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Pierre qui Vire (Russelet)
Trip No.203 Entry No.267 Date Added: 24th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Vendée (85))
Visited: Yes on 6th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5
Pierre qui Vire (Russelet) submitted by thecaptain on 10th Dec 2005. Pierre qui Vire (Russelet)
I thought I'd found a stone row here, but it turns out that the other stones lined up with it in the field are relatively modern placements by the local farmers as field clearance.
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Log Text: The Pierre qui Vire is a nice lichen covered stone, about 4 metres tall, 3 metres wide, and made from Gris rock - the only large menhir in this region which is, all others being made from granite.
The Pierre qui Vire, or the turning stone, is said to turn around each night, either at midnight, or the first call of a cockerel. I thought I'd found a stone row here, but it turns out that the other stones lined up with it in the field are relatively modern placements by the local farmers as field clearance.
Pierre Potelée
Trip No.205 Entry No.7 Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Sarthe (72))
Visited: Yes on 29th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Potelée submitted by thecaptain on 22nd Feb 2006. This menhir, in the forest to the northeast of La Fleche in Sarthe, is a slab standing on its end, between 2.5 and 3 metres tall, and 2 metres wide, with many holes on one side.
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Log Text: This stone is about half a kilometre east of the Mere et Fille stones in the forest and is also signposted. I parked in a parking area near to the signpost and walked for several kilometres before returning to my van having found nothing except for more signposts at the other end of the forest track pointing back from where I had come. As I got back to the van, I could see the stone, less than 100 metres from where I had parked, down a different track ! The stone is a slab on its end, between 2.5 and 3 metres tall, and 2 metres wide, with many holes on one side.
Pierre Pointue (Paimboeuf)
Trip No.203 Entry No.302 Date Added: 26th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4
Pierre Pointue (Paimboeuf) submitted by thecaptain on 17th Nov 2009. Pierre Pointue (Paimboeuf) is about 1.6 metres tall, and can be seen over the top of the wall.
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Log Text: In the southeastern area of the town of Paimboeuf, amongst a housing estate, can be found a Rue de la menhir. Following this road from the main road, there is a right angled bend to the right, and a couple more older houses before you get to a building site for new houses. The menhir is somewhere down here, but well enough hidden that I couldnt find it. I asked an old gent who was out in his garden where the menhir was. He was delighted that I was there looking for it, and he showed me to a nearby house with a large wall around the garden, and pointed it out within the garden. He said he had complained to the Mairie several times about the new owner of the house building the wall, and hiding the menhir away from view, saying that as a historic monument it should be readily visible to all. It is about 1.6 metres tall, and can be seen over the top of the wall.
Pierre Plantée de Lacaune
Trip No.205 Entry No.125 Date Added: 10th Nov 2020
Site Type: Sculptured Stone
Country: France (Midi:Tarn (81))
Visited: Yes on 16th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Pierre Plantée de Lacaune submitted by peterpf on 29th Jul 2006. The menhir in a front view. Only some of the engravings are still visible.
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Log Text: A couple of kilometres to the east of Lacaune, along the D.622 road to Moulin-Mage, park just over the Col de la Croix-de-Deux-Sous, just after the big warehouse. Its then a short walk to this masculine statue-menhir, the largest in Europe, standing in a nice green field looking out towards the mountains.
This would be a beautiful stone even without the engravings, a lovely sparkly granite 3.5 metres tall, 2 metres wide and just 40 cm thick It has a lovely smoothed shape, and has got beautiful lichens growing on it. Unfortunately, these lichens and its sunny south facing position serve to obscure the details of the fine chap of whom this is a statue of. In the mid-day sun, while I was here, it was hard to make out the details, but his two legs, belt and "objet" could be seen, and perhaps his two arms. But these wont show in any of my photos. This is a beautiful spot indeed, but perhaps this fellow would be better preserved indoors ?
Pierre Plantée (Lisle)
Trip No.203 Entry No.62 Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5
Pierre Plantée (Lisle) submitted by theCaptain on 17th Jan 2011. As I was driving south along the D78 road coming into Lisle, I saw a sign saying Pierre Plantée and there was a stone about a metre high stood just by the roadside.
