Buckle of the Haros - saint yzan of soudiac / holy marians

Depart from the town of Saint-Yzan-de-Soudiac, latitude 45.1399900 (N 45° 8’ 24”), longitude -0.4109100 (W 0° 24’ 39”)

• Starting point - Church of Saint Yzan de Soudiac

• The 12th century Romanesque church of Saint Yzan de Soudiac, with a gable and flat chevet (ogival window), was often reworked and particularly in the 17th century. At the current location of the town hall stood the presbytery today disappeared.
• The former school of the village, now home to the college of the canton of Saint Savin, deploys along its road its long facade punctuated by pavilions, separating distinctly the classes of boys and girls. Numerous openings, highlighted by protruding stones provide classes with the brightness and comfort necessary for studies. Built in 1893, a few years after the great school laws, the school will benefit from successive enlargements. Today the college of "Val de Saye" can accommodate about 700 students from surrounding communities.

• The Gourdet road

• Leaving Saint-Yzan, the countryside consists of meadows, vineyards, small groves, mixing deciduous trees and pines, offers a landscape in nuance and slightly hilly. The small road that joins Saint-Mariens makes it possible to take at the level of the vineyards of Gourdet a little height and to appreciate the panorama on the surrounding countryside and on the vineyard planted with hillsides.
• The locality owes its name to Château Gourdet, which was built in the Middle Ages, and which sheltered the Bacon family from Gourdet until the beginning of the 19th century.
• It is under the name Blaye-Côtes de Bordeaux that the wine produced on this territory is marketed

• The area of ​​Lagunes

• Just a few hundred meters from the village (continue straight to the roundabout at the exit of the village, before returning to your steps to continue your hike), Aire des Lagunes offers a picnic stop.

• The story of Marie and Jean, millers...

The legend says that in 1794 lived a miller's family, a widow Marie and her son, Jean. They sickened the inhabitants by sprinkling ashes in the flour. They were first condemned to reimburse each individual, of the flour he had to have in their ration, and to distribute one hundred and fifty livres for the most needy of the commune. But the judgment did not stop there! A national commissary, passing through Blaye, ordered their execution by beheading judging the crime too serious, the bread was no longer edible! He ordered that the guillotine leave Bordeaux to go to Saint Mariens! Marie and Jean then suffered the death penalty in the public square! The coast of the Rapine thus became coast of the Guillotine.

• View of the Aquitaine Bridge, gateway to Bordeaux!

• You soon arrive at the place called La Valade, from where you will have a breathtaking view of the hills. Have you thought about taking your binoculars? You can admire on the right the Moulin de Guérin in Saint Savin, the vine landscapes, in the distance the river Dordogne and even further (in good weather) the Pont d'Aquitaine, gateway to Bordeaux. Eh yes! we are only forty kilometers from the city...

• The Fillon Tuilerie

• The old Tuilerie Fillon made terracotta tiles, following the same process as the ancestors but obviously by integrating the modernism of the machines. Her productions were produced under the aegis of the label "Terre de Gironde", which she is part of with two other companies in the territory Latitude North Gironde (Laruscade: Company Lignat / Cézac: Entreprise Joyat) Built in the early twentieth century, the tile factory is bought and modernized in 1966 by the Fillon family.
• The clay, transported from the town of Lapouyade, is initially stored in the open air so that it is easier to knead and shape. The tiles were then stored for 3 days in a 60 degree dryer. For cooking, they were introduced on wagons in a gas tunnel kiln 40 m long.
• Today, only the JOYAT tile factory in Cézac manufactures Gironde tiles and canals tiles.

• The Forest Massif of the Double

• The maritime pine is exploited here on vast spaces. This forest culture has enabled the development of sandy soils that outcrop under the plant cover of fern, heather and gorse.
• The pine forest is crisscrossed with broad, straight-line farming roads that allow access to the various staggered plots depending on the age of the seedlings, sometimes interrupted by clearings.

• The green tunnel...