La Dame de Chambrille from La Mothe-Saint-Héray

Cemetery car park – Route D 737.

(S/E) Cross the D737 with great care and head left towards the roundabout along the grass verge. Go round the roundabout on the right, cross the Route de Melle (D737) and then follow the Route de Lezay (D45) for about a hundred metres. Cross the D45 and take the Chemin de Bourdenloeil opposite, which immediately turns right (south-east). Follow the path to a T-junction.

(1) Then take the path on the right. Cross the D45 with care and continue straight ahead along the path known as the ‘Chemin du Noyer au Berger’. Go straight on, ignoring a turn-off to the right and then one to the left.

(2) At the next junction, turn slightly to the right. Cross the D737 with care and you’ll soon reach a T-junction. Turn right and enter La Villedé. On the left, you’ll see a Protestant family cemetery surrounded by greenery.

(3) Turn left onto Allée des Charmilles. At the T-junction, turn left onto a well-maintained track. Continue straight ahead (south) at the following junctions. At the junction near an electricity pylon, carefully cross a small road and continue straight ahead onto a track that runs a short distance alongside the D 737.

(4) At the next junction, turn right. At the Fork in the road that appears shortly afterwards, turn right again.

(5) At the junction, turn right (north) and you’ll come to a crossroads.

(6) Follow the Grand Rue du Vivier to the right. After about a hundred metres, turn left into Rue du Lavoir (note a spring and a washhouse on the left). At the end, turn left into Rue de la Planche to return to the crossroads.

(6) Take the Grand Rue de Vivier to the right (west). As you leave the hamlet, you’ll see a family cemetery on the left-hand side. The road bends to the right; ignore a turn-off on the left.

(7) At the place known as La Maison Neuve (a beautiful old property on the right), continue straight ahead along the road leading towards Gripoteau. Ignore a road on the left, go downhill, cross the Ruisseau de Chambrille and head up the hillside opposite.

(8) At the junction, turn right onto a path that descends towards the stream. Just before this, at a Fork in the road (elevation 148), take the left-hand path. Turn right immediately and head slightly downhill to the Ruisseau de Chambrille. Keep the stream on your right for a long stretch and descend the valley. After the Vallée des Grenats joins from the right, you’ll see an upright granite boulder on the left: the Dame de Chambrille.

(9) At the end of the valley, turn right and cross the Ruisseau de Chambrille. Climb slightly and, at the^first junction, go straight on.

(10) At^{the second} junction, turn left onto a grassy path. At the end, turn left and, shortly afterwards, turn right. Ignore a path branching off to the left and join the D 737 opposite the cemetery. Cross the road with care and you’ll find the car park on your left (S/E).

The car park is located at the La Mothe-Saint-Héray cemetery, beside the D 737 road.

This walk across varied terrain requires sturdy footwear.

This route is largely signposted as it is loosely based on the ‘La Vallée de Chambrille’ route published by the Deux-Sèvres Departmental Hiking Committee. It is signposted in yellow. Nevertheless, it is advisable to follow the directions in this description and on the map, whilst also paying attention to the landscapes you pass through. Distance markers from the starting point, and even the GPS coordinates of waypoints (including the start), can also help hikers find their way.

Walk completed by the author on 12 June 2020

The Lady of Chambrille
The Legend of Chambrille
Source: Legend written by H. Caillon (published in 1885).
Long ago, on the banks of the source of the Chambrille stream, which flows into the Sèvre at La Mothe-St-Héray, stood the Château de Font Quérré. The lord of the manor, Amaury, had a daughter of great beauty whom he had named Berthe.
She fell in love with her young neighbour, Guy de Trémont, and Guy’s love for Berthe was equally tender and passionate. The young couple began to live out this great love to the full, making countless promises that rhymed with ‘forever’ in the blissful innocence of their youth.
The neighbouring lord, Baron Tutebert de Chambrille, who held the estate of La Mothe-St-Héray and was both a comrade-in-arms and a friend of Amaury’s, asked Amaury for Berthe’s hand in marriage and was granted it. In those bygone days, daughters were expected to obey their fathers’ commands. Berthe de Font Quérré and Guy de Trémont were devastated by the news. Berthe thus became Madame de Chambrille through her marriage to the Baron.
Some time later, the two young lovers could no longer resist the fervour of their passion and arranged to meet at night, halfway between their respective homes, in the valley, near the stream.
Their trysts became more frequent; the lovers would dangerously prolong their lovemaking until dawn, parting only when they heard the crowing of the rooster at Le Payré, the earliest of them all.
Berthe’s nocturnal absences were, unfortunately, discovered by Tutebert, who proved to be highly suspicious. After conducting a swift investigation, he went to hide near the lovers’ meeting place just after sunset to lie in wait for them.
A moment later, by moonlight, he saw that his suspicions were well-founded, and, mad with rage, he threw himself upon them and stabbed them. Berthe de Chambrille was pinned to the spot and turned to stone. She became the rock that now bears her name: La Dame de Chambrille.
Guy de Trémont, mortally wounded, dragged himself as best he could up the valley running perpendicular to that of Chambrille to return to his home, leaving a trail of his blood in his wake. These drops of blood turned into small garnets, pebbles carried ever since by the stream that has carved out the valley, and which gave it the name Vallée aux Grenats. Guy, having lost all his blood, died not far from his home in Trémont.
Ever since then, despite everything, the Ruisseau des Grenats has continued to merge its waters with those of the Ruisseau de Chambrille, as if, beyond the waters, the two young lovers were still united and showering each other with tender caresses.

Editor’s note: His grave—a flat rock resembling a tombstone—can be seen at the water’s edge on the right bank of the Vallée aux Grenats, near the hunting lodge known as ‘La maison blindée’.

The Chambrille and Grenats Valleys: a site of culture and nature
The Chambrille and Grenats valleys were formed nearly two million years ago as a result of geological subsidence. This unusual formation has resulted in a rugged landscape: two deeply incised valleys, dotted with rocky outcrops. The site’s uniqueness also stems from the nature of the rocks, which consist of granite and garnet-bearing mica schist. It is believed that the stream, flowing through the mica schist that glistens in the sun, was given the name ‘Champ Brille’; whilst its tributary took the name ‘Ruisseau des Grenats’ in reference to the semi-precious stone, garnet, embedded in the mica schist. The wide variety of habitats in the valley supports the growth of numerous plant species, ranging from heather on poor, dry and acidic soils, through the early purple orchid, to the black alder along the banks of the streams on moist, alluvial soils. This rich flora is complemented by remarkable fauna: the spotted salamander, the Alpine longhorn beetle, the kite moth…
Source: document from Biotope

La Mothe Saint Héray
Monuments
The Orangery
The Church
The dovecote at the Benedictine Convent (17th century)
The Abbé Mill
The castle’s defences
The Maison des Rosières
The 17th-century dovecote-porch (private)
La Chamoiserie
Notable sites
The Lady of Chambrille
The Valley of the Garnets
The open-air theatre and the municipal park
The Mothais Meadow
Site on the Mothais Meadow
The Tanneries Bridge
Place Maillard
Château Square
Place du Couvent
For further information and source: the council’s official website