Bois du Peu Blanc trail in Leigné-sur-Usseau

From Châtellerault, take the D749 towards Richelieu. Halfway along, turn right onto the D22 towards Leigné-sur-Usseau. Start the walk at the church square.

(S/E) Opposite the church, turn right onto the D9, the road to Usseau. Leave the small village on the right at the corner of house no. 4 onto a pleasant little path.

(1) Before the football pitch, turn sharply left (south) towards La Gardaillière.

(2) At the electricity pole at the entrance to the isolated house, take the path diagonally to the left. Shortly afterwards, turn right onto a grassy path. Ignore the entrances to adjacent paths. Enter a chestnut wood with a lovely view of the rolling countryside at the exit. You will come out within sight of a farm.

(3) At the crossroads, turn left towards the woods, leaving the cattle farm behind. Walk through the cow pastures, enjoying a lovely view. Then enter a wood.

(4) At the junction where the path enters the woodland, head up to the left onto a wider, stony track. At the next crossroads, go straight ahead and follow the wire fence on the right across fairly sandy ground until you reach the small road at Les Cloisons.

(5) Leave the small road on your left and a white track on your right. After a bend, walk past the houses until you reach the main road.

(6) When you reach the D9, cross carefully to the left, then at the corner of the house, turn right.
Walk past a house before reaching a straight track, which may be grassy or muddy depending on the season. Walk between fields and woods until you reach the end of the track.

(7) At the end of the path, turn left away from the woods and head up through open ground towards a farm and its two-storey house at La Parentière.

(8) Cross the road and continue along the hedgerows. Head straight on at the junction with a view to the left of the village of Leigné-sur-Usseau. Continue straight on at the next junction. Wind your way along uneven ground. Keep to the left, ignoring the adjacent paths. Descend through woodland of chestnut trees, amongst others, then emerge from the woods at the Carrefour de Peu Blanc.

(9) Turn left onto a path shared with the Mondion Route 33. At the bend, head up alongside the fields to the Leigné-Mondion road.

(10) Cross the D22 with care (waymark on the right) and continue up the stony path. At the crossroads at the top of the hill, ignore the route’s alternative route and go straight on. You’ll catch a glimpse of the Marmande tower on the right. Head back into the forest.

(11) At the crossroads, head straight ahead into a wooded area with acacia trees alongside the chestnut trees.
Leave the Mondion variant by continuing straight ahead along a less-used path. Keep going until you reach the road.

(12) Turn right, then immediately turn left onto a path just before the dead end.
Walk through this fern-filled woodland around the chestnut trees. Stay on the same path, ignoring the track on the right leading to the paintball site. Ignore the path on the left and take a grassier, damp-looking track with younger trees around it. Continue until you reach the signpost.

(13) Leave the Mondion route on your left and continue straight ahead. As you leave the woods, follow the high-speed rail line to the right. Shortly afterwards, at the end of the copse, turn sharply left at a right angle along another hedge. At the T-junction, turn sharply right, keeping the hedge on your left, until you reach the road.

(14) Turn left away from the hamlet of Les Basses Bruyères. Shortly afterwards, take the stony path on the right between the field and the copse. Continue along this path and turn left, ignoring the paths coming from the right, until you reach the house on the right.

(15) Walk past the only house, in Venise. At the junction after the small vineyard, go straight on along the grassy path to reach the main road.

(16) Cross the D22 with care at the entrance to the village. Walk past the stadium and then a green space. After a house bordered by shrubs, turn sharply left along the hedge onto the grassy path taken at the start of the route to return to the starting point. (S/E)

Grocery shop

La Vieillardière Museum.
Marmande Tower in Vellèches.
Saint-Gervais-les-Trois-Clochers Water Park.
Lake and picnic area in Saint-Gervais-les-Trois-Clochers.