The Vanlée stream and harbour

At Coudeville Plage, park in the car park at the southern end of the village, next to the beach and at the end of Avenue de la Mer (D351).

Please note: most of this hike is not marked.

(S/E) Head north, between the sea and the houses of Coudeville Plage, along the Promenade Jean Girot. The promenade is marked in red and white by the^GR®®223.

(1) Just before the sailing school, leave the^GR®® markings and turn right onto Rue de la Passerelle. Continue straight ahead to leave Coudeville-Plage.

(2) At Rue des Goélettes coming from the right, take a grassy path on the left. You will come to a path and follow it to the left. Then take the first path on the right.

(3) At the next crossroads, turn right for a round trip to the heart of the harbour marsh to discover its flora. Sheep often graze here. Retrace your steps.

(3) Continue to the right, following the red and white markings of^{the GR®®223}again. At the end of this path, go through a gate and turn left, then veer right to walk along the harbour on your right, following the^GR®® markings^. Further on, you will come to a road. Continue to the right on the path that runs alongside it, at the edge of the harbour. At the left-hand bend in the road, take a grassy path on the right, at the^GR®® sign on a post. You will come to the submersible road at the yellow signs marked "Route submersible".

(4) Turn left for a return trip to the large beach. You will come to the access ramp used by shellfish farmers' tractors to go down to the beach and launch the boats that provide access to the mussel beds. At the top of the beach, you will find an information panel on shellfish gathering.

(5) Retrace your steps.

(4) Continue straight ahead on the side of the submersible road. On the other side, you will find an information panel about the Havre de la Vanlée. Leaving the^GR®® trail, ignore the road on the left and continue straight ahead until you reach a junction with a small road, where you will see yellow signs on the left-hand side of the road (indicating directions that are not relevant to us).

(6) Turn right onto the small road towards "le Bois" (road sign). At the barrier, continue straight ahead and, at the next crossroads, continue on the road opposite. Take the next road on the left, at the Petit Jersey sign. Pass a few houses.

(7) Opposite a beautiful house with a stone ground floor and white upper floor, turn right onto a grassy path at the corner of a garage (go past a wooden gate just after). Cross the Ruisseau du Pont en Bois stream over the bridge and continue until you reach a road with yellow directional signs ("les Hayes" sign).

(8) Turn left towards Village Oger, then right at the next intersection. At the fork, at the yellow signpost "Village Tertre", continue left towards Village Oger. In the hamlet, ignore the marked path on the right (impassable further on).

(9) Shortly afterwards, in the bend where the road turns left, leave it and take a path along tall conifers, at the "Village Rabot" signpost. Further on, you will come to the "Village Bruyère" signpost and turn left towards Village Oger. You will come to a road and follow it to the right. Further on, it makes a wide right-hand bend.

(10) At the intersection with a cross and an information panel about the Calvaire de la Croix Fontaine, continue straight ahead. At the next intersection, you will see yellow signs on the left (directions not relevant to this route), and continue on the road opposite. Further on, cross Village Sauvage.

(11) At the next intersection, at the "Village au Gué" sign, turn right towards the Old Church. At the next intersection, at the "la Vignerie" sign, continue left towards the Old Church and, shortly afterwards, cross the Ruisseau de la Vanlée stream over a bridge (note the many beautiful oak trees near the path shortly afterwards).

(12) At the next intersection, at the "Village Trottin" signpost, continue on the path opposite, still in the direction of Vieille Église. You will find it at the next intersection (along with an information panel and the corresponding signpost), and continue left towards Carrefour de Hutrel (note the beautiful house next to the ruined church, which is now a lodge). At the next crossroads, go straight ahead. Pass in front of a house and, shortly afterwards, the path turns right at a right angle.

(13) Leave it to follow the path straight ahead, which runs alongside the Vanlée and can be quite busy. Continue along the stream nonetheless. Further on, climb a few steps to reach an old railway line overlooking a pond. Find an information board, then descend on the other side and continue along the stream. The path approaches a busy road, which you can hear getting louder and louder, then leads onto a track.

(14) Follow it to the right and, just after, at a fork, at the "le Crouton" signpost, turn left. Further on, at the crossroads with a road, at the "le Vallet" signpost, continue straight on, following the direction of the return to old Saint-Martin.

(15) At the next intersection, follow the road to the left, then take the first road on the right to cross Village Herbert and continue on this small road for a little over a kilometre.

(16) At the next crossroads, take the grassy path opposite. Pass to the right of the sports fields, then a picnic area. You will arrive at Rue du Herbert. Follow this road straight ahead. At the end of this road, walk a few metres to the right on Rue des Sapins, then turn left to return to Promenade Jean Girot. Follow this road to the left to return to the car park via the same route you took on the way there (S/E).
There is an orientation table near the car park, close to the beach surveillance post.

Please note! The submersible road is impassable at medium to high tide, and it is best to be cautious and not use it at high tide. The first waves reach the submersible road 45 minutes before high tide.
There are no tide tables posted on site, so please refer to a website such as this one.

Trousers are a must! Some of the paths are more or less grassy. When we did this hike, several paths marked on the map and on the ground by markers and signs were overgrown with grass and brambles and therefore impassable. So don't be surprised if this route sometimes chooses small roads instead of marked paths. The roads used are not busy, but they are not suitable for hikers who are allergic to tarmac.

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here

Between (1) and (6) Le Havre de la Vanlée. This is one of eight harbours in the west of the department. The sea has engulfed a low point in the dune cordon, forming a pocket about ten kilometres long and one to two kilometres wide. Caution! The harbour fills up with each tide (medium to high) and the first waves reach the submersible road 45 minutes before high tide.
Under the old regime, the site was used for salt production. The seaweed growing on the dunes was harvested and used by mattress manufacturers and the SNCF. Before the use of chemical fertilisers, salt marsh mud was used to improve the soil. Sheep (salt marsh sheep) are still raised there. Around 1950, certain projects, such as the creation of polders for growing tulips, fortunately never saw the light of day! The submersible road was not built until the end of^{the 20th} century. This exceptional natural site has been classified since 1988.

Between (12) and (13) The Old Church. Only ruins remain of this ancient church of Saint-Martin-le-Vieux, parts of which date back to^{the 11th} century.

Between (13) and (14) The little train on the Granville-Condé-sur-Vire line. The construction of this line was decided on 23 July 1904 and it was inaugurated in 1909. This line served 80 stops over 68 km! The local train, or "tram", pulled by a steam engine, consisted of two carriages, one for passengers and the other for goods. This line contributed to the economic development of the Centre Manche region. Some of the towns it passed through were renowned for their fairs, which offered new outlets for local farmers to sell their livestock, cider, apples, etc. In addition, the line enabled the transport of fertiliser from the Dior factory (Christian's father) in Granville, which was essential for local agriculture. The line was closed in 1935.