Randonnée La Guirand’eau – Randonnée pédestre

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S. Bonnet – Department of Deux-Sèvres

DEUX SEVRES DEPARTMENT

S. Laval

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Prahecq river, patra aquosa or wet meadows, the Guirande (aqua randa) borders a very bocaged hillside.

Route details

PRAHECQ

pedestrian

Cultural, Nature (fauna, flora)

Description

Prahecq is representative of the transitional territories between the grouped habitat of the Charentes and the dispersed habitat of the bocage lands of the west. Its name derives either from Pratius, a wealthy notable picton, or from pratium meaning wet floodable meadow. The town is the homeland of Vanda Houmeau, wife of Ernest Pérochon, the first Prix Goncourt des Deux-Sèvres. The town is experiencing strong economic development thanks to the establishment of businesses in the artisanal zone.

Happy hiking and remember that you are not alone on the trails you are about to travel. We therefore invite you to respect nature: avoid picking flowers and plants, do not leave any trash behind, respect inhabited places, stay on the trails, keep dogs on a leash.

DifficultyEasyDuration03h45Distance14,5 km

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La Guirand'eau Hike – Hiking

Distance:14,5 km

Your itinerary

Getting to the starting point to report a problem

Step 1: Saint-Maixent Church

Built in the 1110th century. in a castle complex, it was returned in 1568 by Joscelin de Lezay to the abbey of St-Maixent, deprived of this property. Rebuilt at the end of the Middle Ages, burned down in 1911, then restored, during the Revolution it became a fodder and wood store and a ten-year temple. It was classified in XNUMX. To see: square of the XNUMXth century transept. covered in a reconstruction of flamboyant Gothic style, Romanesque capitals (mitred abbot, mermaids), episcopal crosier carved on the north buttress, altar from a listed altarpiece from the XNUMXth century.

Step 2: Prahecq washhouse

Near the roundabout, there remains an old wash house, equipped with a pump once used by farmers in times of drought.

Step 3: The equestrian center

The nearby equestrian center allows
to evoke the legend of the horse
Chiron Mallet who invited to be mounted,
and after a frantic race,
rushed his reckless rider into
water from a fountain before
transform into a devil.

Step 4: The vines

On the way down, the path runs alongside a few acres of vines, a vestige of the time when each farm produced its own wine, pineau and brandy. The relative quality of the beverage and the rural exodus precipitated the extinction of this activity

Step 5: The Legend of the Newlyweds

Before carefully crossing the D124, listen towards the field on the right. According to legend, newlyweds and their guests, with their cart pulled by six horses, fell there, into a bottomless hole, called the Abyss. We sometimes hear them moaning.

Step 6: The meadow and the Ouchelines woods

The meadow and the Ouchelines woods
are developed by the ARBRE association.
The circuit then takes the Chemin Vert where the hedges are highlighted. The route takes place in the Bernegoue hillside; a succession of climbs and descents runs along winding paths lined with hedges or patches of vines.

Step 7: The Garland

The route runs along the Guirande, a small river which has its source south-east of Chiron-Mallet and flows into the Vieille Sèvre upstream of Sevreau. Further on, the wide path runs alongside the inexhaustible well of the old Pouzat fortress.

Step 8: The Crowned Dolphin

Entering the village, at the corner of the street
from the wash house, observe the stone on the
pediment of an outbuilding bearing a
dolphin crowned with acanthus leaves,
surmounted by a braced arch.

See the itinerary

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