Pouffonds - Coubortiges and its traditional architecture

(S/E) Car park next to the Pouffonds village hall (along the left-hand side of the street)
Walk down the street and turn right onto the Route des Écoles towards Les Coudrières. Leave the village, continue to the first crossroads and turn left towards Les Brousses and Champbertier

(1) Turn right onto the path leading directly to Les Brousses. Wind your way through the hamlet to the last house, taking the streets on the right twice. Continue along the forest track which runs flat into the Bois de Saint-Génard. This lovely path leads onto Rue de l’Église in Saint-Génard after just over a kilometre. Turn right to join the path that starts in front of the church.

(2) Take the path on the left that goes round the church of Saint-Génard, running alongside the cemetery, and continues, at the back of the car park, along a path that winds its way up the hillside. This path comes to a road which you should take by turning right to descend to the Minoterie du Prieuré. See the wash house by the banks of the Marseillaise.

(3) About fifty metres after the bridge, turn left onto the path that follows the Marseillaise. Gradually, the path moves away from the river and, shortly after a sharp right-hand bend, it gives way to a road as you approach the hamlet of Le Vignolet. Turn left onto Impasse des Bories and follow it to the end.

(4) Go round the last house on the right and, as soon as you’re on the path, you’ll see a narrow, fairly steep path on your right, winding through the box trees and leading down to the banks of the Marseillaise. Take this path, taking care not to slip on the stones, as this area is always in the shade and therefore likely to be damp.
This path soon joins a road, the Impasse de Marcillé, which you follow to the right. It passes in front of the Marcillé pumping station, next to which there is a pretty wash house.
The road then climbs towards a crossroads. Turn left, continuing slightly uphill.

(5) About two hundred metres further on, turn right onto the farm track. Follow it to the hamlet of Le May. Turn right twice and follow the gently sloping road that runs past the hamlet known as La Grotte.
Follow this road to the T-junction. Turn left towards Coubortiges. Walk through this wonderful hamlet with its truly exceptional traditional buildings, turning first left, then right and left at the corner of a large house. Follow the road to a T-junction. Turn left towards La Petite Groie. Shortly afterwards, you’ll have a panoramic view of the hamlet of Coubortiges. Then pass by the hamlet known as Le Chalandray. Continue along the road which leads to the top of the plateau, offering views of the local farmland.

(6) Turn right onto a farm track for just over 300m.

(7) At the crossroads, turn left at a right angle. This farm track leads back towards Pouffonds.

(8) Just before the road, take the path on the left which runs parallel to the Route des Écoles.

(9) As the track reaches the first houses, turn right onto a slightly uphill track. This track leads onto the Route des Écoles.

(10) Turn left as you come out onto the Route des Écoles. After the junction, there is a lovely view of Pouffons church and its bell tower. The road then passes in front of the schools and a little further on, on the right, you will find the street with the car park for the Pouffonds village hall (S/E).

This route alternates between long forest tracks, riverside paths and paths through fields, with a few sections on quiet roads.
The only difficult section is a short stretch (about 100m) on a narrow path between two rows of box trees on a steep slope: one or two walking poles may come in handy. In heavy rain, this very shaded section can become slippery.

Park in the car spaces along the road leading up to the village hall (on the left-hand side).

This route follows the Rando en Deux-Sèvres-certified route known as "La Marseillaise", available on the Deux-Sèvres Department’s hiking website http://randoendeuxsevres.fr/index.php

Saint Génard: its church is a small Romanesque building (listed as a historic monument in 1907), standing alone amidst the fields, which never ceases to amaze.
This 11th-century church, whose ownership by the Abbey of Nouaillé was confirmed in 1118, is one of the finest examples of Romanesque art in the Pays Mellois. The commune of Saint-Genard is the only one in France to bear this name. Nothing specific is known about this saint with a name of Germanic origin; was he a local hermit during the Merovingian period? He is not the only unknown figure associated with this church...
The west façade, featuring a fine door set between two blind arcades, has keystones decorated with lozenges, diamond points, knobs, hooks and toruses, arranged in a juxtaposed and staggered pattern.A Romanesque semi-circular apse with a barrel vault and a choir with a barrel vault form the sanctuary, which is extended by an unvaulted nave. In the apse, arcades frame the small-columned windows. The sculpted decoration—lions or monsters set within medallions—is of the utmost finesse. The capital on the right of the central window depicts a fine male face, whose beard marks the separation between the capital and the column. In the nave, with its fine timberwork, a Gothic niche frames the recumbent figure of a knight, whose name is unknown, lying on a draped bed, his feet resting on a lion cub being attacked by a fantastical creature.
Around ten different stonemason’s marks are present on the stones of this church. These marks were the stonemason’s signatures of the workshops working on the building sites.
Who was Saint Genard? And what of the knight resting in the nave? Or the owners of the 8th-century tombs discovered around the church? These are just some of the questions that add to the architectural appeal of one of the most beautiful churches in the Pays Mellois.
(Source: Pays Mellois Tourist Office)

Pouffonds: Saint-Macou Parish Church, a small 11th-century Romanesque building with an adjoining cemetery. A few modillions decorate the building at the level of the sacristy.
Link to view various images of this church: