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The hike starts at Place du 8 mai 1945, where the war memorial is located. The square, which has a large car park, is located at the entrance to the village when coming from Loudun on the D947. The route map is displayed on the opposite side of the war memorial.
This walk follows aPR® trail designed and marked by the Maine-et-Loire departmental committee of the French Hiking Federation (FFRP) in conjunction with Saumur Val-de-Loire Tourisme. The trail is marked on both sides, but Saumur Val-de-Loire Tourisme recommends walking clockwise. The route described here is clockwise, but directions are provided for both directions.
Hike in a clockwise direction
Yellow + red and yellow signposts
(S/E) Head for the war memorial and follow Avenue du 11 Novembre 1918 on the right. Continue along Rue des Perdrielles and descend gently.
Yellow + orange + red markings
(1) After No. 71, turn left onto Rue des Granges Asnières. At the stop sign, cross the D947 (be careful, there is no protected crossing) and continue straight ahead on a small road (sign indicating a no-entry zone 200 m ahead).
(2) At the no entry sign, turn left onto a grassy path lined with a hedge. Continue until you come to a small road and follow it to the right for a few dozen metres. When the road turns right, continue straight ahead onto a field path.
Yellow + red and yellow markings
(3) Cross a small road, continue on the path opposite and enter the forest. When the main path turns left, turn right onto a narrower path. At a fork, take the path on the right that goes downhill. Follow a military site on your left until you reach an intersection (open area opposite).
(4) Then turn right.
Yellow markings
(5) At the next crossroads, go straight ahead (leaving theGRP® trail on your left). Pass a small isolated house on your left and continue straight ahead. Cross a small road and continue straight ahead on a grassy path. Climb gently and note the view of Fontevraud Abbey on your right. Descend just as gently.
(6) Come out onto a small road and follow it to the left and downhill. At the bottom, turn left and ignore a path on the right. Cross a small road on the left, then one on the right, and continue along Chemin du Petit Puits. After No. 42, the tarmac gives way to a stony path that descends.
(7) When the path turns left, turn right at an acute angle onto a grassy path.
(8) At the next crossroads, turn left and cross a stream. Cross the D947 at the pedestrian crossing and continue along the path opposite. Go up this shady path carved into the limestone (there are a few cave dwellings).
(9) At a three-way junction, turn left and walk along a vineyard on your left. Enter the forest, climb gently and ignore a path on your right. Further on, at a three-way junction, turn left and walk through an undergrowth of ferns.
(10) At the next intersection, turn right. Walk along the edge of the field on your left and the forest on your right.
Yellow + red and white markings
(11) At the T-junction, turn right and continue along the flat path through the forest.
(12) At the next intersection (signpost), turn right. Follow the slight downhill path through ferns and broom. Ignore two paths on the right and continue downhill (you will see Fontevraud Abbey on your left through the branches).
(13) At an EDF electricity substation, turn left and ignore a path on the right. Cross the archway and climb gently up the other side. At the T-junction, turn left, continuing slightly uphill. Cross Rue Saint-Jean de l'Habit on the left and reach Place Plantagenêt (entrance to the abbey on the left).
Yellow signposts
(14) Cross the square and take the small street opposite, leaving the town hall on your right. Walk alongside the Saint-Michel church on your left and continue along Allée Sainte-Catherine (chapel and lantern of the dead on your right). This will take you to Place du 8 Mai 1945 (S/E).
Walk in a counterclockwise direction
Yellow signposts
(S/E) Go to the back of the car park, on the opposite side to the war memorial. Take Allée Sainte-Catherine and walk past the chapel of the same name, topped by a lantern for the dead. Go around Saint-Michel Church on the left and you will come to Place Plantagenêt, opposite the abbey.
Yellow + red and white signposts
(14) Leave the entrance to the abbey on your right and follow Avenue de Rochechouart to the left. Cross Rue Saint-Jean de l'Habit on your right and continue straight ahead, slightly downhill. Just after a sign for "École", turn right and go downhill towards the "panorama abbaye" sign. Go through the archway and immediately after the road turns left, continue straight ahead on a stony path (small EDF post).
(13) Turn right with the path and climb slightly (you will see the abbey on your right between the branches). After a left turn, continue east on a slight incline and ignore two paths on the left. Cross a beautiful undergrowth of ferns and broom.
(12) At the T-junction, turn left and continue on flat ground through the forest.
Yellow markings
(11) Shortly after a small ruined house and at the edge of the forest, turn left (let theGR® continue straight ahead). Walk along the edge of the forest on your left and the field on your right. Then enter the forest.
(10) At the fork that appears shortly after, take the left path. Descend into the forest and, at a crossroads, continue straight ahead on the main path. Leave the forest and walk along a vineyard on your right.
(9) At the three-way junction that follows, turn right and descend a shady path carved into the limestone (there are a few cave dwellings). At the bottom, cross the D947 at the pedestrian crossing, follow Rue des Ecoteries opposite and cross a stream.
(8) Immediately afterwards, turn right onto a grassy path and follow the stream on your right.
(7) When you reach a large building with large bay windows on the right-hand side of the road, turn left at an acute angle (signpost) and go up a stony path. The path soon gives way to a tarmac road. Further on, cross a small road on the left and then one on the right. Then turn right and left with the road.
(6) At the end of the left-hand bend, turn right onto a field track. Climb gently and note the view of Fontevraud Abbey on your left. Descend gently between the fields. Cross a small road and continue west between the fields. Pass a small isolated house on your right and you will come to a crossroads.
Yellow + red and yellow markings
(5) Continue straight ahead into the woods.
(4) At the next intersection, turn left. Walk along a military site on your right, climb into the woods and ignore the paths on your right.
Yellow + orange + red and yellow markings
(3) Cross a small road and take the path opposite (south-east) downhill (Fontevraud Royal Abbey clearly visible). At the bottom of the descent, follow the small road for a few dozen metres. When the road turns right, turn left onto a grassy path lined with a hedge.
(2) At the T-junction, follow a small road on the right. At the stop sign, cross the D947 road (be careful, there is no protected crossing) and continue straight ahead on a narrow lane that becomes a footpath.
Yellow + red and yellow markings
(1) At the end, turn right onto Rue des Perdrielles. Follow this street (south), ignoring all the streets on the left. After an old water pump under a shelter on the left and a dead end on the right, you will find Place du 8 mai 1945 on the left (S/E).
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