My walk of the day in Port-Saint-Père

The Safari et Tenu circuit takes you to Port-Saint-Père, where the Acheneau river flows, a natural link between Grand-Lieu lake and the Loire.

Damien Dufour, nature-loving photographer, likes to share the silence and tranquility he discovered along this journey. "Behind every memory is a journey. And the possibility of living."
He shares his beautiful adventures through his travel diaries.
 

The start of this loop is at the "little station", slightly out of the way of the town. After only a few hundred meters and having crossed the district of La Charrie, you will take a quiet and little frequented road. This path has hedgerows teeming with small foragers and other pollinators. There is life in the blooms: butterflies, bees, hoverflies, bumblebees and ladybirds intersect in an incessant and harmonious ballet.
Take a moment, watch their dances, admire the colors and smell the scent of these wildflowers. A real natural picture emerges for those who take the time to look at it.
A little further on the landscape changes.
 

You will follow the vineyards of the Pays de Retz. The landscape becomes more graphic. Fleshy red grape clusters stand out against the green lines of the vine leaves. Continuing, you will arrive at the edge of Planète Sauvage, the largest safari in France.
Covering an area of ​​80 hectares, it allows visitors to discover more than a thousand animals and 120 different species. A large part of the park can be visited by car (safari track) and the other is reserved for pedestrians with four different universes: the marine city (one of the two dolphinariums in metropolitan France), the village of Kirikou, the Inca trail and the jungle temple.
To cross the threshold of the park and discover these animals from elsewhere, do not forget to go to one of our Tourist Offices to take advantage of the ticket office at preferential rates
 

The path then unfolds its course through green meadows, separated by feeder hedges which, in August, will overflow with wild blackberries with exquisite flavors.

The return to Port-Saint-Père station will be via a path sheltered from the sun whose trees will sometimes offer you some natural windows opening onto landscapes taken from postcards. The green of the meadows and groves contrast depending on the season with the haystacks, the blue of the sky or the reflections of the sun on the waters of the Acheneau.
 

Once the loop is over, do not hesitate to go to Port-Saint-Père and walk through the streets of the village where the typical small town hall and the Saint-Pierre church located in its center await you. The latter, in neo-Gothic style, dates from 1865 and underwent new work between 1878 and 1880. It was surmounted by a bell tower and a 58-metre spire in 1889, in part thanks to bequests from Aristide's widow of Granville in 1871.

Do not hesitate to descend on the banks of the Acheneau, which will offer a space for relaxation and deserved rest, in the shade of large poplars. There live gray or purple herons, coots, moorhens: you are at the gates of the 2nd ornithological reserve in France
 

Practical information
Safari and Held Tour
Departure point : Port-Saint-Père station
5.6km
1h20 on foot

To see nearby
The small port of La Morinière in the heart of the village and enjoy the tranquility of the place or rent a canoe or an electric boat.