Rennes < > Saint-Médard -en-l’Ille
26.2 km 6h30
Directions :
0.00 – Go right on leaving the youth hostel Auberge de Jeunesse and take, with the lock/écluse de Saint-Martin behind you, the east bank of the Ille-Rance canal, on a path which goes alongside the canal to the left of the Rue du Canal St-Martin for about 500m. Continue [towards St-Laurent] on the towpath which is at first tarmacked then surfaced with a fine gravel. Having come back onto tarmac after several dozen metres, continue along the towpath. Pass consecutively over the river Ille (1.2km), under Boulevard d’Armorique, near to a fine baseball ground, and under the northern bypass of Rennes (2.9km). The path becomes more shaded.
1h00 4.0 - Intersection with Rue de la Duchesse Anne, at the outskirts of Saint-Grégoire and near the lock of the same name, which you cross straight ahead, with care. Get back onto the towpath after a parking area 1h25 5.5 – Pass the lock/ l’écluse de Charbonnière, and again follow the course of the river Ille, under the D29 (8.1km) and 400m further, lock/l’Écluse de Gacet, florally bedecked in summer. To the right, after about 1.5km, admire the Château de la Vallée (XIX century) overlooking the canal.
2h45 11.2 – Go by the lock/l’écluse du Haut-Chalet then, 1km further, pass near to the centre of Betton (12.3km), a town which extends over both banks of the canal and whose Sunday market on the opposite bank is renowned for the quality of the products available. Having crossed the D27 (Avenue d’Armorique) and before going on, it is possible to get supplies at the nearby supermarket. At 14.3km, leave the lock /l’écluse des Brosses then enter a more wooded area before reaching...
4h05 16.4 ... the D528 near Chevaigné where pilgrims can make a stop. Continue straight ahead. Go by the lock/ l’écluse de Grugedaine after 300m, then a small D-road after 1.1km. The towpath goes through wooded areas from time to time. Leave to your left the lock/ l’écluse des Cours, bedecked with flowers in the summer. (19km).
5h05 20.4 – Just before the lock/l’écluse de Fresnay, there is an intersection with the D91 which goes right towards the railway station Saint-Germain-sur-Ille - which you leave to your right after 600m, having begun to go along, for several hundred metres, the Rennes St-Malo railway.
5h35 22.5 - Intersection with the D 26 below Saint-Germain-sur-Ille and opposite the lock of the same name. Carry on alongside the canal, and the mooring place opposite which several houseboats and barges are tied up. A little less than 1km, go by the lock/ l’écluse de Bouessay.
Intersection with the D106 (25.7km) near the lock/l’écluse de Saint-Médard, where you take a right for a few metres along the D-road, then leave it forking immediately left, after the bridge over the Ille, onto the Route de Montreuil-sur-Ille. After 25m, fork right into the steep little road «Le Roquet» to get to the Place de l’Église of...
6h30 26.2 - ...Saint-Médard-sur-Ille, the end of today’s stage.