I cant be sure whether this is the actual Pierre Plantée referred to or indeed whether it is ancient but it isn’t new !
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Log Text: As I was driving south along the D78 road coming into Lisle I saw a sign saying Pierre Plantée and there was a stone about a metre high stood just by the roadside. I cant be sure whether this is the actual Pierre Plantée referred to or indeed whether it is ancient but it isn’t new !
Pierre Plantée (Cosqueville)
Trip No.201 Entry No.15 Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Plantée (Cosqueville) submitted by thecaptain on 30th Dec 2004. La Pierre Plantée, Cosqueville, Manche.
Side on view of this 3 metre tall stone, looking roughly south, and the quarry workings can be seen behind the hedge.
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Log Text: In a field to the south of the road running east out of Cosqueville can be seen this large menhir, 3 metres in height. It is possible to park nearby, and I walked round the edge of a field to get a nearer view of the stone which is in the middle of a field beside a quarry. It is a nicely shaped stone, looking to be wider at the top than the bottom, with a sort of nob on the top, and with grooves running down its sides, probably due to rain erosion.
Pierre Plantée (Congénies)
Trip No.205 Entry No.195 Date Added: 26th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 21st Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Plantée (Congénies) submitted by Nick- on 26th Apr 2007. 18/04/2007 Western face of the stone.
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Log Text: Drive north from Aubais towards Congénies for about 1.5 km, and at the bend in the road there is a stoney track which heads off to the east. Take this track along the ridge for about 400 metres, and at a major junction of tracks, on the left, can be seen this menhir.
The stone is about 2.3 metres tall, 1.5 m wide at the base and 40cm thick, standing in amongst some very prickly undergrowth. On both faces are several carvings and engravings, from ancient to more modern graffitti. Amongst the ancient are several cupules and some crosses. There are also symbols which resemble letters or Greek symbols. A little offering of flowers had been placed into a crack in the stone when I visited, so obviously somebody still cares for this ancient stone.
Pierre Percée (Draché)
Trip No.205 Entry No.8 Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 30th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Percée (Draché) submitted by thecaptain on 15th Jan 2006. The stone is about 3.5 metres tall, slightly leaning and pointing skywards. About two thirds of the way up is an intriguing hole through the stone, oval in shape, about 25 cm by 20 cm.
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Log Text: A few kilometres to the south of the village of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine along the N.10, and this stone is signposted, less than a kilometre to the west along a minor road. The stone has its own little parking area and explanatory signpost, and is set in a nice open grassy area.
The stone is about 3.5 metres tall, slightly leaning and pointing skywards. About two thirds of the way up is an intriguing hole through the stone, oval in shape, about 25 cm by 20 cm, which is perhaps natural.
This menhir has many legends associated with it, and it is said that if children or babies are passed through the hole, they will be cured and immune to various diseases. There is also a legend that the stone was used for sacrifices, and that all of the parts of the sacrificial body must be passed through the hole. It is thought that it may originally have been some form of marker stone for a nearby ancient cemetery, now no longer to be seen.
Pierre Pelot
Trip No.204 Entry No.218 Date Added: 4th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bourgogne:Côte-d'Or (21))
Visited: Couldn't find on 4th Aug 2005
Pierre Pelot submitted by AlexHunger on 11th Jul 2010. Natural stone near the top of hill in Bourgogne hiking area which I have classed as a Menhir. A local website claims it was a Judgement Stone under the celts or Gauls. I assume, the accused sat on the stone in front of it.
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Log Text: The village of Roche-en-Brenil is supposed to have two menhirs, but I could find no sign of either of them. It's a shame that these places do not have village maps with things marked, or any signposts like they do elsewhere. The area is covered with forests, and looks to be lots of natural granite outcrops.
