Day 2 : SAINT-MARS-DES-PRES - SAINT-MAIXENT-L'ECOLE (120 on 326 km)
The Pansay manor at the heart of a 10 hectare park will provide the visitor with a castle life.You will discover the dishes served by the hosts by candlelight.
Through the Vendéen bocage ,prairies, groves and helmets follow one another up to Vouvant.
Vouvant is a real village of legend with its ramparts, its medieval side streets, its Roman church with the capitals adorned with fantastic scenes and its fairy Mélusine’s castle. This impression is reinforced when entering into the forest which line the town.
At the bottom of the woods, the village of Mervent which towers above the water behind the dam on the Vendée in a magnificent setting can be seen, perched on a rocky spur.
Rabelais’ town, the former capital of Vendée deserves the visit between the Poitevin marsh and the forest of Mervent. The streets lined with Renaissance homes and the Terre-Neuve castle will send you in the epicurean’s century.
You will have a first trip in the marsh to enjoy the strange atmosphere of the ruins of Maillezais abbey. It was built by the Bénédictins on an island washed by the sea at the end of the Xth century. You will cross the valleys of Egray and the Niortaise Sèvre in order to reach Saint-Maixent-l’Ecole.
In the vicinity of Echiré travel around and stop at the Coudray-Salbart castle. During your dinner do not forget you are staying in a cheese country and savour the famous « chèvre du Poitou ».
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