La Berthenoux - La Motte Feuilly

This route follows the red and yellow^GRP®® markings on the Pas des Maîtres Sonneurs trail

(S) Leave the La Berthenoux lodge on your right and continue along Rue des Maitres Sonneurs until you reach the departmental road. Take a hairpin bend on the left. At the end, turn right onto a tarmac road and cross the hamlet of La Rue, turning left.

(1) Continue left towards a water tower. At the foot of the water tower, turn right and join a road that descends towards the valley (view of the village of Thevet-Saint-Julien and the Monts de la Marche in the distance). At the entrance to the village, turn right onto Rue du Docteur-Bauchet, which leads to the Place de l'Église in Thevet-Saint-Julien.

(2) Turn right and leave Thevet-Saint-Julien via the D940, which crosses the Igneraie.

(3) At the crossroads, turn left towards the stadium and take the wide, shaded dirt track that runs alongside it. At La Petite Pouzerie, turn left and continue to the Château de la Pouzerie.

(4) Take a road on the left for a few metres and turn right towards Les Baudins. You will arrive at the entrance to a 90° left-hand bend at the first building in Les Baudins.

(5) Take the track opposite. At a path, turn left, then right at the edge of a stream at the road and cross a bridge at the entrance to Cosnay.

(6) Turn right and continue for about 50 m. Turn right onto the path that runs alongside a farm. At the next intersection, turn left and pass through the middle of large fields. Turn left onto a cross-country track and continue until you reach a road.

(7) Follow it to the right and reach the wall surrounding the castle grounds. Go around it on the right, then head left towards the church in Montlevicq.

(8) Leave Montlevicq by taking the small road on the right, passing in front of the cemetery. Descend towards the hamlet of Priches and its castle. Turn right and immediately reach another crossroads. Turn right to cross the Igneraie on a small bridge connecting large boulders. Go up the road that runs alongside a farm.

(9) Just before the livestock buildings, take a stony track on the left. At the next intersection, turn left onto a grassy path that crosses a stream via a wide footbridge. Follow the road to the right.

(10) Cross the D 943 with caution and continue straight ahead on the D36a. The route crosses an old railway line. At the entrance to La Motte-Feuilly, take the first street on the right, then turn left at the hangars (you will see the top of the castle roof and its wooden cladding). Pass the cemetery, then the Motte-Feuilly equestrian centre. Reach the centre of the village, (1) turn right and left towards the stopover lodge at Le Poirond (E).

(1) You can either continue the route by taking the road on the left or reach Ste Sévère via link 1 by turning right towards the town hall (Boucle Berry Romantique). GRP® shared with GR® 654 for approximately 1,300 metres (white and red markings)

Accommodation: La Berthenoux, Thevet St Julien, La Motte Feuilly see the Chapitre website to organise your hike The feudal castle of La Pouzerie also offers guest rooms.
Refreshments: Thevet.
Water points: La Berthenoux, Thevet, Montlevicq, La Motte Feuilly.

La Berthenoux: the Romanesque church, listed as a historic monument, has magnificent capitals. Right next to it is a round tower, a remnant of the old fortified enclosure, and a 17th-century manor house (private property) known as the "Prieuré".

Thevet-Saint-Julien: the oak doors of the Saint-Julien church (12th century) were carved by Abbé Aymon, parish priest from 1942 to 1987. He also decorated the interior in a highly original style. The numerous roots he collected during his walks were carefully crafted and now form the basis of an astonishing museum, which hosts a series of seasonal art exhibitions.
The feudal castle of La Pouzerie (15th century) has a machicolated tower, battlements and mullioned windows.

Montlevicq: a small village with just over 100 inhabitants, Montlevicq has a remarkable architectural heritage: a Romanesque church, an old castle and outbuildings characteristic of rural architecture in the Berry region.

La Motte-Feuilly: a 12th-century private castle that was the setting for the novel "Les Beaux Messieurs de Bois Doré" with its thousand-year-old yew tree described as "monstrous" by G. Sand and the recumbent statue of Charlotte d'Albret in the small church of St Hilaire (Note here the link between the trail that joins Ste Sévère and the Compostela trail coming from Châteaumeillant, which joins La Châtre).