Sentier de la Folie

Marked hike N°2.
A hike in the heart of the birthplace of Colette. Through woods and passing by ponds, often described in her work.

Technical sheet

87711
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 11.72 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 35 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 88 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 80 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 297 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 228 m

Photos

Description of the walk

(S/F) Start at «Place du Château» («Place Blanche» car park) in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye. Head off to rue de la Roche that you'll take to the right and then branch off left down Rue Colette.

(1) Take the first right, Rue des Gros Bonnets. Go straight on past the post office on your left and when you get to the intersection with Rue Gerbaude continue along this road leaving the war memorial on your left.

(2) Pass the main crossing taking the road towards Toucy. During the climb, ignore Rue des Chats. About 100m further on, enter the stadium, go along the hedge bordering the road and down the path on the left (between the changing rooms and tennis courts) arriving on a narrow road.

(3) Head right, going past «camping Joumiers», ignore the farm on the right and take the first path on the left. This path leads to the D7. Turn right then left towards «Ronchères». At the next crossroads go right and continue for 200m before taking a path on the left which ends up on a little road that leads to a few houses and ends in front of the woods.

(4) Take the dirt track that enters the underwood which, in places, follows the enclosure of the estate on the right. At the first crossroads turn right.

(5) Leave the track to turn left onto a path that ends up on the D7. Take the tarmac road opposite, pass through the «étang des Barres» dike (also called «étang des Gouttes»).

(6) At the large curve that this little road forms, take the path that goes right. The path leads to the D955.

(7) Cross the road carefully to get to the path on the other side. Once you get to the outskirts of St.-Sauveur, at the end of this path and turn right heading downhill. Take the road towards «Ouanne» (on the left) for 50m.

(8) Enter the park along the alley bordered by lime trees on each side. Pass by the foot of «Tour Sarrazine», and the Colette Museum to reach the car park.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 268 m - Place de la Maison de santé - Musée Colette
  2. 1 : km 0.12 - alt. 263 m - Maison natale de Colette
  3. 2 : km 0.61 - alt. 250 m - Basin with impluvium - Lavoir de la Gerbaude
  4. 3 : km 1.64 - alt. 250 m - The end of the road
  5. 4 : km 2.15 - alt. 243 m - Camping des Joumiers (Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye)
  6. 5 : km 3.37 - alt. 243 m - Ending on the D7
  7. 6 : km 5.38 - alt. 264 m - The path leads off to the right into undergrowth
  8. 7 : km 6.28 - alt. 273 m - Leave the main path and turn left
  9. 8 : km 8.81 - alt. 232 m - Leave the road and turn right
  10. 9 : km 10.19 - alt. 268 m - Main road crossing
  11. 10 : km 11.37 - alt. 289 m - Take the entrance before the large gate
  12. S/E : km 11.72 - alt. 268 m - Place de la Maison de santé - Tour sarrasine (Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye)

Practical information

The markup is provided by the Association A chacun son chemin en Puisaye-Forterre following the graphical charter of the Community of Communes of Puisaye-Forterre in the way of the description and bears N°2. The presence of the markup, however, requires that you leave at least with this description and the attached IGN map.
In case of problems, thank you for completing this questionnaire (1 to 2 minutes only).

For further information : Tourist Office de puisaye-Forterre

In the nearby area

Nearby - To visit :
The village of St-Sauveur, Tour Sarrasine, Colette Museum.
The house, birthplace of Colette (1) is located on «rue Colette». Visits upon reservation.
Possible visit during the trip to the Impluvium wash-house (2).

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 17 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.7 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
Herv45
Herv45

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 18, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Nice walk in a bucolic setting, a little too much tarmac road

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L. Gauthier
L. Gauthier

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Oct 01, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Very pleasant shady route in summer.
Easy-to-follow route, good explanations; the app reminds you if you stray from the route.

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Pied-Blanc
Pied-Blanc

I didn't use Visorando because it was too complicated and incompatible with IphiGéNie.

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Antoine Monneret
Antoine Monneret

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 08, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

A lovely, well-marked walk.
The first few kilometres are a little disconcerting, but then 2/3 of the way is very beautiful: a succession of sunken paths (beware, at this time of year it's still very wet, so don't be afraid of the mud!) often bordered by beautiful trognes, small stretches of road (very little used), undergrowth and very pretty ponds. In summer, this walk should also be very pleasant in hot weather, as most of the route is shaded.