Pierre Meslière
Trip No.204 Entry No.65 Date Added: 16th Jul 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Meslière submitted by Dipo on 26th Oct 2008. Site in Pays de la Loire: Loire-Atlantique:
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Log Text: This was most unexpected, I saw a sign to this from St Géréon, so just followed the signs. There is a large rocky outcrop high above the river Loire, around which evidence of man living here has been found dating back to the paleolithic. From the neolithic period, when the settlement was extended, there was once a line of 48 menhirs running east to west. It says that today only two remain, the rest having been destroyed for roadbuilding, along with much of the natural rocky outcrop. The site was first recognised for what it was in 1878 by Pitre de L'Isle, and explored much more thoroughly by Alexandre Bernard throughout the last century. His books and studies are shown in the chateau.
Pierre Longue du Bouchet
Trip No.204 Entry No.78 Date Added: 16th Jul 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Longue du Bouchet submitted by ocdolmen on 3rd Aug 2009. Pierre Longue du Boucher menhir near Gennes . Important megalithic area.
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Log Text: A fine menhir, standing around 3.5 metres tall near the top of a hill amongst the fields and forests. Its a nice triangular shaped slab of the local sarsen like stone. It is fairly easily found with the ign 1:25000 map, a few hundred metres walk along a track from the roadside above Bouchet.
Pierre Longue de Saint-Jouan
Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Ille-et-Vilaine (35))
Visited: Yes on 17th Oct 2010
Pierre Longue de Saint-Jouan submitted by TheCaptain on 17th Oct 2010. Despite the menhir being so big, it still manages to play a game of hide and seek before finding it along chestnut lined trackways through fields of maize!
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Log Text: None
Pierre Longue (Noyal-sous-Bazouges)
Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Ille-et-Vilaine (35))
Visited: Yes on 18th Oct 2010
Pierre Longue (Noyal-sous-Bazouges) submitted by TheCaptain on 18th Oct 2010. This is a more than 5 metre tall menhir, which leans slightly towards the south, which stands beside the D796 roadside a kilometre or so to the west of Bazouges-la-Pérouse.
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Log Text: None
Pierre Longue (Fohet)
Trip No.204 Entry No.189 Date Added: 24th Aug 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Auvergne:Puy-de-Dôme (63))
Visited: Yes on 25th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5
Pierre Longue (Fohet) submitted by thecaptain on 4th Jul 2006. This is a lovely menhir standing four and three quarter metres tall at the top of the high hills near the village of Fohet, commune of Aydat, in Puy-de-Dôme.
This is the view looking southeast, with a nice volcanic cone in the distance.
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Log Text: This is a lovely menhir standing four and three quarter metres tall at the top of the high hills near the village of Fohet. Its obviously been fairly recently re-erected, as one side is all dirt covered from being on the ground, and there is a sign in the village pointing to "menhir couché"! The views from here are breathtaking in all directions. To the northwest the Chaine-des-Puys range of volcanoes, with Puy-de-Dome standing high above the others in the line of almost cartoon perfect cones. To the east there are long views over the hills and deep valleys, and to the south can be seen the other Auvergne mountains. To the southwest is Puy-de-Sancy, unfortunately today covered in clouds.
Pierre Levée du Grand Gât
Trip No.204 Entry No.131 Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Levée du Grand Gât submitted by TheCaptain on 19th Sep 2010. Site in Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79) France
A couple of kilometres south of the village of Moutiers-Sous-Argenton, on the little lane to nowhere, and there is a dolmen.
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Log Text: A couple of kilometres south of the village of Moutiers-Sous-Argenton, on the little lane to nowhere really, and there is a sign to dolmen, 250m. I walked at least a kilometre along the main track without finding it ! The trick is to not stay on the main track, but to keep straight on always, and yes, the dolmen is there about 250 metres from the road to the left of the track.
This appears to be a dolmen with entrance corridor, but I cannot be certain. The main chamberis about 3m by 2m and has a couple of sidestones and a capstone, though the backstone is missing. At the southeast end is a closing stone and an entrance passage of some sort, though this is mostly fallen, and I cannot be sure of the arrangement. This was a nice little country walk, and I got a very close view of a heron circling around and fishing.
