La Minette and Les Noës around Saint-Sauveur-des-Landes

Park in the cemetery car park, situated on the left-hand side after No. 25 Rue Saint-Hilaire

(S/E) Leave the car park by turning right onto Rue Saint-Hilaire towards the village centre. Turn left into Rue de la Vigne between Nos. 12 and 10 on Rue Saint-Hilaire and follow it as it curves to the right.
Please note that at present (February 2020) Rue de la Vigne is closed for roadworks. You must therefore continue straight on to the roundabout, turn left into Rue du Coglais and continue to the roundabout. Keep slightly to the left.

Before the roundabout, take a moment to admire, on your right, a 17th-century bread oven and bakery used by the inhabitants of the village of “La Vigne” and restored in 2004 by a training workshop.
At the roundabout, turn left onto Rue du Coglais and continue to the Champ de Lion junction.

(1) Continue along Rue du Coglais until you reach the edge of the village.

(2) Turn right, towards the sports grounds. Walk between the tennis court and the football pitch. Go through the hedge and turn onto the path on the left. Then take the path on the right, running alongside the forest. It ends at the D105.

Turn left onto the D105 and follow it until you pass under the A86 motorway bridge.
This is the least pleasant part of the route, but there is no alternative path
After the bridge, carry on for a further 150 metres.

(3) Turn left towards Tronçay. Pass through this hamlet and, at the end of the road, turn left and continue for about a hundred metres,

(4) Turn right onto a very pleasant forest lane. Follow the lane as it takes a hairpin bend to the left. As you go downhill, you’ll reach the banks of the Minette. Walk alongside the stream, keeping it on your right. Pass under the motorway once more and follow the path which, as it moves away from the Minette, runs alongside a hedge marking the boundary of the Moulin du Bas Teillay estate. After a bend to the left, the path leads onto a road.

(5) Turn right onto this road and turn left at the Monneraie junction. Very soon, a footpath has been created on the left-hand side of the road, allowing you to continue in complete safety.
Carry on along this parallel path.

(6) Carry on straight ahead until you reach the Haut Champ du Lion junction, which you passed earlier.
N.B. At this point, there are three options. Only the route marked on the map is described here, with a detour via the Champ Lion pond, where there are picnic tables for a lunch break (see the two other, shorter options in the ‘Practical information’ section).

(2) Continue straight on again until you reach the Champ du Lion crossroads, which you have also passed through previously.

(1) Turn right and carry on straight ahead to go round the Étang du Champ Lion, keeping it on your right. Once you’ve gone round it, take the access road on the left and return to the crossroads.

(1) Turn left, and head towards the junction and then the crossroads you passed earlier.

(6) Turn left and follow this path westwards until you reach a fork.

(7) Turn right. The path curves to the right then veers left, heading north.

(8) Take the path on the left. Be careful not to miss it; it is marked by barbed-wire fences. Follow it round a bend to the right and then along a meadow. It leads onto a road.

Take the path on the right that runs alongside the road so you can walk safely. Cross the road leading to La Bouverie. Carry on straight ahead at the next junction to get a closer look at the façades of Chaudeboeuf Castle.

(9) Retrace your steps and turn right at the crossroads. When you reach La Barbotais, take the road on the left. Pass the hamlet of Heurteloup and continue along the path.

(10) Follow the sign indicating you should turn right to walk alongside the stream until you reach a road.
Follow this road, turning right. Pass the hamlet of Sainte-Hélène on your right and, 50 metres further on, take the path on the left. Follow it all the way along; it veers left, running alongside the D18 for 100 metres.

(11) Cross the D18 and continue straight ahead onto a forest track. At the T-junction at the end, turn left, cross over and immediately take the path on the right, following it all the way.

(12) Turn left, then, at the first junction, opposite the Butte Haine farm, turn right and enter the village of Saint-Sauveur.

(13) At the Stop sign, turn left and head towards the town centre via Rue de la Salorge. Turn right towards the church, then turn left twice to reach the car park. (S/E).

This walk combines two routes: the first, the “Route de la Minette”, can be done in the morning (5.9 km), with a lunch break planned at the Étang du Champ Lion (walk round the pond: 1.8 km); the second route, the “Route des Noës”, is done in the afternoon (8.5 km). Allow at least 4 hours for walking (excluding the lunch break): 1½ hours in the morning and 2½ hours in the afternoon.

Alternative routes at this point (6):
1°) Carry on straight ahead to the car park. This route is shown on the map as the “Circuit de la Minette”.
2) Turn right, head straight for the point (7) and continue along the “Circuit des Noës”.

The Minette rises near the hamlet of La Barberie on the border between the municipalities of Romagné and Saint-Germain-en-Coglès. After a course of 25.1 kilometres, it flows into the Couesnon at the site of the former Brais mine in the municipality of Vieux-Vy-sur-Couesnon. It gave its name to the aqueduct that has supplied the city of Rennes with drinking water since 1882.

Chaudeboeuf Castle was built in the 17th century. In 1863, the last owners donated it to the Congregation of the Adorers of Divine Justice to establish a hospice there. It remains a hospice to this day.