Rich in a preserved natural environment, the circuit invites you to explore the gentle marsh of Saint-Augustin, populated with original flora and a very present birdlife.
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Stage 1: DEPARTURE FROM PLACE JEAN-NOËL DE LIPKOWSKI
Mayor of Royan on several occasions, he was concerned about oyster farmers during his mandate as general councilor of the canton of Royan from 1973 to 1992. He also owned the property of La Garenne near Coulonges, oyster growing area of Breuillet. He was the referee of the last official duel between deputies Gaston Defferre and René Ribière in 1967.
Step 2: The Candé clods
Take rue du Centre, direction Royan. At the traffic lights, turn right, route du Candé. The name Candé comes from a Gallic origin “condate” which means confluence.
Pass through the park to the Route de la Sablière, named after the old small quarries from which the sand was extracted.
Turn left onto the Route des Petits Bois then onto Chemin de la Ronze on the right.
Step 3: The Barn
The name “route de La Grange” recalls the nightclub that made Breuillet famous between the 1960s and 1980s. It welcomed celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot, Sylvie Vartan, Johnny Hallyday…
After a detour in this street, turn right into rue du Grallet. This toponym evokes to all Saintongeais, the verb grâler which most often means to grill, to burn: “O senti l'gâlé dans la thieusine” (it smells like burning in the kitchen).
Continue on the Ortuge road and cut across the field to reach the Bois du Breuil road.
Step 4: Viewpoint over the gentle marsh of Saint-Augustin and Arvert
Sweet marshes are low-lying, very wet lands with mainly herbaceous plants. In gentle marshes, sea entry is prevented. Only rainwater
is preserved. Their use is primarily dedicated to agriculture and livestock breeding. They replace the old Gulf of Barbareu which left a simple arm of land joining the famous Arvert peninsula. These marshes are often lined with rushes.
Step 5: The old quarry
Cross the D242 (or route de Saint-Augustin) and continue to Chemin des Carrières. In the field on the right there is an old quarry from which stones were extracted. They were used inside houses for the construction of walls. We couldn't put them outside because they fear frost. Outdoors, we used “Crazannes” type stones which are not afraid of it.
Step 6: La Simandière
Turn right onto the Route de la Simandière. The hamlet of the same name was a strategic point. The high position allowed it to be a place of defense at the time of the Wars of Religion. Its initial name “la cime en guerre” became “la Simandière” because it was close to “la Sablière”.
Cross the D140 for the Fief de La Roche road.
Step 7: St-Vivien Church
Return to Place de Lipkowski via the arboretum and the church road.
The Saint-Vivien church, in the Saintongeais Romanesque style, was listed as a Historic Monument in 1914. The church is located in the enclosure of the old cemetery, where, in the
In the 1980s, work revealed monolithic sarcophagi from the medieval period.