Pierre Levée dolmen 2 (Villedieu)
Trip No.205 Entry No.253 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Auvergne:Cantal (15))
Visited: Yes on 26th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Pierre Levée dolmen 2 (Villedieu) submitted by thecaptain on 19th Dec 2008. The dolmen is in very poor condition, basically one large side slab in a hollow in the centre of its tumulus.
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Log Text: Unfortunately, this cannot be reached from its near neighbours, and instead it has to be walked to quite a distance (about 1 km) from a point where you start the walk to the Tombe du Capitaine. It's a pleasant walk along a well signposted track, and then across a hilltop field.
The dolmen is in very poor condition, basically one large side slab in a hollow in the centre of its tumulus. However, the tumulus is in fine condition, about 15 metres in diameter and up to 1.5 metres in height. Around the outside at certain places it seems to be encircled with a sort of stone slab walling. This is in a lovely spot, and was well worth the effort to get to. I wouldn't be surprised if there was once another dolmen in this mound.
Pierre Levée dolmen 1 (Villedieu)
Trip No.205 Entry No.252 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Auvergne:Cantal (15))
Visited: Yes on 26th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5
Pierre Levée dolmen 1 (Villedieu) submitted by thecaptain on 19th Dec 2008. There is still quite a respectable mound of small stones, diameter about 12 metres, surrounding the remains of the dolmen, but the megalithic chamber has been largely destroyed, leaving not much more than a hollow in the centre of the tumulus.
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Log Text: The remains of this dolmen can be found just to the east of the D.44 road, about 30 metres from the menhir. There is still quite a respectable mound of small stones, diameter about 12 metres, surrounding the remains of the dolmen, but the megalithic chamber has been largely destroyed, leaving not much more than a hollow in the centre of the tumulus. One large side slab and an entry stone are all that obviously remain in place.
Pierre Levée de Soullans
Trip No.203 Entry No.290 Date Added: 24th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Vendée (85))
Visited: Yes on 7th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pierre Levée de Soullans submitted by TheCaptain on 8th Jun 2011. In a little forest clearing beside the busy D. 69 road to the south of Challons, I found this stone because of the restaurant of the same name.
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Log Text: In a little forest clearing beside the busy D. 69 road to the south of Challons, I found this stone because of the restaurante of the same name. It is a big stone, 4 metres high, more than 3 metres wide and 1 metre thick. It suffers badly from vandalism and graffitti, including lots of hippy crap in English. Nearby is a Rue de Pierre Levée, and a sign to menhir which I followed thinking that there might be another. I couldnt find anything, and so asked a chap out in his garden. It basically takes you round a back way through the woods to the same stone I had just visited, rather than getting to it by walking along and crossing the busy main road.
Pierre Levée de Soubise
Trip No.203 Entry No.287 Date Added: 24th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Vendée (85))
Visited: Yes on 7th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4
Pierre Levée de Soubise submitted by thecaptain on 25th Oct 2005. Pierre Levée de Soubise, Bretignolles-sur-Mer, Vendée.
This cute little dolmen looked to be in serious danger in June 2005, as it is in the middle of a new housing development.
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Log Text: I cant see much of a future for this poor little dolmen, which is currently pleasantly situated on a little mound on some sandy heathland. Marker tape and trenches are set out around it, with diggers and other heavy plant, and I would think that before too long this whole area will be a building site for yet more holiday homes in this very popular beach and holiday area.
The dolmen is a simple thing, with its 2.5 by 2 metre capstone sat at a jaunty angle on top of three support stones. A few other stones lay scattered around on the remains of its tumulus. A sarcophagus and three bodies were found here in 1901. According to legend, the table spins at the sound of the bells of the nearby St Nicholas-de-Brem church.
Pierre levée de Picarel
Trip No.200 Entry No.5 Date Added: 17th Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Languedoc:Aude (11))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 26th Mar 2000
Pierre levée de Picarel submitted by johnstone on 23rd Nov 2018. The west side, Sep.13, 2018
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Log Text: Seen from the road during a drive SE from Toulouse to explore Les Montagnes Noire. Revel, Saissac, Mas Cabardès, Chateaux de Lastours, Gorges de la Clamoux, Dolmens, Mazamet, Toulouse.