The Cotentin round

In the village of Saint Pierre, a short tour of the market square and its statue of Abbot Castel de Saint Pierre; this incredible man wrote on all the subjects of the 17th century and proposed a Project for perpetual peace... The walk continues in a pretty countryside between hedgerows, manors and remarkable houses.

Short walk in the countryside, a lovely descent to the village with its delicacies such as brioches, folded bread or apple, apricot or rhubarb puff pastries, not forgetting the cider or the wine cellar. And finally the Saire river and its waterfalls

Leaving the Vast, passing through the unique Chenevière garden, the walk climbs into the countryside along the GR® de Pays tour du Val de Saire (yellow-red) to the Château de Pépinvast. To the Vicel plateau, where the ruins of a windmill are intriguing.

Arrival at the most beautiful panorama of the Val de Saire, near the old guardhouse which became the town hall, the turret of the German battery of the Atlantic Wall from 1939-1945, the church and its tragic history. Pretty descent towards the sea; Crossing over the small river of the Saire by a so-called Roman bridge behind the discreet manors of Anneville

"Val de Saire Vegetable Garden" through large fields of cabbages, carrots and leeks, the path leads to the village of Montfarville, rich in large farms, an exceptional convent building which has become the town hall and a church called "the Sistine Chapel"

Montfarville charcuterie delicacies next to the unmissable "Sistine Chapel" of Val-de-Saire. The vault of this church was decorated with remarkable paintings retracing the life of Christ, by the Réville painter Guillaume Fouace. The walk between the marram grass and artemisia, on the sandy path of the East coast (fragile dunes) finally leads you to an unforgettable view of the port of William the Conqueror, Barfleur or Barflleu.

From the port of Barfleur, the customs officers' path leads you to discover this little piece of Cotentin in the footsteps of the painters Paul Signac, Henri Chardon or Antoine Guillemet, Victor Hugo and Jules Renard. The sea at your feet, the Gatteville lighthouse in your sights and a curious path lined with bunkers converted into holiday homes, a beautiful arrival at the village with its church with two bell towers.

Leaving Gatteville-Phare by the West, you will enjoy the most remarkable botanical walk on the North coast: on the maritime lawn (sea cabbage, horned poppies, sea spurge and wild thyme) of the Gattemare dune, be careful, protected area, stay on the path. Continue along the wall of the Gouberville castle, think of the very irreverent Countess Martel de Janville, "Gyp" by her pen name: author of "Bijou", "Le Mariage de Chiffon" and "Des cheveux et des chevaux"; she spent her holidays there at the beginning of the 20th century.

Pleasant route with a great architectural diversity. A remarkable rural building can be discovered all along the road and the path towards the Herclat manor, Construction at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, estate of the Pottier family, breeders of trotters. The countryside which offers pretty gaps on the sea and a pleasant arrival at the restored mill of the miller Ravenel: reed roof, millrace and beautiful water reservoir and the clicking paddle wheel; The smell of bread baked in a wood fire makes the apple trees in bloom of the enclosure beautiful

Countryside trail! Hedgerows, hidden streams, small granite houses, a surprising restored Scottish-style mill (Hacouville), small bakeries, wash houses, the unmissable little church of Angoville.

Find the sea of ​​the North coast and its rocks with Danish or Norwegian names (Le cul du roc, le mouret, les poulets, le vicq and la loge) and its sea spray by following the GR® 223. Then reach the Inthéville courtyard on the heights with its remarkable 40th-XNUMXth century buildings on XNUMX hectares of formerly feudal land.

A beautiful synthesis of the Val-de-Saire region: from the small village of Tot de Haut to the wild coast of Cap Lévi via the customs path to the moors of heather and gorse and its viewpoints over the large harbor of Cherbourg, from the beech and holly grove to the manor of Maupertus.

In the hollow of the woods, past a washhouse and the retting basin, a curious air of druidic meetings blows in the clearing with beeches and oaks; at an altitude of 135 m, quick glances at the harbor of Cherbourg then the route continues between moors and countryside. Pass the small houses around the church, then go back down towards the fast-flowing waters of the Petit Poult.

Passing through the valley dear to the poet Marie Ravenel and momentarily following the yellow and red markings of the GR® de Pays, a bucolic discovery of the Poult valley: the old route of the little Cherbourg/Barfleur train. You will walk towards the castle of Saint-Pierre and the place of the abbot Castel in the village with its granite houses.