The Saint-Benoit Fountain and Marie Ravenel's Mill

In Néville-sur-Mer, park in the small car park next to the cemetery surrounding the church in the town centre. There is an information panel about the church near the cemetery wall.
Please note! This walk is not signposted as such.

(S/E) Set off along the street that runs alongside the cemetery with the church on your left. At the intersection, turn left towards the Fontaine Saint-Benoit, indicated on a wooden sign. Further on, note the wash house on the right, in front of a beautiful old farmhouse. Continue along this street lined with stone houses and, in a long left-hand bend, note a well set into a low wall on the left-hand side of the street. At the next intersection, continue to the right and stay on this road, which heads towards the sea through wet meadows, until the next intersection (about 900m further on) with a road.

(1) Turn left, then ignore a path on the right and continue straight ahead on the sandy path towards the Caqueret blockhouse battery on the beach. Turn right for a round trip to the blockhouses to see the information panels on Pointe de Néville, then return to the path and look for the red and white markings of^{the GR®®223}, which you will follow until further notice. Follow the path to the right. Shortly after the last concrete remains on the beach, at a fork with a less marked path, continue to the left, along the edge of the marsh that the path runs alongside on the left. In front of a sign for "Site Naturel Protégé l'Isle" (Isle Protected Natural Site), turn left, temporarily leaving the^GR®®.

(2) Immediately after, at a left-hand bend, follow the second path on the right to reach the Fontaine Saint-Benoit (see "Practical information").

(3) Return to the previous crossroads.

(2) Continue to the left to rejoin the^GR®®223. Further on, you will reach the end of a road. Continue along the path until you reach the end of another road.

(4) Turn slightly right onto the path between the marsh and the beach. You will come to a sign for "Site Naturel Protégé Pointe de la Loge" (Pointe de la Loge Protected Natural Site).

(5) The path then begins to approach the beach and follows it closely. You will arrive at a stone house on the left and a blockhouse on the right. Immediately after, climb over a small wall to reach the end of a road and find a sign for Mares Vrasville.

(6) Continue straight ahead along the edge of the beach. Further on, at the end of a road, you will see a sign for "Site Naturel Protégé Marais du Hable" (Marais du Hable Protected Natural Site). Continue straight ahead between the beach and the marshes.

(7) At a small red and white lighthouse, continue straight ahead until you reach the end of a small road near some houses. Continue straight ahead on this road, walking alongside the houses, then, when the road curves to the left, you will see a sign for "Site Naturel Protégé Loge de Vicq".

(8) Continue straight ahead on the path, continuing along the beach. Further on, the path passes between a marsh with reeds on the left and dunes on the right, then arrives at a sign for "Roselière". Shortly afterwards, walk past a campsite to find a sign for "Site Naturel Protégé les Sablons" (Les Sablons Protected Natural Site). Continue straight ahead for a few metres until you reach a small road with a small green sign for "Pointe de la Loge".

(9) Turn left onto the road and, shortly afterwards, leave the red and white^GR®® markings, which turn left, and continue along the road. When you reach a hamlet, Le Hameau de la Mer, pass a few houses and ignore a lane on the right and then on the left. Immediately after, at a fork, take the path on the left (green sign for Chasse Vauville). Shortly afterwards, on the right, on a low wall covered with vegetation, you will see a sign saying "L'union fait la force" (Unity is strength).

(10) You will come to a small road; follow it to the left to enter the hamlet of Monnaie. Cross the hamlet, continuing straight ahead, then, at a property surrounded by a white fence, continue straight ahead on the path that extends the road. At the intersection with a small road, turn left towards the hamlet of Rémond.

(11) In the hamlet, at the crossroads of five roads, take the second right towards "Rayon de Soleil" (road sign). Just after this, you will also see a sign for Impasse. Further on, as you leave the hamlet, the street turns into a path. At the crossroads with a road, continue on the path opposite (there is a menhir in the field on your right, the Pierre Plantée), towards the Carrière de Cosqueville.

(12) At the quarry, continue straight ahead, ignoring a path on the right. The path turns right and then comes to a crossroads. Turn left and, shortly afterwards, you will see a beautiful oak tree on the right. Then pass to the left of a small manor house and arrive at the end of a small road, near some stone houses.

