right at the exit of the village when coming from Montreuil-Bellay. Leave the Tourist Office on your right, continue for about 100 metres along the small road, then turn right under the car park entrance gate. The sign for the start of the route, called "Sentier des Dolmens" (Dolmen Trail), is located near the water point at the car park entrance.
Yellow markings
Markers or arrows on dedicated wooden signs at intersections (no markings outside intersections). The markings are one-sided, in the direction of this description.
(S/E) Go to the far end of the car park towards the west and turn right to walk along the pond behind a hedge. Take a clearly visible footbridge on the left to cross a stream (no markings here). Continue straight ahead on a path not shown on the map, passing a pond on your right and walking alongside a poplar grove on your left.
At a T-junction, turn left and cross the stream again. Climb slightly with a fenced meadow on your right (view on the left of the Trois-Moutiers windmill). At the next T-junction, turn right onto a small road going downhill.
(1) At the old Moulin de Barouze mill, leave the road and turn left onto a farm track. Walk gently uphill through a small valley alongside fields on your left. Ignore two paths branching off to the left and continue south on the track, which is no longer marked on the map (it is inaccurate here).
No markings
(2) Ignore the yellow arrow pointing to the left (we will follow it later) and turn right to reach the Dolmen de Vaon, located at the foot of a tree whose top can be seen in the distance to the north-west. Cross the D39 road and follow a grassy path opposite, which climbs slightly between the fields. Cross a farm track and, after turning left onto the path, take the path on the right that leads to the dolmen.
(3) Retrace your steps to the fork with the yellow arrow.
Yellow markings
(2) Continue along the path to the south-east. After about 150 m, climb a flight of wooden steps (handrail) to reach the Pierre Crapaud (a dolmen of which mainly the capstone remains) in the open field. Return to the path and continue south-east. Ignore a path coming from the right and come out onto a small road.
(4) Follow the road to the right and cross the hamlet of Porte Rouge (troglodyte cellars on the left). Stay on the slightly uphill road until you reach a junction with another small road (large cross on the left; the map shows a dolmen opposite, but these are actually the overgrown remains of destroyed megaliths). Cross the small road and continue straight ahead along a faint path.
(5) At the next crossroads, turn right (ignore the yellow arrow pointing left, which indicates a shortcut). Cross the small road again and continue straight ahead towards Saint-Dremont (ignore the yellow cross on a telephone pole). Cross the hamlet.
(6) At the large gate of the last house, leave the road and turn left onto a grassy path. Turn right at the foot of a walnut tree (no marker) then turn left towards a wood. Cross the wood and continue in the same direction along the edge of the wood on your left. Enter the wood again and follow a fence on your right.
When a path comes in from the right, continue straight ahead, as the path has given way to tarmac. At the Y-junction (large cross), continue for about 100 metres to the gate of Château de Roche Vernaize (sign).
(7) Turn back and, once again at the Y-junction, turn right to continue along the Sentier des Dolmens.
(8) At the signposts, continue straight ahead on the road towards Tertre des Fées (it is actually 250 metres rather than the 100 metres indicated). Pass a vineyard on your right and, once you enter the woods, look for the arrow on the right-hand side below indicating the mound.
Turn right and pass a low rock. Follow the path, pass a second rock and you will reach the Tertre des Fées, a megalithic site consisting of large, thick slabs of stone lying flat on the ground (which may give the impression of an ancient quarry).
(9) Retrace your steps to the signposts.
(8) Then head north-east (to the left when coming from the mound) along a grassy path at the edge of the woods on your right. At the end, turn right, still following the edge of the woods. Enter the woods and go downhill. Ignore a path on the left and you will come out onto a small road.
(10) First ignore the yellow arrow pointing to the left and follow the sharp right turn towards the Dolmen de la Roche Vernaize. Go through a forest gate and continue straight ahead on a narrow path lined with thick vegetation. After about 200 metres, a wooden railing on the left leads to the dolmen in the undergrowth.
(11) Retrace your steps back to the road.
(10) Follow the road to the left (east-northeast) and ignore the access track to a private property on the left. At a fork, turn left towards La Barbotière. Turn left with the road and walk past a large house on your right. When the road turns left towards a farmhouse, leave it on the right and follow a grassy path between the fields. At the next junction, turn left and climb towards a wood, then enter the wood.
(12) At the fork at the edge of the woods, turn right. Pass a shed on your right and walk north-west between the fields (in the distance on the right, you can see the village of Bernezay, the bell tower of the church of Trois-Moutiers and its windmill). Cross a road and continue straight ahead on a gravel track.
(13) At the end of the track, turn right onto a very narrow road (caution). Go downhill and then turn right onto the road, which has widened. At the fork, turn right onto Rue de la Cour aux Moines. Pass in front of a large building (information board) then turn left. At the end of the street, turn left onto Rue du Bourguignet. At Place Saint-Laurent, continue straight ahead, go downhill and ignore a small street on the left. At the crossroads, turn right onto Rue de la Bourderie and leave the village.
(14) Take thefirst left at the foot of a walnut tree (beautiful view of the windmill). Pass a small cross on your left, then a large cross on your right, partially hidden by a large lime tree. At the T-junction, turn right and at the fork immediately after, turn left. Continue for about 150 m until you see the entrance gate to the pond car park on your left (S/E).
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Tourist office
