The mills near Saint-Germain-de-Lusignan

(S/E) Leave the car park near the village hall, go to Avenue de la Libération and turn right, heading out of town.
At the first crossroads, turn right into Rue de l'Église. At the end of this street, turn left into Avenue de l'Europe. Continue to Chemin de la Blanche.
Turn right onto this road. Cross the railway line with caution (level crossing). A little further on, turn right again onto Chemin des Acacias, a grassy path that quickly runs alongside the railway line and then moves away from it. Continue along this path until you reach a road. Opposite, you will see the Moulins de Montcally hill.

(1). Turn left and, at the three-way junction, continue left.

(2) Immediately after the third crossroads, turn right onto a path before the Perrière de Saint-Germain neighbourhood. The path crosses a wood and then runs along its edge. At a T-junction, turn left and shortly afterwards turn right onto a path.
Continue to a farm track. Turn right and continue to a place called Chez Daufour.
When you reach the first houses, the farm track becomes a road. Turn left onto the road called Chez Daufour

(3). Immediately afterwards, turn right onto a road that makes a right angle to the left and turns into a path.
Continue straight ahead at the first crossroads towards a wood.
Once in the woods, the track turns at a right angle to the left and continues straight ahead to a road. Turn right and follow the road for about 50 metres.

(4) Turn left onto Chemin de la Garde. Cross this locality and continue straight ahead until you reach Métairie de la Garde. At a right-angle bend to the left, continue straight ahead onto a path that leads to a T-junction. Turn left and continue straight ahead until you reach a Y-junction.

(5) Turn right and continue straight ahead until you reach Chez Saboureau.
The path arrives at a crossroads at the entrance to Chez Saboureau. At the crossroads, take the road opposite (Le Trier de Chez Saboureau), cross the hamlet and continue to the first crossroads after the last buildings.

(6) Turn left onto the road leading to La Vergerie, which goes around a plot of vineyards.
When you reach the road (to the left of the house on the edge of the road), turn right.

(7) In La Vergerie, immediately turn left onto a path (sharp turn). At the beginning of the path, there may be agricultural equipment on both sides.
The path crosses the D252 road, which you should cross with caution to continue along the path opposite. This path crosses a wood for 700 to 800 metres. Continue straight ahead until you reach a road. Turn right onto this road, which crosses an industrial estate and arrives at a roundabout on the Route de Saint-Genis.

(8) Cross the roundabout and continue straight ahead towards the CFA campus, which you will pass on your right.
Follow the road until you cross the railway line with caution (level crossing) and continue straight ahead until you reach the nearby crossroads.
Turn right onto Route de Clion, then left towards a place called Le Maigre, which you will cross while staying on the main road that turns to the right. After the last houses, the road gives way to a farm track.

(9) At the first crossroads, turn left and continue straight on until you reach Cornet.
Just before reaching the Cornet mill, the track crosses the Seugne and climbs towards the hamlet. Halfway up the slope, turn right onto the track that descends and runs along the riverbank for a while before veering away from it.

(10) At this point, there is a spring on the right-hand side. Cross the stream that flows from it and return to the riverbank via the fishermen's path.
Follow this path along the Seugne. The path passes under a tree house. At the end of this section, join the road (Chemin des Joncs) by following the tree hedge.

Turn right onto the road towards Chez Chaudet, which is on the left. Continue straight on until you reach Avenue de la Libération. Turn right, cross the Seugne and immediately afterwards you will reach the car park on the left (S/E).

The parking area is located in the car park of the Saint-Germain-de-Luzignan village hall, Avenue de la Libération.

This hike covers varied terrain and requires suitable footwear. It is freely based on route no. 1 published by the Haute Saintonge Community of Communes (yellow markings). As a result, some sections are not marked (between (6) and beyond (7) and finally with the fishermen's path) in order to encourage hiking on paths rather than tarmac roads. Some sections are on a^GR®.

Hike completed by the author of this page on 8 December 2017.

Saint-Germain-de-Luzignan

Saint-Germain Church

The Church of Saint-Germain was built in the 12th century, at a time when Jonzac was part of the parish of Saint-Germain-de-Lusignan. Badly damaged during the Hundred Years' War, it was enlarged and rebuilt at the end of the 15th century, then restored and remodelled in 1886. The façade, in particular, was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style.

Jonzac

Jonzac Castle

Jonzac Castle is one of the town's most iconic monuments. Built on a limestone spur overlooking the Seugne valley, it dates mainly from the 15th century. Significant changes were made to its structure in the 19th century (conversion into the town hall, sub-prefecture and theatre, and the creation of a street that resulted in the disappearance of the grand central staircase). However, the creation of an esplanade dotted with trees and green spaces helps to highlight the building and the monumental entrance gatehouse, with its machicolations supported by corbels with four superimposed blocks and three drawbridge grooves.

City gate

The city gate is one of the few remaining vestiges of the fortified enclosure that once protected the castle district.
Church of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais
Carmelite Convent
Chapel of La Maladrerie
The town centre is home to many old houses and buildings, nestled among winding streets inherited from the medieval past. It also boasts buildings dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as the theatre (1886), the covered market with its "Eiffel" style metal structure, built next to the church (1889), the savings bank building, with its monumental façade bearing the town's coat of arms (1905), and the Coq d'Or building, with its monumental balcony designed to welcome visiting dignitaries.