Préveranges - Sainte-Sévère

Red and white GR® 100markings from Préveranges, shared with the GRP® des Maîtres Sonneurs

(S) From the church in Préveranges, take the road towards Saint-Marien, pass a stopover lodge and then, 100 m further on, turn right onto Rue Saint-Martin and follow it for about 150 m.

This joins the GR® 303 trail. GR® 100 and Préveranges - La Croix Cordeau link (Sidiailles (Bocage Bourbonnais loop)

(1) Leave Préveranges by taking a path on the left, then turn right onto Route de Saint-Marien (D1E) and continue for about 300 m.
crossing with the GR®100 trail coming from Boussac, reach a crossroads

(2) Turn right onto the path that descends to the hamlet of Betoux. After a few houses, turn left onto a road.

(3) Just after a bridge over the Joyeuse, turn left onto a path that crosses the Joyeuse again and climbs up a hill. Reach a pond, follow it on the right and continue along the path. Pass a house with an old well and continue straight ahead until you reach a bend.

(4) Turn left onto a path that climbs uphill, crosses the road and continues for about 400 m, then turns sharply right onto a paved road. Pass under a bridge on the left that is part of the old Champillet-Lavaufranche railway line, which was in operation until the early 1950s. Continue to Le Magnoux.

(5) Cross the hamlet, ignoring the roads on the left. At the top of a hill, turn left and continue to a crossroads where you will see a water tower (altitude 504 m, the highest point in the Cher and the Centre region). Continue for a few metres on the D203 to the right, reach the water tower and continue to the next crossroads.
(6) Leave the D203 by taking the road on the left, follow the chestnut grove and take the first road on the right. Descend to Beddes and the source of the Indre on the right.

(7) Leave the GRP® here and take the path on the left which climbs back up, then turns right at the edge of the woods. Turn into the first small road on the left. Follow it to Chez Jabier.

(8) Cross the D3E and take the road opposite, which continues to the right along a long downhill path. Pass a crossroads and arrive at a junction (altitude 405 m).

Yellow and red GRP® Sur les Pas des Maîtres Sonneurssignposts

(9) Leave the GR® 100 on your left. Turn right onto a grassy path. From this point, the GRP® markings are red and yellow. Go left for about 100 m and take an uphill path that leads to the D3E departmental road in the hamlet of La Courcelle.

(10) Take the D3E on the left. At the intersection, go straight ahead to reach the Saint-Priest Church.

(11) Turn left. When you reach the church, pass it on your left and go downhill. (If you continue straight ahead, you will find a picnic area). Cross the Indre river and go up the hill on the left, then take the path on the right that leads to the stadium. When you reach the road, turn left. You will reach the hamlet of La Lande. Take a street on the left and, 100 m further on, turn right. At a crossroads, continue straight ahead: the road continues along a path opposite. About 300 m further on, you will reach the border between the Cher and Indre rivers.

(12) At the departmental boundary, continue straight ahead, then turn left at the next intersection. First turn right then left and take a small road towards Pointe Mazière, heading west, for about 300 m. Turn right onto a path lined with chestnut trees, which runs alongside a small wood and joins a track that you take on the left. Turn left again onto a small road (D84) that passes between two ponds. Drive through the hamlets of La Saigne and Pointe Mazière.

(13) Pass the last houses in the hamlet and turn right. The road descends steeply (signposted 20% gradient). Continue up to Chez Piot, stay on the main road on the left and pass a stadium on your right. Turn left to descend into the centre of Pérassay towards the church.

(14) Leave Pérassay via the D 71, keep the D71M on your right and descend towards Genest. At the sign for "Moulin de Pérassay", take the hairpin bend to the right towards the mill. Opposite the mill, take the footbridge on the right and continue along a grassy path. Climb up, keeping to the left. After Bon St-Michel, turn left onto the hedge-lined path. At the end, cross the D917 and continue straight ahead. At the crossroads, stay on the same path and cross Genest.