(13) Do not continue along the road but turn immediately left onto the grassy path between the two houses. Shortly afterwards, you will see a yellow marker, which you should follow until further notice. Continue along this path until you reach an intersection with another path.

(14) Turn right and shortly afterwards you will come to a small road, where you should turn right. A few metres further on, you will see a sign on the left for "Les épis de faîtage". Shortly afterwards, leave the road as it begins to turn right and take the path on the left. Ignore a path on the right further on. Further on, you will come to a small road at the first houses of Angoville en Saire.

(15) Leave the yellow markings temporarily to turn right and pass to the right of the church, turn left at the crossroads just after to finish going around the church, then ignore the street on the left and rejoin the yellow markings. Just after this, you will see a wash house and a sign for Angoville on your right. Shortly afterwards, as the street begins to curve to the left, just after crossing a stream, turn right onto a path that climbs between a few blocks of stone. You will quickly come to a road. Cross it and continue on the path opposite. At the intersection with a small road, follow it to the right, cross the hamlet of Les Moulins, and cross the Varouville River on a small bridge.

(16) Shortly afterwards, take a path on the right. At the crossroads with three small roads, follow the first on the right to reach the Moulin de Marie Ravenel.

(17) After visiting or simply taking a break at this beautiful site, return to the road, turn left as you leave the mill, pass in front of a rather dilapidated manor house, then, at the crossroads, continue along the path opposite. Further on, on the right, you will see a sign for "Le Bouvreuil".

(18) At the intersection with another path, turn left and shortly afterwards you will see a sign for "Orme champêtre". At the crossroads with a road, continue along the path opposite and shortly afterwards you will see a sign for "Architecture rurale 1". At the next intersection with a road, in the hamlet of Le Moulin, turn left. Leave the yellow markings and follow the yellow mountain bike markings until further notice.

(19) Shortly afterwards, take the path on the right. Further on, this path makes a right-angle turn to the left. At the crossroads with a road, continue along the path opposite, then ignore a path on the left before reaching another road.

(20) Turn left, then take the first road on the right towards Le Tourps (private sign for "Tapissier"). After a right-angle turn to the left, you will see a wash house, then a sign for "Architecture rurale 2" (Rural Architecture 2). Ignore the street on the left. Continue along this small road to reach Herclat, a group of beautiful stone houses. Note the two beautiful oak trees on the small square.

(21) Take the path on the right, then turn left at the intersection with another path to reach the hamlet of Haut de la Rue.

(22) Shortly after the first houses, leave the yellow mountain bike trail and turn left onto a path. Ignore a path on the right. Shortly afterwards, you will see a sign for "Saule" (willow). A few metres to the left, in the bushes, you will find a spring that you can hear flowing quietly. Continue along the path and keep going in the same direction when it becomes covered with old tarmac.

(23) At the next intersection, take the path on the right, following the green markings. At the crossroads with the road, continue along the street opposite, then at the next crossroads, continue straight ahead through the village of Néville to reach the church (S/E).

The only difficulty with this trail is its length and walking on sand.

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

Between (1) and (9) The route runs alongside marshes, reed beds and ponds, where you can observe many birds.

Along this route, you will find many information panels about the natural coastal areas, then about the bocage and rural architecture.

(3) Located on the former site of a priory destroyed by the English during the Hundred Years' War, the Saint-Benoit fountain is a popular place of pilgrimage whose waters are said to have great healing properties, particularly for treating children with impetigo, a skin disease known locally as "Saint-Benoit".

(17) Marie Ravenel's Mill. Dating from^{the 18th} century, the Coudrairie watermill operated until 1935. It was then abandoned for 64 years until it was bought by the Community of Communes of the canton of Saint-Pierre-Eglise, which renamed it the Marie Ravenel watermill in tribute to the miller's wife and poet who lived there for 31 years.

The Marie Ravenel Mill is a beautiful collection of thatched cottages. Thatched cottages have become very rare in this part of Normandy, unlike in other regions. It seems that local insurers were responsible for the loss of this magnificent, typical architecture by charging very high premiums to the owners of thatched cottages on the pretext that they were more flammable than houses with slate roofs! What a shame!