Le Faouët < > Quimperlé

STAGE PROFILE:  28.1 km   7h00

DIRECTIONS

00.0 – To leave Le Faouët, cross the market square (Place Bellanger) on the left-hand side. Take rue Poher (D782) in the direction of Lorient. At 500m, after Ste Barbe college and the school of Sacré-Cœur, take rue des Martyrs on the left ; at 75m, the road angles right. At the end of the road, a little less than 150m further, continue straight ahead along the path which goes down to the road where you find the yellow-marked PR trail ''circuit des Chapelles''; turn right. 250m further, take a track on the left, then after 600m turn left to follow the Lorient road. After 100m on that road, cross it towards the right to take the passage between two houses and go up as far as the cycle greenway and take the GR trail opposite after 80m ; continue straight ahead passing in front of the well of St Fiacre, at the top of the incline, and take a left further on at 250m to a local road, (careful of the traffic - lorries!) ; there turn right to cross it; the chapel of St Fiacre is immediately on the left, 100m away. With the main door of the chapel behind you, pass in front of a bread oven and, near an old farm, at 150m turn left onto a tarmac road which quickly becomes a dirt road at a joining of tracks (goose-foot) and keep left after 100m. After 900m on this agricultural track, and just after a reservoir, turn right and follow the track which goes alongside the Inam (tributary of the Ellé). At the tarmac road, continue and go around to the right of the cannery plant facilities of Daucy/CEBAB, to arrive at a junction on the D790 (5.5km).

Cross the D790 (Be careful!) in the direction of pont Saint-Melaine bridge (signposted). At 400m, cross the bridge over the Inam and turn immediately right between the houses (actually the gîte-chambre-d’hôtes) to go up towards the chapel of Saint-Melaine, 400m further on. Go past it and continue on a straight path –the end of which is tarmac – for 1km. On a left-hand bend, having passed by some houses, leave the tarmac road and continue straight ahead onto a track to arrive after 250m at a place known as Loge Coucou. Cross over a road and contine to go down towards the D790 which is 180m away (don’t cross it). Pass by the bar-restaurant « Le loge Coucou » and, 150m on, go to the right onto the Lanvénégen road to get to, 600m further, the village of ...

2h05 08.6 – ... le Cleuziou with its beautiful bread oven. Opposite this oven, turn left, then immediately right to take the path and follow the yellow PR waymarks. Follow the track by the edges of fields which are quite often muddy ; carry on straight and go down through the woods at the end, at 800m, turn right to go up the valley following the track as far as the stream 350m away. Turn left, after having crossed the stream. Follow the track until you cross the river Naïc on a little concrete bridge. (You leave Morbihan department to enter that of Finistère.)
Pay attention, you head right onto the path which goes up through the pineforest. You come out, after 200m, onto a tarmac road ; leave the windmill (moulin) of Kerivarc'h on your right and head up left towards the area called Kerivarc'h, 450m away. After the farm on the bend, go right to take, between 2 hedges, an immediate left onto a path for 750m , which goes alongside and then crosses a woods. Then follow a farm track for 650m to cut across a local road at the place known as Croajou Nahalec (Commune of Querrien) ; continue ahead.

After a little more than 300m on a road, there is an intersection with another tarmac road. Go straight ahead into a ‘hollow’ embanked track for 800m to the beginning of the area known as Le Moustoir. Cross it towards the left to get to the D49. Go left onto it and head towards Quimperlé for 650m, then go right towards the village of Kerestou (signposted) 400m away; go round it by the right to get to the hamlet of Coat Guennou using a path which goes alongside a field then a farm access track 700m further on. Pass in front of the farm on your right and continue towards the farm of Botlan which you leave on the left at 600m, after having turned left onto a new tarmacked local road. Continue straight ahead for 700m, then right, after having crossed a river, in the direction of Moulin Staon Zu (signposts : Staongzu, Kerdonig) which you pass after 450m.

About 1km further, cross the area of Pen ar Prat before turning left and continuing, between fields and embankments, for a little less than 1km. There, on a slight right-hand bend, carry on straight ahead on an agricultural access track to go along, after having come up out of the valley of the river Donic, to the right past a moto-cross circuit 600m further away. Pass, on a little tarmac road, the farm of Kerdudal and the area of Rospiriou, 500m and 900m away respectively. 400m further, leave Keranguen on your right as you arrive at another tarmac road. Continue opposite (facing you) into a ‘hollow’ embanked path for 400m to arrive at a small tarmac road. Go right for 100m before taking a left onto a walking trail [chemin de randonnée] which leads to a housing development in the market town of Tréméven (rue de Coat Pin). Take this then cross rue du Faouët to head along, for 500m, rue du Moulin d'Or which finishes as a track. Fork off to take an immediate right onto a treelined path which becomes a road.

At a junction with a monument to those killed in war, go straight ahead ; pass the area of Le Stang then keep right towards Kerfourcher (signposted) at a join in the roads (goose-foot). 300m further near another signpost for Kerfourcher, go down to the left and then up again. As you get to the outskirts of the village take a right onto a grassy, wooded track. At the end of the part which is not overhung, go left and continue to the right alongside a stream. Having reached the heap of rocks "The fox’s hole - Le trou du Renard", follow the Ellé to the right. The path goes uphill; at the top turn right then immediately left (Take care in wet conditions, the rocks are slippy!) ; follow the path to the left then straight ahead to get back to the Ellé beside a meadow, at the top of which you take a left onto the path which goes to the area of la Motte on a road which follows the banks of the river.

Leave on the left a canoë-kayak activity centre and keep going for 1km, before forking left onto rue Bremond d'Ars. 500m further, arrive at ...

7h00 28.1 – ... the abbey church of Sainte-Croix, at the heart of the lower part of the town of Quimperlé.