Sainte-Sévère - Nohant

Red and white^GR®® 46 and^GR®®100® markings replace^GRP®® Sur les Pas des Maîtres Sonneurs

(S) Departure from the Halle de Ste Sévère, take Rue Chenon. Turn left and leave the centre of Sainte-Sévère, following the signs for the retirement home. Just before the entrance, take the path opposite that descends into the valley. Cross a footbridge and take the road on the right. After a bridge, turn left and then immediately right towards Champroux on the D 26d. After the Chareilles farm, take a gravel path on the right that descends and crosses the Ruisseau de Beau Merle. Cross the hamlet of Pierre Blanche, following the signs carefully.

(1) In the bend after the last houses, go straight ahead until the next crossroads. Turn left, pass the Ferme des Varennes, take the track on the right at the pond, turn left and follow the edge of the pond to reach the car park entrance

(2) Take the road on the right. At the crossroads, turn left and then take the first right. Continue to Ligny. Turn right onto a narrow path and then onto the track that continues along it. At the road, turn right (the route follows the Dryades golf course). At the D54 (calvary), turn opposite and then left at the houses in Lissaunay.

(3) At the first house, take a track on the right. In a bend (small pond), take a grassy path on the left marked by an embankment. Cross a stream on a footbridge and climb up the hillside opposite to take a track on the left at the edge of the woods. Shortly after a pond, opposite the Grandes Ternes farm, turn right and descend almost to a stream.

(4) Take the hairpin bend on the right, which leads to the D54b departmental road. Take this road on the left.
Note: in the middle of the fields stands the Tour Gazeau (private property), the remains of a 12th-century fortress mentioned by George Sand in her novel Mauprat.
At a three-way junction, turn left, then right at the corner of a cemetery. Continue to Pouligny-Saint-Martin. At the D36, continue straight ahead towards the church (a 12th-century Romanesque church with naive frescoes depicting work in the fields).

(5) Leave Pouligny-Saint-Martin via the road that passes below the church. At a three-way junction, turn left and at the next fork, leave La Malgache farm on your left. Continue for about 250 m.
Start of the western variant of the GR® 46 trail, which bypasses La Châtre (1.5 km away, Chapelle de Vaudouan, calvary and fountain) and Nohant.

Yellow and red GRP® Sur les Pas des Maîtres Sonneurssignposts

(6) Leave the track and the^GR®® trails, which continue straight ahead towards Le Magny. Turn right onto a grassy path on the right. Cross a road and continue straight ahead. Take the second right to cross the hamlet of La Preugne and reach a fork with the GR® 654 trail. The routes are the same until you reach the place called Vieille Ville between Montgivray.

White and red GR® 654 markings

(7) Continue along the small road on the left (view of the Indre valley). Pass the farm buildings, cross a bridge and, 300 m further on, on the uphill side, take a path on the left. At the hamlet of Le Virolan, take the road that descends to the right and then climbs up to L'Arpijeau.

(8) At the exit of the hamlet (fork), follow the path opposite, which runs alongside a hedge of fir trees. At the calvary, continue opposite along a path that crosses the Indre (footbridge) at the foot of the Grand Moulin (remains of the watercourse and mechanism). At the D84, turn left until you reach a fork at the entrance to Briantes.

(9) At the entrance to Briantes, turn left onto the D83. Cross the Indre, go up the hillside and leave a road on your left. At a wayside cross, turn right and about 300 m further on, in a bend, take the track opposite through the woods. You will come to a fork (not very visible!).

(10) Turn left towards a poplar grove, then go around a pond. Cross a small road and, 200 m further on, after a house, turn right onto a path that descends towards the valley. Cross a footbridge over the Indre and turn left to follow the river below the rocks and a campsite. Just after the campsite, turn left onto a track that joins the riverbank. Stay on the right bank, then cross and follow Rue du Moulin Borgnon to Rue du Pont-aux-Laies.

(11) Follow the street to the left, then turn right onto Rue de la Fontaine (the old tannery district). Take the first left (stairs), Rue St Antoine, then left onto Rue de Beaufort and immediately right to reach Place Maget (church) and Rue Accolas. Turn right onto Rue Nationale

(12) Take Rue Nationale on the right, then Place Laisnel de La Salle on the right, continue along Rue de Bellefond and take Rue Venôse on the left. When you reach Rue Nationale, turn right until you reach the crossroads

(13) Take Rue J. Pacton opposite and the GR®654 towards the old station, following the buildings of the former hospital. Then turn right onto Rue J. Jaures, cross the railway line and continue straight ahead. Reach the banks of the Indre, follow it on your right and then cross it.

(14) Take the small path on the left of the bridge before the recently restored Moulin des Ribattes. Cross the playground and continue straight ahead, crossing the castle grounds (town hall) and exiting under the porch. Turn left onto the road and continue straight ahead until you reach the cemetery

(15) At the cemetery, take the path on the left and follow it to the Moulin de Fonpisse. Take the small path along the house and cross the Indre on a small footbridge

(16). Take the path on the right and follow it. Continue along the path lined with low walls that runs alongside the river, leaving Urmont on your left, until you reach the Route de Vieilleville (193m).
This is where the GR® 654 trail branches off.

Yellow and red GRP® Sur les Pas des Maîtres Sonneurssignposts

(17) At Route de Vieilleville, turn right. Cross the bridge over the Indre and, immediately after Les Buissons, follow the road to the left for 500m.

(18) Turn right onto a sunken lane that climbs up a hillside. At the star-shaped crossroads with a calvary, go straight ahead to join the D943, Châteauroux - La Châtre (take care). Walk up the left-hand side of the road until you reach a pedestrian crossing. Follow Allée Chopin and turn right to return to the village of Nohant at the Maison de George Sand (E)

Accommodation: Pouligny-Notre-Dame, La Châtre, Montgivray, Nohant-Vic.
Refreshments: Pouligny-Notre-Dame, Montgivray, La Châtre.
Water points: Pouligny-Notre-Dame, Pouligny-Saint-Martin, Briantes, La Châtre, Montgivray, Nohant-Vic.

Pouligny-Notre-Dame: Ligny lake with water skiing, church, manor house.

Pouligny-Saint Martin: Church, Gazeau Tower.

Briantes: Church - Castle, Chapel and Vaudouan fountain. The castle is a private property that served as the setting for George Sand's novel "Les beaux messieurs de Bois Doré" (The Handsome Gentlemen of Bois Doré). In its grounds, an imposing dovecote contains 2,500 nesting boxes.

La Châtre: the seigneurial castle, built in the 15th century by Guy III de Chauvigny, houses the George Sand and Black Valley Museum in its imposing square keep. It contains a collection of 3,000 stuffed birds from all over the world, souvenirs, letters and portraits of George Sand, and objects of art and popular traditions from the Berry region, as well as works by local artists. Numerous 15th and 16th century houses.

Montgivray