The Pierre Loti Route to Saint-Porchaire

The entire route is marked by a yellow line.

Starting point: Champ de Foire car park; GPS 45°49'14.5"N 0°46'57.8"W

(S/E) Leave the square and turn left onto Rue du Champ de Foire, then turn left again onto Allée des Platanes. Cross the Bruant stream and head towards the Croix neighbourhood.

(1) At the junction, head straight on along Rue des Coudraies, then turn left towards Les Brossards – Les Gourdins as you leave the village. Walk for 400 metres until you reach the edge of a wood.

(2) Between the woods and the fields, take the Allée de Saintes on your left. Follow it for less than a kilometre to reach the D122 opposite the Château de la Roche-Courbon. Take the path on the right before crossing the road, then turn right again and head into the woods. Carry on until you come to a large field, turn right, then take the path on the left, following the signposts. You’ll reach a road.

(3) Follow it straight ahead for about 20 metres, then take the path straight ahead into the forest. Continue until you reach the D216.

(4) Turn right onto it, then further on, follow the path on the left into the Bois de la Combe Brune. Keep going straight on along this path until you reach the recycling centre at the edge of the woods.

(5) Cross the D216 and carry on along the path opposite. Continue to the hamlet of La Grande Forêt.

(6) Carry on along the road and, at the junction, turn right. Turn left onto the D216E1, then immediately right between the fields. Turn 90° along the track and you’ll arrive at the farm: Les Mois.

(7) Turn left onto the road. At the next junction, carry straight on towards Les Tonnelles, which you must pass through. On the other side, turn right until you reach the RD237. 

(8) Cross this busy road very carefully. Continue straight ahead over a bridge spanning the motorway, then immediately turn right onto a gravel track leading to the hamlet of Font-Quéré.

(9) Carry on along Rue de La Source to the right until you cross a bridge under the motorway. Turn left onto Rue de l’Allée Verte, then take the second street on the right, Rue du Midi, to reach a Fork in the road at Les Renaudières.

(10) Turn left onto Rue des Ormes, follow it to the end and you’ll come out onto Rue du Cadran Bleu.

(11) Turn left onto this street, then turn right to follow Rue des Chênes to the first junction. Turn right onto Rue de la Mairie and, before reaching it, head down a dirt track on the right. Continue straight on and pass under the Pont Napoléon.

(12) Cross the grassy esplanade, join Impasse du Tressauze and turn right. Continue along a path which leads onto Rue du Presbytère, then turn right to reach Saint-Porchaire Church. Once at the end of the street, turn left to follow Rue Nationale, then take the second street on the left to return to the starting point (S/E).

The Bruant: 9.3 km long, it rises at a place known as Font-Bruant, feeding the ponds in the gardens of the Château de La Roche-Courbon before flowing into the Charente.

Built in the^15th century on a rocky outcrop, the Château de La Roche-Courbon was converted into a country house in the^17th century by the Marquis Jean-Louis de Courbon.

Saint-Porchaire Church (^12th–15th centuries). The south side of this Gothic building is characterised by a beautiful succession of sections. Two distinct periods of construction can be clearly identified. On the west façade, the Romanesque tradition is still clearly visible.