The start at Oules from Villevêque

The car park is located next to L’Engrenage.

(S/E) On leaving the car park, turn left onto Rue du Port (heading south-east) or take the path running alongside it. At the junction with Rue du Loir, turn right, walk past the school a little further on, then past Saint-Pierre Church on your right, until you reach the junction where Rue du Loir (D113) meets Rue Jean de Beauvau (D192) on the left.

(1) Turn left onto Rue Jean de Beauvau, then take the first street on the left, which soon gives way to a farm track. When you reach a small copse shortly afterwards, take the track on the right which skirts the edge of the copse on your left to reach the banks of the Loir and follow the river.

Further on, the track veers slightly away from the banks of the Loir. Pass under the high-voltage power line and, at the next crossroads, go straight on to cross the Boire du Commun d’Oule (stream) via a bridge shortly afterwards. The track rejoins the banks of the Loir a little further on and follows them to a crossroads slightly below the D192. Join the D192 via the farm track.

(2) Turn right and follow the D192 with great care for about 350 metres (the grassy verge on the right-hand side of the road is the most passable).
Turn left onto a grassy track which joins the road to Corzé. Turn left there and follow it carefully for a good hundred metres before turning right onto the small Les Bouchets road towards the hamlet of La Poulaillerie.

(3) At the last house in La Poulaillerie, on the left-hand side of the road (a former station or level crossing house converted into a dwelling), take the path under the trees on the right-hand side of the road which leads into the woods along the route of the former Angers–La Flèche railway line.
Further on, the path crosses the Boire du Commun d’Oule. Continue along the old railway line until you reach a point where the road takes a right-angle bend to the right (about 10 metres away).

(4) Turn right and carefully follow the road to the right, heading north-west, until you reach the first junction; turn left onto the farm track, passing under the high-voltage power line.
At the T-junction, turn right onto the track running along the edge of a small copse on your right, before turning left.

(5) In front of the shrubbery surrounding the hamlet of L’Oudinais, take the track on the right heading north-east. At the next T-junction, turn left onto the track which, shortly afterwards, runs alongside a hedge on your right before reaching the Chemin des Vignes d’Oule.

Turn left onto the Chemin des Vignes d’Oule and follow it for about a hundred metres. Take the path on the right, which becomes a road as you reach the care home on your left.
Walk round the ‘Les Couleurs du Temps’ care home. Continue straight on until you reach Rue Jean de July (D113)

(6) Turn right onto Rue Jean de Rely, then left onto Rue des Écoles.
At the start of Rue des Écoles, cross the car park on the right to take the path, which goes round the buildings on the left, then follow Rue Saint-Pierre to the right, which leads into Rue du Général de Gaulle opposite Saint-Pierre Church. Turn left and, a little further on, turn right into Rue Neuve and continue straight on to the parking area (S/E).

The car park is located next to L’Engrenage.
This walk, which covers varied terrain, requires suitable footwear.

This walk is marked in yellow. It also follows a section of^{the GR®35}. In addition, it is advisable to follow the instructions in the description and on the map, whilst paying close attention to the landscape. The waypoints (with their GPS coordinates and the distance from the starting point) are helpful for walkers exploring the route for the first time.
The route follows the “Rives du Loir” trail suggested by the Angers Tourist Office on its website.

Villevêque
The centre of the parish is recorded as having been located in the present-day village as early as the 11th century. An episcopal manor was established there, which became the bishop’s estate (Villa Episcopi, Ville-Evêque). The fief formed a castellany within the direct domain of the Bishopric of Angers.
In the 12th century, the castle served as a stronghold. It was demolished twice by royal order and rebuilt by the Bishop of Bueil. The building was remodelled in the 15th century.
The parishes of Soucelles and Villevêque merged on 1 January 2019 to form the new parish of Rives-du-Loir-en-Anjou

Places and Monuments
Villevêque Castle: This is a fortified house that served as the episcopal residence of the bishops of Angers. Hubert de Vendôme, Bishop of Angers, first mentioned this episcopal residence as early as 1025. In 1317, Guillaume Le Maire, Bishop of Angers, swore an oath of allegiance to King Philip V of France there. In 1428, Yolande of Aragon donated a thousand écus to Bishop Hardouin de Bueil to rebuild a new residence. Jean de Beauvau, Bishop of Angers, had the building completely rebuilt between 1448 and 1465. In 1791, the Château de Villevêque was sold as national property. The estate subsequently passed to a succession of private owners. In 2003, the city of Angers received, by bequest from its last owner and donor, Mr Daniel Duclaux, the Château de Villevêque and the collection of art objects it contained. That same year, the Château de Villevêque Museum, affiliated with the Angers Museum of Fine Arts, opened to the public. The Villevêque Castle Museum houses the private collection of the property’s former owner.
Saint-Pierre Church, built between the 11th and 17th centuries, and the presbytery, built in the 16th and 18th centuries.
The mills of Villevêque: In 1292, there is mention of stone buildings, which replaced a wooden structure. In the 15th century, there were three mills belonging to the Bishopric’s own estate: the wheat mill, the ‘grand moulin’ (so named because it had two wheels and was situated near a lock gate that no longer exists), and the ‘moulin de guichet’, located on the site of the present-day harbour and since destroyed. As early as 1384, the archives mention a fulling mill, also known as a cloth-fulling mill (for fulling cloth, i.e. degreasing and then felting it). There is also mention in the title deeds of a paper mill. A paper millstone is currently embedded in the boundary wall in front of the entrance to the great mill.
By the mid-19th century, there were three mills in the area. The ‘moulin de guichet’ was acquired by the local council in 1855 to build a harbour (the present-day harbour), a washhouse (no longer extant) and a drinking trough; the mill was demolished in 1862. Primarily grain mills, the mills of Villevêque produced cereal flour (rye and wheat) from the very beginning. Oil production took place from the mills’ inception until around 1930, particularly the pressing of linseed. The botanist Ernest Préaubert noted the presence there of a weed of Russian origin, Chenopodium ficifolium, and explained the reason: ‘This watermill produces linseed oil from seeds of various origins, from which this foreign goosefoot, growing amongst the production waste, has sprung.’ The use of the wheat mill as a grinding mill ceased before the Second World War. The mill was converted into a dwelling. Between 1993 and 1995, it was once again operated by the company Le moulin de Villevêque, after which the local council acquired it in 1998 with a view to using it as a reception hall. Work began in 2008: restoration of the waterwheel to generate electricity and refurbishment of the large hall on the upper floor.
You can explore the mill on your own or with a guide who will reveal its secrets (every summer at 4.30 pm). Throughout the year, a programme of events caters for culture lovers: exhibitions, concerts, shows, films…
Enquiries: 06 76 29 73 66. (Self-guided tour €2, guided tour by booking €3.50 in 2022).
More information at moulindevilleveque.fr
''Source: Wikipedia (excerpts) and Tourist Office''

The Basses Vallées Angevines site
This vast alluvial plain, a favourite haunt of birds, is recognised as one of the most beautiful and biologically rich natural wetland areas in Europe (Ramsar Convention and Natura 2000).
Committed to preserving this exceptional and fragile heritage, Angers Loire Métropole and its partners wanted to showcase this area, hence the idea of a GR® de Pays trail winding through the Basses Vallées
Angevines.
This 100 km circular route is signposted in red and yellow, and the ‘Topoguide des Basses Vallées Angevines’ guidebook will provide you with all the information you need.
Source: Tourist Office