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Park at the central crossroads in the village of Le Val, where the roadside verges can accommodate a few scattered vehicles.
(S/E) Take the road heading north (small stone house with red window frames). Follow this road for about 400 m, before turning right onto the track leading to Le Pontoir. Pass behind a farmhouse and in front of the large shed adjoining it, before skirting the pond situated at the bottom of the next valley.
At the next crossroads, turn left and head uphill through the woods, following a wide bend to a four-way crossroads between woodland and farmland.
(1) Turn left to pass between two cultivated fields and turn left again as soon as you reach the woodland. The path crosses a vast, amphitheatre-shaped meadow before passing the disused buildings of the Petit Bois de la Lande on the left. Shortly afterwards, you’ll reach the RD 34, a road with heavy traffic in season, which you must cross with caution.
Continue straight on along the road leading to the sewage treatment works and, when the road bends to the left, leave it to take the small sunken path that runs straight ahead beneath the canopy of trees. Were it not for the odours from the nearby treatment works, this path would undoubtedly be one of the most pleasant on the route.
Shortly before passing through the hamlet of Berniguet, you’ll reach the Vigne du Petit Clos heritage vineyard.
(2) A few dozen metres past the vineyard, you’ll cross the Rochefort road, on either side of which the hamlet of Berniguet lies. Carry on straight ahead, passing a curious boat-shaped fence on your left, to enter the hamlet and continue straight on again when the village’s semi-circular road turns left.
The path winds its way between two embankments lined with hedges, offering glimpses to the left of the village of Pénestin and the Vilaine estuary. Make the most of these views, as on this heavily wooded route they are among the few distant vistas to be enjoyed.
Continue along this path until you come to one that cuts across it. Then turn right and carry on until you come out onto a road (D192).
(3) Cross this road, which leads to Tréhiguier, and carry on straight ahead along a path that winds its way through farmland and then woodland until it joins the road that skirts the Tréhudal marshes.
(4) After continuing as far as the tarmac, where you can see the marshes which connect further on with the Vilaine estuary, return to the path you were on, just before the road. Head due south up the hillside along a pleasant, well-shaded path, before emerging into farmland near Le Poulépé. Continue along the road serving the hamlet until you cross the RD34 again.
(5) Cross the road carefully and take the path opposite, which climbs up to the ridge. When the landscape opens out onto the Loire-Atlantique – yes, this is precisely the regional boundary – turn right to return to the woodland and, further on, the Route de Barges.
(6) Turn left, walking carefully along the side of the road for about 150 metres. Cross at the track leading to the inter-municipal waste collection centre; walk past it to reach a much more pleasant wooded area.
At the first path you come to, turn left to head down through a pine forest. Pass a patch of farmland before entering a more mixed woodland. After coming to a path coming from the left, the route enters a rather damp area, where you’ll need to watch your step to avoid getting your feet wet. A little over a hundred metres further on, you’ll come out onto the Route du Foy; turn right and follow it for another 100 metres.
(7) As the first houses of the village come into view, leave the road and turn left onto a path that winds through farmland scattered amongst the woodland. As soon as you’ve passed the first plot, follow the hedge on the left that borders the clearing, to reach the wetland area upstream of the Pont-Mahé marshes.
The path follows a forest edge that winds between marshes and farmland, and which may be flooded and difficult to cross for part of the year. If this is the case, retrace your steps back to the road and head back up to the village of Le Foy. Alternatively, cross into the farmland just above the path and follow its edge to its southern corner. There, you will rejoin the track that leads back to the original route just below the village of Le Foy.
(8) On reaching the path leading down from Le Foy – a narrow track between two wooded embankments – turn left to descend once more towards the marsh. Once you reach the wetland, the track branches off to the right to pass beneath a small meadow, then turns left to follow the contour line.
Pass beneath a pine forest and, on the edge of another meadow, the path curves to the left to meet a cross-path. Turn left and continue in this direction. Gradually, the landscape opens up and the narrow marshy valley becomes a wet meadow where a few pools of water remain, much to the delight of the waterbirds that have made their home there.
Just below the buildings of the Trébestan farm, the path takes a sharp left-hand bend before joining the path leading down from
(9) From this point, the route allows you to explore a large part of the Pont-Mahé marshes, whose grazed meadows have retained a sense of openness that is most rare amongst small coastal marshes. The path, which follows the boundary fence of the farmland on the Trébestan hill, winds its way into the centre of the marsh, where the two drainage channels that drain it converge.
(10) At the southernmost point of the route, the view across the marsh is almost unobstructed. The path then begins to head northwards, continuing to skirt the Trébestan hill. When the landscape closes in again, ignore the path that goes straight on around the marsh and instead turn slightly to the right, following the Ruisseau du Pontoir upstream.
After walking along the edge between the wetlands and farmland, the path emerges onto the Route du Val, just before the bridge crossing the stream. Turn left. All that remains is to follow the road uphill to reach the village and the starting point (S/E).
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