Bazoges-en-Pareds

An excellent base from which to tour the area, Bazoges-en-Pareds is a lovely village in its own right. It is still a 'living'  village, with shops that include a boulangerie, pharmacie, bar, restaurant, general store and so on surrounded mostly by active farm land.

Pride of place in the village centre, alongside the church, goes to Le Donjon  - a 14^th Century keep, restored and open to visitors every day in Summer and Sundays in Winter, and floodlit at night.

Alongside Le Donjon a medieval garden is resplendent with the colours and smells of hundreds of traditional plants - flowers, vegetables and medicinal plants - that originated hundreds of years ago.




A short walk from Le Poyenval, away from the village, is La Ciste des Cous, an ancient burial monument that is reputed to date back 6000 years making it the oldest monument in the Vendee.  A circular room made of stones and earthwork, it was designed to act as a burial chamber for inhabitants of the area centuries ago.






There are many other things to see and do in the area surrounding Bazoges - here are just two examples:

The next-door village of Mouilleron-en-Pareds was the birthplace of two French military men - Clémenceau and Tassigny - who both became Marechal de France.  The church sits alongside a pretty square and has fine stained glass. The ruins of a small group of windmills overlook the village.

Le Donjon can be toured by day .......

..... and provides a beautiful floodlit backdrop to the village by night.

The reservoir at Rochereau , just a few miles from Bazoges-en-Pareds, provides a base for sailing, and the shoreline offers a number of quiet walks in attractive surroundings.

La Ciste des Cous, and the entrance to its burial chamber.

The monument is said to date back 6000 years.