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Fanfan et Philippe
Fanfan et Philippe

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 24, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : Yes

A very pleasant trail through the woods and undergrowth of Puisaye, with a section on a small road leading to the Etang des Gouttes.
The route is well signposted, with a few fallen trees that are easy to cross.

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Ludal89
Ludal89

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 08, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Busy trail : No

The circuit is poorly maintained, with trees across the path in several places and tall grass (over 1.90m).

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POULIN Gérard
POULIN Gérard ★

Hello biche,
Thank you for your feedback.
After taking this street and before passing in front of the Ehpad, you have to go down the avenue of lime trees through the gates on the right. It's a shame you missed it.

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biche
biche

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : May 14, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Very nice route, very pleasant, well signposted. We set off from the campsite. Only 1 mistake in the village: at the end of the route, we followed the direction arrow, which took us along the road (past an Ephad) and then nothing, so we didn't pass the Colette museum (as indicated) when we were supposed to go back down into the village to pass the post office and then turn right.

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POULIN Gérard
POULIN Gérard ★

Hello Toundra and piépiédu89,
Thank you for your feedback.
No, this trail is not representative of all the 1100 km of paths in Puisaye-Forterre, but it does give a bad image.
It is a path that has lacked maintenance for some time. Following your comment of 24 July, I immediately put a warning on the form about the current state of this path. The commune, which is responsible for maintaining rural paths in general and footpaths in particular, was immediately informed. We are awaiting their intervention, and as soon as it has been repaired, the comment will be removed.
The Tourist Office, which advertises hiking and green tourism, was immediately informed and removed the route from its professional space.
To Toundra: your suggestion to go off to the right at (7) is inapplicable, as this is a private path that leads to the Folie property. Unless there is an agreement between the owner and the commune, this part of the route cannot be described or walked.

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Toundra
Toundra

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 17, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : Yes

Very nice route with beautiful scenery.
Unfortunately, the path is so poorly maintained that some of the signposts are hidden by vegetation at points 4 and 7, and there's a haystack in the middle of the path before you reach point 8!
What will the tourists who come to walk in our region think?
Question: Wouldn't it be simpler not to turn left at point 7 and to go straight on to the forest track and then turn left to join the D7? According to the map, this might give you a glimpse of the famous Château de la Folie, which is the name of this walk and deserves a little more attention...
Thank you to the local council for maintaining this trail one day...

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piépiédu89
piépiédu89

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 17, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

We had a bad time on this outing. The track doesn't look like it's been maintained for some time. The grass is really high and it's often difficult to know where you're stepping for a good part of the route. It's a shame at this time of year not to have a "clean" path to walk on. The waymarker posts are sometimes hidden by the tall grass. It's a shame because the scenery looks interesting. There's no problem with the description or the route, but the maintenance is really disastrous!

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Revelatta2B
Revelatta2B

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 05, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A very pleasant route with lots to discover. Magnificent farms (Les Vrines), unexpected coniferous undergrowth, horses everywhere, peace and quiet, two not too bad climbs - it feels good! Just one minor criticism: there are quite a few stretches of road, so be careful with small children. One comment linked to the time of year, the paths have several very muddy sectors with some pretty nasty traps under the leaves (my wife spent 1/4 hour wringing out socks and soles), but you just have to be careful and everything will be fine. I recommend this walk, it's a great time, and it's winter...!

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denantesamontaigu
denantesamontaigu

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 26, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Hi viso,
A pleasant route overall, despite the stretches of small road we took.

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Aurelie-21
Aurelie-21 ★

We are sorry to read that. Feel free to suggest any modification to improve the description quality. (What was unclear ? Where ? What do you think is better to say ? etc.)

Cheers,
Aurélie - Community manager.

MickW
MickW

Overall rating : 2.3 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 30, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing

My wife and I did this walk yesterday – it was a beautiful sunny Spring day – idyllic walking weather - however this walk was quite disappointing. Very little of interest to view apart from the beautiful lake – Etangs des Gouttes.
The walk was littered with fallen saplings and branches so our progress was inhibited. Also many of the woodland paths were very muddy in parts despite the recent dry weather –it must be a quagmire in wet weather. Other walkers informed us that the paths are used by motocross blaggards who churn up the paths with their scramblers – outrageous. Overall the route path is not at all maintained by the local authorities which is quite remiss.
Also a distinct lack of any facilities for walkers to sit and take refreshments – only one rickety old bench by the lakeside over the course of the whole 12 kms route – not at all conducive to attracting walkers.
The village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye is lovely and quite unspoilt and the Musée de Colette is excellent – but we sadly cannot recommend this walk.

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