Bazoges-en-Pareds
Le Poyenval lies close to the centre of
Bazoges-en-Pareds, a small and delightful village in one of the
most attractive regions of France.
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 14th 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.
Le Donjon can be toured by day .......
..... and provides a beautiful floodlit backdrop to the
village by night.
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.
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.
