The La Roche Viaduct

We’ll meet at ETA Poussard on Route d’Epannes, which is visible from a distance; that’s where we’ll park.

(S/E) We’ll set off along the D168 to reach the junction with the D744.

(1) We’ll turn right onto this road, and we’ll soon leave the tarmac road behind, following a path on the left that crosses a small rest area. Once we reach the hamlet of Babillon, we’ll take the path on the right (^PR® marked in yellow with a cross), cross the D744 again and turn left towards the hamlet of La Moulinotte.

(2) At La Moulinotte, cross the D744 again by taking a path almost directly opposite, which will lead you to Le Colombier.

(3) Follow the yellow^PR® signpost to the right as far as La Roche.

(4) From there, you can admire the magnificent viaduct. In the middle of the hamlet, take a path on the left to reach a junction at the edge of a wide track.

(5) Turn right to cross the viaduct and admire the River Autise. Just after the viaduct, you’ll find a small path on the right, marked in yellow (Val d’Autize trail), which takes you down to the banks of the River Autise. Once at the bottom, head right towards Saint-Pompain.

(6) At this junction, turn left and you’ll see a sign for ‘Retour Saint-Pompain’ heading towards the Moulin de Dray.

(7) Take the path on the left, which takes you across the Autize via four small bridges. Continue on until you reach the outskirts of Saint-Pompain.

(8) Be careful not to follow the path; you’ll need to turn left towards Chaillot – the signpost is facing the other way. In the village, turn left onto the yellow^{PR® trail} to return to La Roche

(4) At La Roche, turn right (an uphill path you’ve taken before) and, once at the top of the hill, this time turn left towards the hamlet of Grolet.

(9) Once in Grolet, leave the path to the left (tarmac road), then turn left again towards Les Alleuds, then Le Colombier.

(3) We’ll follow the path we took earlier to return to the D744

(2) When you reach the D744, turn left, then right. There is a path just behind the last house; this is the^PR® marked in yellow.

(10) At this point, we’ll turn right onto the tarmac road, then immediately left onto a path that cuts through the fields.

(11) When you reach the small copse, turn right, then cross the D168 to continue along the track and turn right at the next junction (tarmac road).

(12) At the stop sign, head straight ahead to pass through the hamlet of Monzais, then turn left (a long downhill stretch) and right (Chemin du Petit Logis). At the top of the track, at the stop sign, turn right to return to the starting point (S/E).

A short walk which, in my view, can be done in all seasons.
No particular recommendations; for my part, I took the opportunity to do some ‘plogging’: picking up plastic and metal rubbish.
For the first time, I used the track feature on the Visorando app to map out the walk; for this reason, it may look a bit haphazard on the map – I’ll take more care next time. The route I took sometimes follows a ‘Petite Randonnée’ trail marked in yellow; I’ll make this clear in the description.