The best walks and hikes around La Meilleraye-De-Bretagne

A vast industrial forge site dating back to the 17th century. The natural setting is also remarkable, with the dam on the Don River creating a splendid reservoir that supplied the forges. A favorite is Rue des Rochers Bleus and its hanging pine tree.

The Ajaux channel connects the Riaillé lakes (La Provostière and La Poitevinière) to the large Vioreau Reservoir. The water thus transported supplies the Nantes-Brest canal.

The Provostière pond, with a surface area of 73 ha, is connected to the Vioreau lake by the Rigole des Ajaux. This complex is part of the supply system of the Nantes-Brest canal. Its hydraulic management is ensured by the Loire-Atlantique Department, which has owned it since 2008. A 5.5 km path on which a bird observatory is located allows you to go around the pond in about 1h30.

François Bureau, known as "Franchik", was born on April 23, 1921. He regularly stayed in the family fiefdom at the Château de la Meilleraie, in Riaillé. After studying in Nantes, he was admitted to the Saint-Cyr officers' school in 1943. During this period, he was, like so many other men, affected by the STO (Compulsory Work Service), but he decided to leave the country rather than work in Germany, in order to join "the fighting France". Handed over to the Germans with comrades by the smuggler, he was arrested on July 18, 1943, in Perpignan. Then began the transfers from camp to concentration camp: Büchenwald, Laura, Ellrich, Nordhausen. He was part of a medical convoy of more than 1,600 patients. Many died during and after the transfer. He was one of the few survivors. It is at Nordhausen, his last camp, that we can follow his trail. The camp was liberated on April 12, 1945 by the Americans. Death papers mention his death on April 21, 1945, before his repatriation, nine days after the liberation of the camp. François Bureau was therefore free on the day of his death, after more than eighteen months of deportation in Germany. https://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/ancenis-saint-gereon-44150/francois-bureau-etait-un-homme-de-conviction-4390446

July 25, 1944, shortly after 3 p.m., a Mosquito type plane, a light and fast twin-engine, appeared in the sky of Riaillé, followed a few seconds later by two German fighter planes. Arriving above the hamlet of l'Enclose, one of the fighters gained altitude and dove on the Canadian plane, riddling it with bullets. After starting a curve, the burning Mosquito crashed very close to the Provostière pond. The debris littered the ground for about fifty meters, the fire and the explosion of the ammunition made it impossible to approach. When the fire died down, the inhabitants rushed to the scene and found the charred bodies of the pilot and the navigator. They were identified as Lieutenants Burgess and McPherson. The Germans, who came to the scene, told the mayor that he could bury the bodies but without an official ceremony. However, the occupier's orders were not respected. The bodies were wrapped in sheets and transported to a nearby farm, the village carpentry made the coffins. The next day, a religious ceremony was held in the parish church in the presence of many Riaillé residents and wreaths of flowers covered the coffins. The procession then headed to the cemetery under the supervision of German soldiers who did not intervene. For 80 years, these two Canadian officers have been resting in the Riaillé cemetery. Their tomb is regularly maintained and decorated with flowers by the UNC-Riaillé Mémoire association but also by anonymous people who thus perpetuate the memory of their sacrifice. https://www.echoancenis.fr/actualite-4422-riaille-le-25-juillet-1944-deux-aviateurs-canadiens-etaient-abattus-dans-le-ciel-de-riaille

The Ajeaux channel connects the Riaillé bodies of water (La Provostière and Poitevinière) to the large Vioreau Reservoir. The water thus transported allows the supply of the canal from Nantes to Brest.

The Vioreau forest, located between the municipalities of Joué-sur-Erdre and Meilleraye-de-Bretagne, extends over 750 ha, 70 of which belong to the Department of Loire-Atlantique and are classified Sensitive Natural Areas (ENS). It adjoins to the north the large Vioreau reservoir, also departmental property, which is part of the Nantes-Brest canal supply system.

Former site of industrial forges in the 17th century, you will discover a landscape bathed in greenery, the pond and the ancestral buildings carved out of the beautiful blue stone. Starting point for hiking trails. Another essential element of the forges site, the large coal storage hall of yesterday transformed today into a museum (free entry). The Forge Neuve museum explains in a clear and fun way the mining past and work in the forges from the 17th to the 19th century. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forges_de_Moisdon-la-Rivi%C3%A8re