The hillsides around Coutures

Park in the village’s main square, in the shade of a lime tree. The walk ends at the same spot.

(S/E) Leave the car park with your back to the village square and, at the wayside cross, turn right at the Fork in the road onto the tarmac road leading downhill.

(1) Leave the dirt track on your right (this is the way you’ll return from this walk).

(2) Take the dirt track on your left and follow it for about 1 km, towards Fontaine de Povert. This track then veers off to the left towards La Martinière.

(3) At the end of the track, turn left and then immediately right towards La Placière, crossing the D 751 with care. Follow this track for just under a kilometre. Cross the D128 with care andcontinue straight on for about 800 metres

(4) Take another dirt track on the left and carry on for a good kilometre towards La Sublerie, a small hamlet of just a few houses.

(5) Turn left onto a tarmac road that climbs up the hillside. The final section is a dirt track. When you reach the end, turn left. The view over the hamlet and the surrounding farmland is very pleasant.

(6) After about a hundred metres, turn right, then after 300 metres, turn left and immediately right towards the hamlet of Frédelin.

(7) Follow the D128 to the left for 200 metres before turning right onto a dirt track. Look out for a very large water tower and a mobile phone mast. Follow this track for a good kilometre, cross a road and head straight on towards Boulaine.

(8) When you reach a Y-junction, take the left-hand branch. Head back down towards the valley along this grassy track, which veers to the left and passes through vineyards.

(9) Turn left and carry on straight ahead for 800 metres until you reach a tarmac road. You’ll have lovely views of the village of Coutures on your left. Turn right onto it, then turn left towards the hamlet of La Garde, where you have two options: either cross the hamlet by following the arrow, or go round it on the right (route). Both paths lead to the D 751, which you should cross with care to take the path directly opposite. At the junction, turn left towards the village.

(1) Turn left after passing the sewage treatment plant on your right and you’ll reach the car park in the village of Coutures (S/E).

The advantage of this route is that you’re never far from your car, so if it starts to rain, you can head back to it for shelter. I created this walk after doing it in June, and I particularly loved the golden colours of the wheat, the superb flowers of the artichoke regrowth and the walk through the vast vineyards.