Moulins des Mauges

At La Séguinière, follow the green signs indicating the picnic area and the banks of the Moine and park in the car park near the Moulin de la Cour, on the banks of the Moine.

Unless otherwise indicated, follow the green markings.

(S/E) Start on the left of the mill, walking along the Moine on your left and the picnic and recreation area on your right. You will arrive at a small water treatment plant on your right.

(1) Continue along the Moine, now with a large floodplain meadow on your right. At the end of this meadow, the path veers to the right, continuing to follow the river. Go through a gate and turn left without going through the second gate. Continue along the Moine on your left. Shortly afterwards, you will see the first sign for the "viper's bugloss" botanical route on the right-hand side of the path (don't panic! it's just a beautiful plant with pink and purple flowers).

(2) A few metres further on, a path branches off to the right, marked as a "shortcut". Continue straight on towards the Grotte de Bibi. Pass below the Moulinard farm, then continue on the path which, like the river, veers north. You will come to a footbridge over the Ruisseau de la Morbailloue, which flows into the Moine here.

(3) Cross the stream and, a few steps further on, you will find the Grotte de Bibi, which is in fact just a religious niche overlooking a spring. Turn around, cross back over to the left bank of the stream and turn left. Continue through the undergrowth, following the stream on your left. Further on, walk along a field on your right, then you will come to a small road. Continue along the path opposite, following the sign for "Par le sentier des 3 ruisseaux" (The 3 Streams Path).

(4) Follow the path that veers eastwards along the Ru du Beau Manoir. You will come to the recent housing development of La Chapellière. Walk along a rainwater collection basin on your right. Further on, turn right and you will come to a street. Continue straight ahead. At the small roundabout, continue straight ahead on Rue de Varsovie.

(5) Further on, ignore the alternative route on the left that goes all the way around the village and continue towards Moulin de la Cour. The path turns 90° to the right to run alongside a long water collection basin, between the new houses on the right and the older houses on the left. At the end of the basin, ignore the street opposite and turn onto the path on the left. You will come to a road. Notice the windmill opposite and on the right.

(6) Do not take the road but, just before it, turn left onto a path that descends to

(2) Turn left onto the path you took on the way there. At the first house, do not turn right to continue on the path you took on the way there, but leave the green markings and go straight ahead, following the floodplain on your right and below the wooded gardens. At the end of the floodplain, you will come to a car park. Turn right, pass in front of the small water treatment plant and you will find yourself back at the Moine.

(1). Turn left and return to the Moulin de la Cour site (S/E), following the river along the same path as on the way there.

No particular difficulty. Simple, comfortable shoes are sufficient.
In spring, if the Moine river floods, the first part of the route may be impassable.
Large picnic area behind the Moulin de la Cour.

Discover more hikes in this area with a description or the Visorando app here

The Moine has its source in the Deux-Sèvres department. The river is 66 km long and flows through the town of Cholet, which had a significant impact on water quality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the river received wastewater from the many tanneries and homes located on its banks. In addition to the health problems caused by the river, the inhabitants of the commune of La Séguinière could no longer wash their clothes there, and the unbearable smell meant that they could not sleep with their windows open on summer nights. This significant pollution lasted at least until the 1960s, earning the Moine the reputation of being the most polluted river in France. A Parisian newspaper even ran the headline: "La Séguinière, the most unsanitary town in France, with its hellish poisoned river".
For a more in-depth exploration of the Moine River, I also recommend visiting the Parc du Carteron and Lac de Ribou on Visorando.

The Cour watermill once belonged to the Château de la Cour. This flour mill on the Moine was coupled, as was often the case in the Mauges region, with the windmill located higher up, on a point overlooking the river and along the hiking trail. This windmill was restored in 2008 by a private individual, Jacques Vigneron, who made it his home. This combination of watermill and windmill made it possible to continue grinding flour in the summer, when the level of the Moine was too low to drive the wheel of the Moulin de la Cour. The Cour watermill ceased operation in 1880. Today, only its walls remain. Today, there is only one mill still in operation on the Moine, the Vieil-Mur mill, which now runs on electricity.

The beautiful botanical trail was created by young people training in carpentry at the Medical-Educational Institute and by the Verts Horizons hiking club.

The Bibi Cave. Bibi comes from the Latin word "bibe" meaning "to drink". The inhabitants of the surrounding area came to quench their thirst at this small spring.