Larçay Forest

In Saint-Avertin, east of Avenue Charles de Gaulle, near the "Onze arpents" bus stop on line 3a, park in the gymnasium car park or take the bus.

Please note! This route is not marked as such

(S/E). Return to the car park entrance by going around the gymnasium on the left, cross Avenue Nelson Mandela and take the path opposite, which heads south-south-west and is marked in red and white by the^GR®®41. Follow these markings until further notice. Further on, ignore the paths to the left and right and continue between the new houses. You will come to a tarmac road just before reaching Rue de l'Ormeau.

(1) Turn left, then left again at the small roundabout. Then take the first street on the right, Rue de la Midy. At the end of the built-up area, continue along this street, which turns into a path. Pass under the high-voltage power lines and enter the woods.

(2) Shortly afterwards, as you leave the woods, leave the^GR®® markings and turn left between the woods and a field. Continue straight ahead, passing under the high-voltage power lines again, until you reach a path and follow it to the right. Enter the undergrowth. The path runs alongside a fence on your left. Further on, you will see a gap in the fence and the start of a trail.

(3) Take this path on the left. Immediately after, at the intersection, continue straight ahead and then go around the hill on the right. Head east again to reach a path. Follow it to the right and then leave it for a path on the right that leads to a milky-watered pond. Head south along the pond on your right and, at the end, ignore the path on the right and continue in the same direction. At the next two intersections, turn left to return to the path. Turn right, then turn right again along the trench of the high-speed rail line (LGV).

(4) At the intersection, turn left to cross the LGV on the footbridge and find the GR®® markings^. On the other side, continue along the wide path that veers right twice.

(5) Head south. Continue, ignoring all the paths branching off to the left and right, until you reach a crossroads with four paths, with a gate and Allée Saint-Hubert on the right and an information panel about the forest trails at the entrance to Grande Allée on the left.

(6) Leave the^GR®®41and turn left onto Grande Allée. Continue straight ahead at the next intersection until you reach a crossroads with five paths. Take the second path on the right, Allée Nouvelle.

(7) Leave it and turn onto the first path on the right. Reach a meadow, walk along it on the right-hand side, then take the first path on the left to reach Allée Nouvelle. At the crossroads with Allée du Chêne, turn right. Continue along this lane until you find an "Appel d'urgence" (emergency call) sign on your right.

(8) Turn left onto a path and, immediately after, at the wooden post, turn right. Continue along this path until you reach an alley, then continue along the path opposite to reach the edge of a pond. Head left to walk along the pond on your right. Skirt Allée de Tartres and continue to the right. You will see a picnic table on your left. Pass between the pond and a wooden shed.

(9) Shortly afterwards, take a path on the left marked with a sign indicating the direction of the Arboretum. Follow this direction, passing the arboretum information board which lists the species of trees present. Continue along this well-marked path which continues southwards and then takes a circular route to head north-west. At the exit of the Arboretum, you will pass another information board. Further on, ignore a path on the right that leads back to the pond, then you will come to a driveway. Continue on the path opposite to reach the crossroads at the entrance to the forest.

(10) Take the tarmac road, which provides vehicle access to the site, for a return trip to the Tours-Sud landscaped cemetery. At the intersection, shortly after the gate, turn left and continue to the cemetery, the entrance to which is on the right.

(11) At the roundabout with the cedar trees, turn right to visit this cemetery, which is designed like a pleasure park, following the tarmac path. At the first bend, follow the path for a round trip to the pond and its picnic table. Back on the tarmac path, continue the visit to the right, winding your way between the large daisies. Leave the cemetery and return to the entrance to Larçay Forest via the same path as on the way there.

(10) At the end of the tarmac road, turn onto the first lane on the left, at the end of a small car park. Continue along this lane, which is slightly less straight than the others. Further on, at an intersection with a gate on the left, continue straight ahead on the same path, which now runs parallel to a lane. You will come to a crossroads with four lanes, which you have already encountered previously.

(6) Turn left to go through the gate and follow Allée Saint-Hubert. At the first intersection, continue straight ahead. At the second intersection, turn right onto Allée de Chambray. Note the manor house pompously named Château du Bois des Hâtes at the end of this path. Do not continue to this building, but turn left after the pond onto a semi-circular path.

(12) At the intersection, continue straight ahead to complete the semi-circle around the park and arrive at two sequoia trees and the toilets. Turn left and immediately follow Sentier de la Mare on the right. Leave the pond on your left and join an alley. Follow it to the left, ignoring the paths branching off to the left and right, until you reach the end. Ignore the paths branching off on either side, cross the small ditch and you will arrive at

(5). Follow the same path as on the way there (^GR®®) on the left to cross the LGV on the footbridge.

(4) Continue straight ahead on the^GR®®, which you will now follow until you reach your destination. Further on, turn onto the first path on the left and continue to the outskirts of the village. Then turn right onto the path and you will soon arrive at

(2). Continue straight ahead and take the same path as on the way there, following the red and white markings of^{the GR®®41}to return to the gymnasium car park (S/E).

In the forest, the names of the paths are written vertically on short wooden posts.

There are several possible variations to shorten this hike:
At (4) you can return to (2)
At (6) you can return to (12) or, if you are coming from (10), you can return to (5)
At (10), you can choose not to make the round trip to the cemetery.

There are many possible places to picnic. The most unusual: near the pond in the cemetery; the most pleasant, in my opinion: the clearing just after (7) (but no tables or toilets).

Toilets are available at the entrance to the cemetery and in the grounds of the Château du Bois des Hâtes, at the end of the semi-circle.

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here

Between (3) and (4) The Parc des Brosses in a few dates. In 1984, the municipality of Larçay acquired 20 hectares of land reserves, which were uncultivated and marshy. Between 1985 and 1987, work was carried out to dig the TGV trench. The Tours urban planning workshop carried out a landscape study. An agreement between the municipality and the SNCF allowed for the clean-up of the area, the addition of 400,000 m3 of soil and the protection of as many mature trees as possible. In 1990 and 1991, 12,000 young trees (oak and cherry) were planted and three and a half kilometres of footpaths were created. In 1993, a fitness trail was created.

Between (5) and (10) is the Larçay Forest, and between (10) and (5) is the Bois des Hâtes. The Arboretum is home to many species of trees and shrubs: common beech, cherry, spruce, Douglas fir, cherry, medlar, silver fir, dogwood, St. Lucia wood, Nordmann fir, Corsican alder, dawn redwood, warty birch, black alder, Byzantine hazel, male dogwood, common apple tree, black locust, common pear tree, Atlas cedar, alder buckthorn, bird cherry, Scots pine, swamp oak, sessile oak, American red oak, pedunculate oak, common holly, downy oak, hairy oak, hazel, service tree, walnut, chestnut, hornbeam, silver maple, field maple, rowan, whitebeam, Westmouth pine, domestic plum, flexible viburnum, purple willow, plane maple, purging buckthorn, American copalme, black elder, small-leaved lime, aspen, common ash, blackthorn.
It is a pity that the names of the species are not indicated on the trunk of at least one individual per species.

(11) The Tours Sud Landscape Cemetery. This is the largest cemetery in the city, covering approximately 33 hectares. It is also the most recent, dating from 1981. The Tours Sud cemetery is a landscape cemetery. Seen from the sky (see satellite image), it resembles daisies, with graves placed in each petal. It is home to the only crematorium in the city of Tours. There are several Gardens of Remembrance, including one specifically for children. Seen from above, it resembles a tree, with one or more hearts at the end of each branch. Each heart contains graves, either for the deceased or for ashes.