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(S/E) The walk starts at the Gatseau beach car park, opposite the wooden path that leads to the beach. Do not take this path, but turn right onto the path that passes to the left of the small public toilet building (marked with blue dots).
Walk under the trees, passing the small train station (Gatseau station). Head towards a standing stone erected on a small promontory overlooking Gatseau Beach.
(1) Pass close to this stele commemorating the landing of Allied troops on the island of Oléron on Monday 30 April 1945. Take the path closest to the coast on a rockfill. Walk along the railway line of the little train on your right.
(2) The railway line turns sharply to the right to enter the forest. 50 metres after this turn, take a wide path on soft sand to the left. Continue along this path (blue markings). Walk along a fence on the left.
At the end of the fence, leave this wide path and continue straight ahead on a faint path that will take you across the marshy area in front of you. This is to bypass a marshy area on the left that can be difficult to cross at high tide or in rainy weather.
Follow this detour and then descend towards the shore, where you will find a wide sandy path. Follow this path to go around the bottom of Gatseau Bay without entering the forest. When you reach the point, head straight towards the beach.
(3) You are now on Gatseau Beach. This beach is very wide at low tide but very dangerous, and swimming is strongly discouraged due to strong currents. Opposite you can see Pointe Espagnole (Pointe d'Arvert) and Ronce les Bains on the left. Turn right towards the west.
Pass close to a blockhouse, a remnant of the German defences during the Second World War. This blockhouse, which may be in the water depending on the tide, was much further from the shore at the time.
Continue along the beach and head north-west for about 1 km. You will be walking along the Pertuis de Maumusson. Navigation is very dangerous here, and you will not see any boats, only the occasional professional who uses it in good weather at high tide when the currents are weaker.
(4) Continue to the terminus of the little train on the dune. Be careful, this terminus is clearly visible in season, but out of season it can only be identified by a few wooden barriers on the dune.
Climb the dune and go around the terminus of the little train on the left. Take the path that leads away from the railway track and down into the forest. Continue straight ahead. Ignore a blue-marked path that branches off to the left. 200 metres after this path, turn left at the fork.
(5) You will come to a wide path, which is the Passe Forestière de Gatseau. Turn right and continue straight ahead for about 1 km, following the blue markings. Ignore the paths branching off to the left and right.
(6) Cross the railway line, leave the Passe de Gatseau, which continues to the left, and take a narrower path on the right that leads to the car park on the right (S/E).
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