The six oaks at Saint-Laurent-des-Autels

The walk starts at the Forêt de la Foucaudière car park: wooden signs indicate the start of the path. Simply follow the pink markings throughout the route.

(S/E) Head west-north-west. Further on, turn right, going round the wooden exercise stations designed for fitness walkers. Carry on straight ahead along the marked path for about 300 metres. Pass through the wooden gates, then walk alongside the fields for about 300 metres. Enter the pretty village of Le Barbotin via Rue des Briquetiers.

(1) At the junction, turn right onto Rue des Pressoirs, then right again onto Rue des Tuiliers. Carry on straight ahead and pass through the hamlet of La Brosse. Take the path on the right alongside a pond. When the path becomes a dirt track, turn right to pass through a wooden gate. Cross a stream and then follow it on your right. Then turn left (south).

(2) At the T-junction, turn left and head towards a pond. Then turn left onto the path which winds through the woodland before heading south. Follow the signposted path to the six majestic oak trees.

(3) Continue straight on and, after about 600 m, the path turns right. About a hundred metres further on, at a junction, turn right (north).

(4) At the end of the path, turn left. At the next junction, turn left again and carry on straight ahead until you reach the D80 road.

(5) Follow the road to the right. Take the^first path on the right and head back to the lake and the Foucaudière car park (S/E).

Paved walk with a 7% gradient.

Le Barbotin
An important village that owes its name to the Barbotin family. As early as 1600, there were tile works here, which formed the basis of a significant industry. There were four brickworks here. The brickmakers would go to Les Gastines or Le Fuilet to find clay and transport it in a horse-drawn cart. The clay was crushed and then moulded into bricks or tiles, which were then fired in a wood-fired kiln. It is said there were around forty kilns in Le Barbotin...
Today, Le Barbotin remains an idyllic village where one can admire charming houses.
Source: Auguste Guinhut and Alfred Maugeais, *A Parish Through the Ages: Saint-Laurent-des-Autels*, 1979.

Dead trees
You are in the heart of the Foucaudière Forest; discover the dead trees and their world.
A dead tree provides shelter and nourishment for a host of living creatures. As it decomposes, it adds to the forest floor’s litter (dead leaves, twigs, dead branches, etc.) and this organic matter forms an ecosystem, meaning that many animal and plant species live there in close interdependence with one another.
Animal species (insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles) use dead trees – whether still standing or lying on the ground – to take shelter, nest and store their food. Certain plant species (mushrooms, mosses, lichens) find a favourable environment in which to thrive.
Be quiet and watch carefully – you might spot a woodpecker (green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, etc.) pecking away at the softer bark to make its nest!
Source: www.cpieloireanjou.fr and www.onf.fr

The 6 Oaks
Take a look at this tree: it consists of a cluster of six trunks, the largest of which measures 2.4 m in circumference at its base. At a height of just 1.3 m, the circumference is already 7.4 m!