Short circular loop around Chaveignes

Start from Chaveignes Town Hall. Park in the car park situated between the town hall and the village hall, near the church.

Green + Yellow markings

(S/E) On leaving the car park, turn right and walk past the town hall on your right. At the corner of the town hall, follow a grassy path to the right and walk past an old vineyard hut on your right. After about a hundred metres, turn left, cross a stream and continue along a grassy path. At the end, follow the D361 to the right until you reach the sign marking the exit from Chaveignes.

(1) Just after the sign (metal cross), turn left onto a grassy path between the fields. Walk alongside a wood on your left, passing sheds with photovoltaic panels on their roofs on your right. Cross a road, then follow the track opposite towards Bréjouisse, walking alongside the La Vieillerie farmstead on your right.

Green markings

(2) Just after the house at No. 1, turn left onto a wide grassy path bordered by a hedge on the right (there are no arrows or green markers here; ignore the yellow markings heading off to the right). Where there are gaps in the hedge, note the ruins of La Fontaine farm on your right.

At the end of the hedge, turn left, still on a wide grassy path. Cross a road and continue straight ahead on a small road towards Aillon. Stay on the tarmac and turn right when you reach the Grande Maison.

(3) At a three-way junction, turn left towards a picnic area. Pass a gate on your right and cross the River Veude. Continue along a track soon flanked by two rows of poplars. Walk past the picnic area on your left (marker 44) and carry on along the shaded track.

Ignore a turn-off on the right, then immediately one on the left, and carry on along the wide gravel track. After passing a house some distance away on the right, the gravel gives way to tarmac.

Green and yellow signposting

(4) When you reach another house, turn left. Follow a small road, cross the Veude again and walk past the old Moulin Achard on your right.

Green signposting

At the three-way junction, veer right onto the tarmac (ignore the yellow markings heading left).

(5) Just before a sign reading ‘Stop 85m’, leave the road and turn right onto a grassy track. Walk alongside a copse on your right and, on your left, a wall followed by a fence. You’ll come out onto the D361 (note a square tower on the left) and follow it to the right for a few dozen metres. At the sign for “Le Fourneau”, take a small road to the left and walk alongside a cluster of buildings on your left.

(6) When you reach a red gate, turn right and leave a copse on your right. Continue between the fields towards a woodland. At the edge of the woodland, turn left and follow the woodland on your right along a path not shown on the map. At the end, continue along a track and you’ll soon come out onto a small road.

(7) Follow the road to the left. At a left-hand bend, note the view of the Château de la Vrillaye on your right. At a three-way junction, at a place called Les Blardières, take the road on the left. Pass an old wash house, walk past Chaveignes church on your right and you will immediately come back to the starting point on the right (S/E).

Good walking shoes are sufficient for this short hike, which follows well-maintained paths and quiet country lanes.

No water source identified along the route.

Signposting consists of metal plates attached to metal posts, mainly at junctions. Signposting is one-sided, in the direction of the route. A detailed map is still useful (at the very least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on 7 August 2019.

(Start/Finish) Saint-Pierre Church (late 19th century), in Chaveignes.

After (2), ruins of La Fontaine farm.

Beautiful farm buildings between La Grande Maison (shortly before (3)) and Le Fourneau (6).

Shortly before returning to (S/E), a washhouse with a movable floor (information panel).