Juigné Harbour (in Juigné-sur-Sarthe)

The start and finish point is at the River Rest Area, where there is a picnic area, children’s play equipment and toilets. From here, other walks are available, such as the “Tour des Carrières” (14.5 km) or the “Tour des Galibots” (6 km).

(S/E) Turn left onto Rue Raymond Dubois towards Sablé (D22). Take care. You will pass the entrance to the Château de la Grange and then the hamlet known as ‘l’Amusant Musée’.
After Place du Port, continue along Rue Raymond Dubois and turn right straight away to head uphill, between the houses, along the steep path to the Notre-Dame-du-Nid Chapel.

(1) From the Notre-Dame-du-Nid Chapel, turn right onto the access road for local residents’ cars.
Then head up to your left along the Côte de la Grange to the hamlet known as ‘la Grange’. On the way, at the hamlet of Beauregard, you can see the Château de la Grange.
Watch out for vehicles.
At the Stop sign at the crossroads in the hamlet of Beauregard, turn left onto Route de Bellevue towards Bellevue-L’Hommeau-Les Saulneries. Continue for 200m.

(2) Before you reach the houses, opposite a blue sign for the Tour des Galibots route – marked ‘Malvoisine’ and mounted on an electricity pole – turn left between two fields onto a tree-lined dirt track to join the Chemin de la Galerie.
When you reach the buildings, stop for a moment to admire Solesmes Abbey on the opposite bank from the heights of Port de Juigné, the final foothill of the Armorican Massif. At the Fork in the road, ignore the path on your right and continue downhill towards the banks of the Sarthe along the Chemin de la Galerie.
Go down the small steps and continue to the right along Rue Raymond Dubois towards Sablé (D22). Take care.

You’ll reach the banks of the Sarthe opposite the ruins of the Saint-Clément marble works. Here, the sign for the Tour des Galibots route, marked in blue, indicates that the Port de Juigné lock is 0.5 km ahead on your right and that Port de Juigné is 0.1 km ahead on your left.

Turn left towards Port de Juigné and follow the towpath (^GR® 365) alongside the River Sarthe until you reach the Halte Fluviale. Once you have passed Place du Port and gone under the Solesmes bridge, you will have returned to your starting point (S/E).

The riverside rest area:
- jetty for boaters, car park, toilets and children’s play area.
- starting point for walks: the ‘Tour des Galibots’ (marked in blue, 6 km) or the ‘Tour des Carrières’ (marked in green, 14.5 km).

The Amusant Museum: in this former workshop of the sculptor Raymond Dubois, with a wooden sign at its entrance, one of his sons (Jean-Vianey Dubois) has assembled a collection of over 2,000 antique and unusual toys. Today, this museum is closed.

(1) Notre-Dame-du-Nid Chapel (Le Port de Juigné)
Born in 1904 in Ernée (Mayenne), the sculptor Raymond Dubois settled in Le Port de Juigné, opposite Solesmes Abbey, in 1929. Primarily inspired by religion, his work, created from 1928 onwards, involves carving directly from Chauvigny stone, granite and, above all, wood (oak, cedar and gnarled boxwood from the Saulges region in Mayenne). Nearby, visitors can admire the ‘Christ of La Salette’ (a crucifixion scene featuring the instruments of the Passion) (boxwood – 1942) in the church at Avoise, the stone sculpture “Saint Joseph and the Infant Jesus” at the Lycée Saint-Joseph in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, and his gravestone in the cemetery at Solesmes (he died in 1982).
On his estate, Raymond Dubois built a small shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1936 in gratitude for a fulfilled vow. Although privately owned, this chapel, dedicated to Notre-Dame-du-Nid, protector of the home, is open to the public.
At one end of the chapel stands an impressive wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, whose face is modelled on the artist’s wife. Originally, this was a commission for an ex-voto sculpture from a lady around 1934 to mark a divorce that had been averted. It was to be called Notre-Dame du Foyer. A couple with three children were therefore to be depicted in the Virgin’s arms, but a black knot in the thousand-year-old boxwood prevented him from carving the other two children. He then began carving a crown of thorns to fill the gap. However, as he worked, the gap took the shape of a nest containing two eggs. And so ‘Notre-Dame-du-Nid’ was born. The patron, Madame de Surmont, requested the construction of an oratory for the Virgin, hence this chapel, which the parish priest deemed more appropriate. She is depicted on a capital, on the right as you enter. Opposite her, you will find a self-portrait of the artist.
Behind the high altar, the bas-relief, which serves as an altarpiece, depicts The Last Supper (1937). Christ cleverly conceals the tabernacle. With the exception of two apostles, all the figures are monks from Solesmes. The fourth figure from the right is the artist. Behind Judas, the traitor, to the right of Jesus to whom he has turned his back, the artist chose to depict him in the likeness of Hitler, with a beard. Whilst Hitler’s moustache is famous, he did not have a beard, so why do we see one here? In fact, during the occupation, in 1943, a Wehrmacht officer staying with the couple one day expressed a desire to visit the Chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Nid. Anxious, Raymont Dubois asked his wife to hold him up for a few moments, just long enough for him to rework the face by quickly adding this thick beard.
The gateway adjoining the chapel is adorned with a tympanum depicting the Umbrella of Charity. Here, three generations of a family, the dog and a daily loaf of bread are sheltered beneath the same umbrella. Above it stands a cross engraved with the Latin word ‘caritas’, meaning ‘affection, love’.

Places to visit nearby:
- The Solesmes Bridge
This bridge was built in 1904 using local marble (grey marble veined with white). On 8 August 1944, the
Germans, who were occupying Solesmes, blew up the first two arches of the bridge, the ferry resumed service so that local residents could cross the River Sarthe.
- The Château de la Grange.
- The St Clément marble workshop.
This marble workshop was established by the Landeau family on Île Saint-Clément (accessed via a swing bridge), opposite Solesmes Abbey. It used water power to work the stone.
- Solesmes Abbey.
A centre of Gregorian chant where Dom Prosper Guéranger (born 4 April 1805 in the former Couvent des
Cordelières, Rue des Terres in Sablé – 30 January 1875 in Solesmes) restored the Order of Saint Benedict here in 1833.