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: Saint-Hilaire-la-Palud, capital of the Marais sauvage
Located in the heart of the Wild Marsh, an emblematic landscape of Green Venice, St-Hilaire-La-Palud gives you access to more than 100 km of waterways and white paths. From the Latin palus meaning marsh, the Paludéens maintain the know-how and traditions through the numerous summer activities provided by volunteers. The street villages of Rivière and Montfaucon bear witness to the flourishing river trade at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. The hamlets of Névoire keep the memory of the brick and tile making activity, once very present. The Marais Poitevin Ornithological Bird Park is now the spearhead of tourism that respects nature and people.
Step 2: Donkey Farm “From Rooster to Donkey”
Discover the portrait of the seven French donkey breeds including the Baudet du Poitou, the stallion, the miniature donkey, the dairy donkeys and the donkeys of the year; a real Noah's Ark that Christelle, passionate about big ears, will show you. Also learn to know it better, to listen to it, to have an unforgettable encounter with this animal gifted with intelligence, tenderness and respect. After careful preparation and a presentation of the livestock, set off with the one who will accompany you on the white paths of the Marais Poitevin, a great bond will be born, because the donkey is very endearing.
Step 3: Saint-Georges-de-Rex and its preserved marsh
Cited in 989, St-Georges-de-Rex is one of the oldest market gardening villages. Located in the plain, it dominates a small marsh and develops between a priory and a castle. Its restored port and wash houses provide a continuous link with the nearby marsh. Far from tourist flows, the St-Georges-de-Rex marsh is one of the most authentic, between islets of ash trees and wet meadows and remains one of the great flora and fauna sanctuaries of Green Venice.
Step 4: Arçais and its Grand Port
Its Grand Port, completely restored, was one of the main places of exchange between the plain and the Sèvre Niortaise valley. Two wooden cranes remind us that in the past the trunks of poplars, transported by water, were hoisted onto the bank. On the edge of the river port stands a 11th century house. (private property visible from the street). The XNUMX warehouses on the ground floor were used for storing goods in transit to Niort and Marans. In its extension, old farms line up along Chemin de la Garenne overlooking both the street and the Minet reach. A typical village of market garden habitat, Arçais is an ideal starting point for discovering the wet marshes on foot, by boat or by bike.
Step 5: Ornithological park “Birds of the Marais Poitevin”
It is a natural space of 8 ha, in the heart of the wild marsh, in which more than 70 species of birds from the Marais Poitevin and domestic animals created in Poitou are presented. To help you recognize them, information panels and introductory ornithology modules are available along the discovery trail. Also learn to recognize the wild trees and plants of the wet marsh. At the end of the visit, a film will take you over the landscapes of the Marais Poitevin and you will discover the birds of this region in their intimacy. A labyrinth awaits you punctuated with educational panels on migration.