The Forgotten Path of the Genettes

Start from the car park at Les Genettes Town Hall.

(S/E) From the car park, take the first road on the right at the crossroads. Continue straight on, passing a picnic area on your left; the country road then offers a view of a few ponds on your right. Pass through the hamlet of Le Creux de l’Ours and, at the hamlet of Les Barres, reach the junction with the D930.

(1) Turn left, then take the first right at the top of the hill (dead end), towards La Courberie.

(2) Take the first unpaved track on the left just before house no. 132. Carry on straight ahead through the forest until you reach a crossroads.

(3) Turn left and join the D930. Follow it to the right until you reach a four-way junction.

(4) Turn onto the small road on the right, the D673, towards Randonnai.

(5) At the first junction, turn left, then 150 m further on, follow a grassy track to the left which crosses the field, offering an unobstructed view. At the D930, turn left, then immediately right onto the dead-end road signposted ‘Lerrie’.

(6) At the hamlet of Lerrie, at the end of the small road, turn left, walk past the house and follow a magnificent, forgotten path surrounded by hedgerows. Keep going straight on, passing the hamlets of La Houssière and Les Guiguères before joining the D673.

(7) Continue to the right until you reach the junction leading back to the town hall car park, after passing meadows with Ouessant sheep on your left and the Manoir des Genettes on your right (S/E).

(4) In wet weather, the centre of the path may be muddy; stick to the edges.

(S/E) The gates to the town hall car park are always open.

(S/E) Near the start, there is a rustic picnic area on your left with a table and benches; it has always been well maintained so far, and it is well worth reading the information board about Les Fossés Le Roy, the former border between the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Perche. Bear in mind that the enormous ditch in front of you was dug 800 years ago by the shovel, by hundreds of men, stretching for tens of kilometres.

(4) At the crossroads; just before turning right towards La Courberie, on the left, the small beige and brick house used to be a restaurant called Le Relais de l’Abbaye, where Jean Gabin used to come for lunch regularly.

(6) The forgotten path passes through several localities: La Houssière – so named because there used to be a lot of holly – Les Giguères, named after a family who emigrated to Quebec in 1600, and some very pretty little ponds; and in the village, the beautiful manor house known as Château des Genettes, owned by Mr Le Floch Prigent, former CEO of ELF.

Tourist website for the commune: Au Pays des Genettes.