Route details
Description
Safety instructions – Wearing a helmet is strongly recommended. I drive on the right. I respect the highway code. I check the condition of my bike (brakes and lighting). I stay on the marked trails. I respect the marsh, a sensitive and classified site.
Your itinerary
Step 1: Coulon, capital of the Green Venice
Ideally located between Niort and the Ocean, Coulon experienced intense port activity from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. River traffic and the exchange of goods ensure constant development. In the 19th century, the original Sèvre arm was canalized and shaped the current configuration of the town. La Maison du Marais Poitevin, on the banks of the river, allows you to understand and discover market garden life and traditions. Coulon is an ideal starting point for discovering the wet marsh on foot, by boat, by bike or by small tourist train. To see: Ste-Trinité church (false exterior preaching tower and funeral liter), Sotterie dam-lock, alleys of old Coulon, Quai Louis Tardy and house with blue shutters. To do: Maraisthon in June (eco-marathon), Rallye du Marais in June (nighttime canoe-kayak treasure hunt) and Fête à Coulon in June-July (village festival).
Step 2: Magné and its international painting festival
Magné, from the Latin "Magnus" meaning great, is the ancient name of a rich Roman family established on an island in the Gulf of Pictons. Bordered by the Sèvre Niortaise and the Sevreau, the village has thrown 4 bridges over the rivers, the most characteristic of which is the metal drawbridge, witness to the golden age of river trade in the 3th century. This traffic made it possible to export pottery, an old local industry fueled by marine debris, clay from the marshes. The heart of Magné is organized around its church and the town has long valued its river heritage. The banks of the Sèvre host, every year, the 1901rd weekend of July, the International Painting Festival. To see: Four Pontet Cultural Space (exhibition venue), metal drawbridge (XNUMX), Ste-Catherine church, Ste-Macrine chapel, Marais Pin site and “From port to port” heritage trail.
Step 3: Sansais La Garette and its village street
If you wish to extend your walk: This town, located on the edge of the Gulf of Pictons, is made up of 2 large villages: Sansais perched on the hillside and La Garette on the edge of the marshes. The future king Henry IV visited the latter in 1576 and later said of the Marais that...Among these deserts are a thousand gardens where one can only go by boat...La Garette is typical of traditional market garden habitat ensuring direct access to the water for every house. An important goods transit port between Bas-Poitou (north) and Saintonge (south) until the middle of the 1995th century, this village street was completely restored in XNUMX as part of Operation Grand Site. A wooden footbridge on stilts connects it to that of Coulon. To see: St-Vincent church in Sansais, Maison du Cheval, Chail dam-lock, educational trail on market garden flora and fauna…