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Park in the large square, Rue du Champ de Foire, Sainte-Néomaye.
Yellow markings
(S/E) Take Rue de l'Église (opposite the public toilets). Walk past the church and arrive at the public garden.
(1) Cross the road and take the path opposite, lined with low walls, which is not marked on the IGN map.
Join a wider path and follow it to the left. You will arrive at a four-way intersection.
(2) Turn left and, after about 300 metres, turn left again. You will reach a picnic area on the left.
(3) Ignore it and take the path that branches off to the right and runs alongside the railway line below, which you can see through the vegetation. Ignore the path that branches off a little further to the right and continue along the stony path between dry stone walls which, after a right-angle bend, descends towards the Hermitain stream.
(4) Take the small stone footbridge and continue to the right, following the stream until you reach the road. Follow it for about 100 metres, then take the path that climbs to the left. At the road, turn left towards the village of Charchenay.
Through a gap in the vegetation on the left, you can see the Château des Fontenelles.
(5) Turn left onto Route des Fontenelles. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead onto Route de Ricou.
You can make a round trip to the wash house on the left.
Pass a restored bread oven and, at the edge of the village, take the path on the right. After about 500 m, turn left onto a larger path that joins the road near the bridge over the railway line, where there is a memorial to the Resistance fighters. Cross the bridge and carefully descend onto the road, ignoring the road on the left leading to the water treatment plant. Join the Sèvre Niortaise.
(6) Just before the bridge, take the white path on the left, parallel to the Sèvre.You can cross the bridge to make a round trip, 100 metres on the other bank, and discover the Ricou quarry's Sensitive Natural Area.
(7) After a footbridge, turn onto the path on the left that climbs up to the railway line and towards a passageway underneath it.
(8) Leave the path by turning left onto the trail that passes under the railway line. Turn right and follow the same route back.
(3) Continue straight ahead on Chemin de la Croix. After the hamlet, continue uphill on Rue de la Gare.
(1) Turn right and retrace your steps along the outward route. Pass in front of the church to return to Rue du Champ de Foire (S/E).
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