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Park in the car park on the south side of Mardié Church.
(S/E) Leave the car park and head towards Rue des Déportés; turn right, heading due west, until you reach Rue de Bou. Turn right, continue to a Y-junction and turn left onto Rue des Moulins. After about 150 metres, turn left and follow the gently sloping path; when you reach a bend, let the main path branch off to the left and continue straight ahead along a gently sloping grassy path until you reach a T-junction.
(1) Turn right and continue along this grassy path, ignoring all side paths. At the junction with a wide white track, turn left and walk for about three hundred metres, ignoring all other paths. Pass a large hole in the ground on the right-hand side of the path and, just after this hole, take a very little-used grassy path on your right.
(2) Turn right and join a road. Cross it carefully, then continue along the path opposite until you reach a T-junction, where you should turn left. Carry on, ignoring all side paths, pass through a copse and join the Chemin de la Deleu, a tarmac road.
(3) Follow this tarmac road to the right until you reach the Loire embankment and walk along it to the left. Pass a red-and-white barrier and continue for about one hundred metres. Leave the embankment on the right to follow the small path that descends diagonally towards the Loire, marked with red and white signs. You’ll reach a Y-junction.
(4) Turn off to the right, pass close to an island and join a wider path. Follow this, leaving a few allotments on your left, until you reach a Y-junction.
(5) Follow the path on the right; then, as you emerge from the forest, turn right off the path to follow a small track which rejoins the same path a few dozen metres further on. Continue until you reach a clearing with three exits; take the small path in the middle.
(6) Continue along this narrow path, passing a bench on your right next to which a sign lists the bird species found along the Loire.
Caution: a few metres past this bench, erosion has eroded part of the path, which at this point overlooks the Loire.
Carry on along this lovely path, ignoring all the side paths, pass a sports ground and reach the embankment.
(7) Follow the embankment to the right, pass three houses on the left, then at the next junction, take the path on the right to reach the banks of the Loire. Continue along this path until you reach a junction leading to the embankment. Follow the embankment, ignoring all side paths, pass a red-and-white gate, leave a path on your left, then reach a Y-junction.
(8) Leave the embankment to the right (signposted ‘Saint-Denis de l’Hôtel – Châteauneuf-sur-Loire’), then follow the grassy path until you reach a red-and-white barrier. Go through it and continue along the grassy path for about 500 metres. You can also carry on straight ahead; the two paths join a few hundred metres further on.
(9) Leave this path to the right and head down towards the Loire; carry on, passing a cluster of houses on your left. Continue along the banks of the Loire until you reach a sharp bend to the left.
(10) Turn left; from this point, the path climbs north-eastwards. Go through a gate and carry on until you reach the D960, then turn left and walk along the hard shoulder for about 250m.
(11) Cross the road with extreme caution as there is very heavy traffic. Take the Chemin de La Mothe, marked with red and white signs, passing a sewage treatment plant on your right.
Cross the railway line, taking great care (no barriers, no signs, no traffic lights), then pass another sewage treatment plant. Continue along this path, passing a large green barrier on your right as well as all the side paths, until you reach a junction at the entrance to the forest.
(12) Pass the first path on your right, then a second one on the same side. Carry on straight ahead along the long, straight path, ignoring all the minor paths, until you reach a fence.
(13) Turn left, follow the fence and reach a sharp bend to the right. Navigate this bend, passing a private track on your left, and continue along this long track until you reach a large green gate. Carry on for another ten metres or so.
(14) Turn right (ignore the first path on the right), begin a short descent and join the D709. Follow the road to the right for about twenty metres.
(15) Cross with care and continue along the path opposite. Cross a footbridge and reach the Canal d’Orléans. Then turn left, pass the weir, leave a path on your left and reach the first houses. Shortly afterwards, you’ll come to a small path on your left.
(16) Turn left onto the path which runs parallel to a few steps, cross a small footbridge and reach the D709. First turn right then left to join Rue du Gué Morin. At the next junction, turn right onto Rue de Fosse Longue, which climbs slightly, pass under the railway bridge and continue until you reach No. 240.
(17) Turn right and follow the grassy path, ignoring all the minor tracks. Reach Avenue de Pont aux Moines (D906) and follow it to the left towards Châteauneuf-sur-Loire. At No. 740, cross the avenue and take Venelle des Lilas to reach Rue du Clos Abraham. Cross it, then continue straight ahead, still following the Venelle des Lilas. Join Rue Eugène Farnault and follow it to the left for about fifteen metres.
Turn right and follow a narrow lane, pass the Town Hall, then go round the church on the right to reach the car park (S/E).
Visorando Member
Easy 