Red and white GR® 100markings

(15) Join the GR®100 and GR®46. Descend into the Ruisseau de Beaulieu valley via the grassy path lined with hedges (view of the valley and Pouligny Notre Dame). At the bottom of the valley, turn right into a wide lane between meadows and woods to rejoin the road. Take it on the left, following the pond, and very soon turn right onto the small road towards the castle (pond and castle). Continue immediately on the path on the right at the foot of the buildings. Just after the small square tower, descend to the right into the sunken path overlooking a pond until you reach the old mill.

(16) Just before the mill, climb the steep path on the left (risk of slipping). At the end of the climb, the ravine gives way to a grassy path. At the first house, continue along the small road, then take the D110 towards Vijon. At the first bend, descend the side of the valley along the path on the right lined with hedges (view of the bocage) then climb back up. Cross a small road and immediately descend to the left along the shaded path. At the road, turn right towards Moulin Retord (bed and breakfast).

(17) At Moulin de Retord, follow the D110 to the left for about 150 m. Leave it for a path on the left and cross the Ruisseau de Beaulieu on a footbridge. Leave the Moulin Gras buildings on your left and follow the small road on the right parallel to the valley, which passes the superbly renovated buildings of Moulin Vieux (bed and breakfast).

(18) At the bridge, go up the D 71h on the left and take the first path on the left, which joins the departmental road further up. Turn right onto this road, then follow it to the left and right towards Belfat. Go through the hamlet and reach a bend.

(19) On leaving Belfat, go down a stony track on the right to a footbridge over the stream. Go up opposite on a path through the woods which comes out on the hillside (panoramic view of the surrounding heights). Continue straight ahead, then turn left and, once you have passed the memorial stone, turn right to rejoin the D 917.

(20) Follow it to the left and turn left onto Chemin du Pont Tracat. Cross Rue du Pont Rouge and turn left onto Rue Porte Rompue, which becomes Rue Saint-Martin (keep the streets on your right). You will arrive at Place du Marché and its market hall (E).
This is the starting point for the next stage (to La Châtre) and for link 1 to La Motte Feuilly, which completes the secondary loop, the Marche Berrichonne.

Accommodation: Préveranges, Saint-Priest, Pérassay and Ste Sévère See website section: Organise your hike.
Refreshments: Préveranges, Pérassay. Ste Sévère
Water: Préveranges, Saint-Priest, Pérassay, Ste Sévère
Picnic area: Saint-Priest market hall, about 100 metres down the road after the church on the left.

Préveranges: a stone's throw from the village at Magnoux, the highest point in the Centre Val de Loire region (504m).

St Priest la Marche: along the route, a small pond marks the source of the Indre river near the village hall. There is a recently planted chestnut grove and, along the Indre at a place called Les Planches, a small covered market hall (the Fête des Planches, held in early August, is the region's biggest folk festival) provides shelter for picnics.

Pérassay. We are back in the Indre and Boischaut regions. At the town hall, you can see a rare Gallo-Roman statue (a figure wearing a cap) and, continuing along the route, numerous mills on the banks of the Indre and its tributaries. In Genest, you can pay your respects at the memorial to the resistance fighters and civilians killed here on 15 and 16 July 1944. Continuing along the path, you will come to the Château de Beaulieu, its ponds, the stream of the same name and its woodland path under beautiful beech trees.

Sainte-Sévère. Dominating the steep, green banks of the Indre, " Ste Sévère is a beautiful place cut into a well-watered ravine, delighting the eye." Liberated from the English in 1372 by the famous knight Du Guesclin, only half of the keep remains, the sole vestige of the 13th-century castle. We arrive through the medieval gate, facing the 17th-century market hall and the Place du Carrousel, with the Maison de Jour de Fête on the left (a real treat to visit, as it was here that Jacques Tati shot his famous film Jour de Fête in 1947). The little square is still there, and you can almost see the postman François spinning his bag before getting on his old bike. It's like stepping back in time to a village in the Berry region in 1947. Ste Sévère is part of the "Petites cités de caractère" network (two communes in the Indre department are members: Levroux and Ste Sévère)