Tour of Préfailles

Park at the Prée car park.

(S/E) From La Prée, go up the road of the same name for fifty metres before taking the first right (Chemin de la Prée). Continue along this small road, passing two streets on your left. After the second street, leave the town and continue straight on until the next crossroads.

(1) Turn left onto Chemin du Port aux Ânes and follow it until you pass between two campsites. After the second one, cross a side road.

(2) Continue straight ahead, then turn right when you reach a wooded area. Turn left then right onto Chemin des Masses. Continue along this road until you cross Route du Moulin Tillac.

(3) Cross the road and continue straight ahead, passing through the hamlet of La Renaudière. When you reach the crossroads where the Moulin de la Guerche mill stands, turn onto the path that branches off to the right, just before the junction. Continue left at the next three-way junction, then turn left at the first path you come to. The Ennerie menhir awaits you patiently at the side of the path, a few dozen metres further on.

(4) Pass the menhir (large white quartz stone) and continue along the path until you reach the first houses of the village of La Plaine-sur-Mer. Continue straight ahead until you reach one of the main streets leading to the church, just opposite the Notre-Dame school. Turn right, walk past the school, then, at the next crossroads, turn left onto the path between two properties.

(5) This path crosses the Moulin Brulé path, then, after passing two houses, it narrows and ends in a tunnel of vegetation that you can walk through. At the end of this rare stretch of dense vegetation, you will come to a large roundabout.

(6) Do not continue to the roundabout, but slip to the right, between a property and a public landscaped area, take the passage that crosses the embankment, and cut across the road to reach Rue de la Levertrie, just on the other side. Continue along this road for about 500 metres until you reach a motorhome car park.

(7) Turn left onto the path opposite the car park, ignore the two paths on the right and continue to La Raitrie, a large farm that dominates the agricultural landscape.

(8) At La Raitrie, turn right to descend the road that leads down to the Vallon de Choiseau. After the beach car park, enjoy the shade, as it is the only one you will find on this route.
The view of the sea is quite striking, and it's tempting to take a dip. A word of advice: coming here in your swimsuit may seem incongruous, as this is a naturist beach.

(9) At Choiseau beach, you will reach the coastal path, which you will follow until the end of the route. Take it to the right to climb the slope of the valley. The path then crosses an area of moorland completely devoid of any buildings. On the left, the ocean is bordered by the north coast of Noirmoutier, which extends to the islet of Pilier and its tall lighthouse. Throughout this section, the path overlooks several small coves that are rather bare and mostly inaccessible at high tide.

(10) At Port aux Goths, the landscape changes, as you come to a beautiful beach and the first of the buildings that will line the shore until the end of the route. Go around the beach, passing under the Friends of the Earth centre, and continue along the coastal path to Port Meleu.

(11) After Port Meleu, the coastal path follows the edge of the coastal road until it veers away to skirt around some beautiful villas. This section of the coastal path is lined with buildings, each more original than the last, which are well worth taking the time to admire as you pass by.
After Margaret-Plage, you will rejoin the road and follow it until you reach Grande Plage and the esplanade overlooking it, which is the original centre of the seaside resort.

(12) Then follow the cliff road along the coast, passing several attractive coves. When you reach the Éléovic campsite, leave the road again and walk past a huge bunker, a remnant of the underground military complex that lies beneath your feet, including a hospital.

(13) Continue along the path that follows the foreshore as closely as possible. Pass another beach with several well-sheltered coves to begin the detour around Pointe Saint-Gildas, where you enter the first moorland as soon as you leave the coastal road. The semaphore tower overlooking the point stands a few dozen metres from the path and serves as a guide for your progress, as you have to go around it.

(14) Once you have passed the point, the horizon changes completely. The island of Noirmoutier disappears, while the offshore wind farm appears a few miles out to sea, followed by the coastline of the Guérande peninsula on the other side of the Loire estuary. From here, the rest of the route takes you towards Saint-Nazaire.
After passing the jetty that protects the harbour on the left, go behind a few commercial buildings before rejoining the coastal path once you have passed them. It overlooks beaches that are more sheltered than those exposed to the south-west, which stretch all the way to Port aux Ânes.

(15) Don't look for a boat shelter here, there isn't one! Continue along the coastal path or the roads that have replaced it to see the boats moored behind Île Brie. La Prée is not far away, nor is the end of this hike (S/E).

As mentioned in the introduction, this route is particularly exposed to the sun. Don't set off without a hat and sunscreen if you don't want to end up looking like a lobster.

Two-thirds of the route is along the coast. At the start, check the wind direction to decide which way to go. It's better to have the wind at your back, and the headland provides good shelter from the wind.

All along the coastal path, there are information panels about the places you pass through or things to discover along the coastline. Another route, the Chemin des Peintres (Painters' Path), runs alongside the coastal path and displays the works of painters who frequented Préfailles. Take the time to have a look at them.

Although fairly urban, this route passes through a number of places of ecological interest, particularly the moors on the south coast and those at the tip. Be sure to stay on the path to preserve them.