Tour of Blanquefort

The car park is located at the Blanquefort Youth Hostel (Le Maurian).

(S/E) Take the north-south path that runs alongside the Youth Hostel on your right. At the junction of two paths in front of the building, take the path on the right which runs alongside the building towards the south and goes round it. Follow the path which goes round the grounds of the Bordeaux-Blanquefort Agricultural College. Continue until you reach Avenue du Général de Gaulle D2 (at number 93).

(1) Cross it with great care (there is a pedestrian crossing about thirty metres to the left), then take Rue Arlot de Saint Saud opposite. Follow it carefully until you reach the junction with a road in front of Château Dillon. At the junction, turn right and continue for about sixty metres.

(2) Turn left along the side of Château Dillon. After about sixty metres, turn right onto a farm track heading north. This track is soon flanked by trees on both sides. Further on, cross Route de Linas with care and continue straight ahead. Further on, the track crosses a stream and eventually leads onto Avenue de Tanais.

(3) Turn left and follow Avenue de Tanais with care. At the next junction, with Route Michel de Montaigne on the left and Route de Queyron on the right, carry on straight ahead. Turn right onto the first farm track approximately one hundred and fifty metres from the junction. The track runs alongside properties on the right and a vineyard plot on the left. At the corner of the plot, turn left to go round it.

(4) At the next junction of farm tracks, turn right onto a track that runs alongside a vineyard plot on the left. Carry on straight ahead until you reach Rue de Madères. Turn left and follow Rue de Madères carefully as far as the hamlet known as Le Grand Clapeau.

(5) When you reach the Château du Grand Clapeau, walk past it and continue along the Route de Madères, which runs alongside it, until you reach the Route du Clapeau. Turn right and follow this road carefullyfor about four hundred metres. You are now on the tarmac-surfaced Chemin Communal 029, known as Rue du Clapeau.

(6) Turn left onto the track which cuts straight through the Bois de Mongeau heading westwards. Further on, it crosses a clearing before continuing through the woods.

(7) Turn left onto Chemin Rural 014. The route then follows the GR® 81. Follow it for about one hundred and fifty metres before turning left onto the path that crosses the woods heading south-east. The Chemin de la Lande passes through the Agraulon area. After about two hundred metres, it passes by a telecoms mast. Carry on straight ahead to the north-western corner of the Société Hippique de Blanquefort. Turn right onto rural track no. 022, which runs alongside the Société Hippique’s grounds. The track leads out onto Rue du Manège.

(8) Cross it carefully and carry on straight ahead along the small road which joins Avenue de la Salle de Breillan. Turn left to follow this avenue, passing the Stade Émile Miart on your right. Further on, cross Rue de Jacques with care and continue straight ahead. Take the cycle path on the left which runs alongside Avenue de la Salle de Breillan. Go round the roundabout on the north side and continue along the avenue.

(9) When you reach Rue du Bechon on your right, carry on straight ahead on the pavement on the left-hand side of the avenue. Go round the roundabout at the junction with Avenue du Général de Gaulle (D2) on the left-hand (northern) side and follow the fence along Rue Jean Duvert. Turn left after passing the Youth Hostel building and return to the starting point (S/E).

The route follows good paths and small roads of various types. Nevertheless, it is best to wear suitable footwear.

This walk presents no difficulty in terms of navigation. In addition, it is advisable to follow the instructions in the route description and on the map, whilst also paying close attention to the landscape. The waypoints, with their GPS coordinates and the distance from the starting point, are helpful for walkers exploring the route for the first time.

Hike completed by the author on 2 June 2026

Blanquefort Agricultural College

It was founded in 1923.Intendant Dupré de Saint-Maur had established an earlier school in Floirac, but it did not survive the Revolution. At the start of the^{Third Republic} , the Act of 16 June 1879 organised agricultural education at departmental level. It had little effect: in 1925, agricultural education was providing training for 2,000 pupils in France, whilst the agricultural population accounted for 35 per cent of the working population! The Act of 21 April 1912 established the Departmental Directorate of Agricultural Services, which appointed rural teachers responsible for agricultural education. In Gironde, there were four agricultural teachers in Libourne, Cadillac, La Réole and Blanquefort. Why establish an agricultural college in Blanquefort in the aftermath of the First World War when one already existed in La Réole? Blanquefort is situated in the centre of the department and at the terminus of a tram line.

Édouard Avril, a civil engineer who died on 8 August 1888, bequeathed his Béchon estate to the municipality of Blanquefort on condition that it maintain his family tomb in perpetuity and establish an agricultural school. In the aftermath of the war, the shortage of agricultural labour had to be addressed through mechanisation, for example through the use of seed drills and mechanical sprinklers… Pupils at the agricultural college were required to hold a school-leaving certificate and pass an entrance examination. The course lasted two years. The curriculum was scientific and technical, covering all agricultural disciplines: viticulture, horticulture, livestock farming, etc.
In 1929, the annual boarding fee was 1,100 francs, but many pupils received grants awarded by the Chamber of Agriculture. Not all of them came from rural backgrounds: the school’s first prospectus states that it welcomed ‘young people from well-off families who wished to take charge of managing their estates’. Farmers’ sons could attend the school’s winter courses in Bommes (la Tour Blanche) or in Montagne near Libourne from November to March. The school provided estate managers and cellar masters to the wine châteaux of the Bordeaux region. The agricultural crisis of the 1930s led to a proliferation of cooperatives and created jobs.
In Blanquefort, the school had two classes of around twenty-five pupils each; the classrooms were on the ground floor and the dormitories upstairs. A series of postcards gives us a clear picture of teaching both in the classroom and on the farm. For practical work, the Ministry of Agriculture rented the Château Dillon estate from the Countess d’Arlot de Sinsot [actually Saint Saud].Upon her death in 1962, the Ministry became the owner.
The Act of 2 August 1960 on agricultural education established the modern agricultural college in its current form: a dozen classes from Year 10 to Year 13 to prepare pupils for the baccalaureate and the agricultural technician’s certificate. After the baccalaureate, pupils can progress to two higher technician courses and a preparatory course for the School of Agricultural Engineers.
New buildings made it possible to accommodate a larger number of pupils: a lecture theatre, a sports hall, and a girls’ school, as education was not co-educational at the time… Mr Chatenet, headteacher from 1952 to 1962, was the driving force behind the school’s modernisation. Mr Peyratlui succeeded him from 1965 to 1973, followed by Mr Navarre from 1973 to 1996. After them, the school – which had previously been devoted primarily to viticulture and oenology – adapted to changing career prospects, particularly in the agri-food sector. The three schools in Bommes, Montagne and Blanquefort were merged. Édouard Avril can rest assured: the agricultural college has a bright future...

Michel Cognie, G.A.H.BLE Bulletin No. 75, December 2013.

Other heads of the agricultural college: Pierre Grimalen (1923), Pierre Vital (1936 and 1946 censuses).

Before becoming an agricultural college, the estate housed an agricultural annexe to the Bordeaux vocational school for the rehabilitation of those maimed in the First World War at ‘Le Béchon’.
For further reading, click on Domaine de Béchon,The Avril Family,Rehabilitation of the Disabled at Béchon.