Pierre Folle de Saint-Priest-la-Feuille

Trip No.204  Entry No.174  Date Added: 20th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Limousin:Creuse (23))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: What a wonderful little dolmen this is, and so well kept and presented too. What a lovely surprise. It's a bit of a struggle to find from the village of Saint-Priest-la-Feuille (which is on one of the routes to Santiago de Compostella), but take the road towards Lizieres and eventually there are little signposts.

It is kept in a little parkland now, with a carpark, information board, and a windy path across a stream through a little wood and eventually to the dolmen on top of the hill, all in about 100 metres from the roadside. You can see the dolmen through a gap from the road, but then not again until you are nearly there, so well landscaped and routed the pathway is.

The dolmen itself is such a wonderful pretty thing, one of the nicest dolmens I have ever seen, if not the prettiest. The capstone has a flat bottom, but a very rounded top, and it is sat on top of six closely spaced side supports. The dolmen's entrance is at the west, as many of the dolmens round these parts seem to have, and there seems to be traces of an entry passage with stones in the ground. The supports are quite tall and thin, and are closely spaced without any real gaps, and all lean slightly inwards towards the top. Unfortunately, one of the side stones is broken. The chamber below is circular, and about 3 metres in diameter, and there is plenty of height to stand up inside. But for me, it is the shape that does it. It is a bit like a badminton shuttlecock, or a cartoon spider or crab, but to me it mostly made me think of a spaceinveder ro suchlike.

Of course, with a dolmen like this there are plenty of legends. One is that the stones all have a dance at midnight on Christmas Eve. Another has it that any girl who slides down from the top will be married before the year is out (whether or not in "birth knickers" I know not!). Yet another legend is long and complex, but involves the devil and dancing.

Strangely, it is not quite on the top of the hill, but just 30 metres from it. The hilltop, just to the north, looks to have a mound built on top of it, I wonder whether there was another tomb here, and perhaps was once another dolmen ? Fabulous.

Pierre Folle (Négrignac)

Trip No.203  Entry No.235  Date Added: 22nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Charente-Maritime (17))
Visited: Couldn't find on 3rd Jun 2005

Log Text: This I couldn’t find, and I could find no mention of it in the village. It is somewhere to the southeast of the village.

Pierre Fiche de Chacé

Trip No.204  Entry No.98  Date Added: 20th Jul 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a nice menhir to find, a few hundred metres walk along a track near to the river Thouet, just to the west of the village of Chacé. The menhir is about 4 metres high, 2 metres wide and with a sloping top, as so many do have. It is signposted from the road, and they go to the effort of cutting all the nettles and other undergrowth for a reasonable distance around it. If only all the local communities were this concerned about their ancient stones. Some nice ducks swimming about in the river.

Pierre du Trésor

Trip No.204  Entry No.328  Date Added: 16th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Ille-et-Vilaine (35))
Visited: Yes on 13th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Deep in the darkest depths of Fougères forest can be found the Pierre du Trésor. Its actually only about a 400 metre signposted walk from the big car park at the Chennedet crossing of the main D177 road north from Fougères, and the traffic on this busy road is only 100 metres away. My gps didnt stand a chance of picking up a signal, and my camera insisted on using its flash, even on this bright and sunny afternoon.

Its hard to tell exactly what these stones are the remains of. It could be a fairly large simple dolmen which has now collapsed. Normal ground level would be above the stones, and they are now seen within a pit which has been dug around them at some point, no doubt people looking for the treasure. What is probably a capstone is about 4.5 by 2.5 metres, and very irregularly shaped. It is possible to wriggle underneath it, if that should be your want.

Pierre du Tombeau

Trip No.205  Entry No.260  Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Auvergne:Puy-de-Dôme (63))
Visited: Yes on 26th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Right in the middle of the village of Davayat, near to the traffic lights, this menhir resides in amongst the houses, and is half hidden in a garden yard. It is 4.8 metres high, leaning nicely, and is one of the biggest menhirs in the Auvergne region.

The menhir is perhaps lucky to survive right here between the houses, and in many respects perhaps owes its survival to it being seen as an important and sacred monument throughout history by the inhabitants of the village. There was once another large menhir nearby, but traces of this can no longer be found, it falling victim to agricultural "progress".

Pierre du Pôt

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Calvados (14))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jan 2014

Log Text: None

Pierre du Pont-Champion

Trip No.204  Entry No.300  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This three metre tall menhir lives in a field guarded by cows, just to the south of the busy D.766 road a few kilometres west of the village of Beaumont-la-Ronce. There is a parking area nearby, and its just 100 metres walk along the edge of the field to the menhir. There are several other large lumps of stone around.

Pierre du Maine du Prieuré

Trip No.203  Entry No.228  Date Added: 22nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Aquitaine:Gironde (33))
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: This is a big menhir stood at the edge of the roadside, at least 3.5 metres tall, and the top has been broken off. Not very well looked after, it is surrounded by junk, although by the marks on it, it looks to have been fairly recently re-erected.

Pierre du Hu

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Calvados (14))
Visited: Yes on 15th Nov 2011

Log Text: None

Pierre du Diable (Vitrac)

Trip No.203  Entry No.93  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: What I found here was a tiny little dolmen right beside the road which is being incorporated into a garden wall a few kilometres south of Sarlat-le-Caneda on top of a hill towards Vitrac. The capstone is not 2 metres by 2 metres and sits on a couple of stones both less than a foot in size. Its probable that there was more to this dolmen which is now under some trees and in the garden wall.

Pierre du Coq polissoir

Trip No.204  Entry No.315  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It's hard to know exactly what to make of this site. Marked on the maps as a menhir, there are actually two stones standing upright, and beside them a large flat slab, with a few other bits and pieces laying around. The larger of the two standing stones is 3 metres tall and slab form, 2 metres wide and 0.5 m thick. The second stone, 2 m from it, is 1.8 metres high and is basically a large upward pointed lump, rectangular in section. Directly in this line, about 3 metres distant, is a large slab, 6m by 4m. This is possibly just naturally there, but it wouldnt surprise me if it was once the capstone of a dolmen - there are other stones around it which could have been supports.

One thing is for sure, and that is it is a polissoir stone, it has several grooves and a couple of basins in its southern top edge. These stones are fairly easily found, about 500 metres down a forest track into the Baugé forest, reached from a parking area near to a farm called Les Rochelettes, just to the northeast of the village of Echemire.

Pierre du Coq et la Poule

Trip No.204  Entry No.314  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It's hard to know exactly what to make of this site. Marked on the maps as a menhir, there are actually two stones standing upright, and beside them a large flat slab, with a few other bits and pieces laying around.

The larger of the two standing stones is 3 metres tall and slab form, 2 metres wide and 0.5 m thick. The second stone, 2 m from it, is 1.8 metres high and is basically a large upward pointed lump, rectangular in section. Directly in this line, about 3 metres distant, is a large slab, 6m by 4m. This is possibly just naturally there, but it wouldnt surprise me if it was once the capstone of a dolmen - there are other stones around it which could have been supports. One thing is for sure, and that is it is a polissoir stone, it has several grooves and a couple of basins in its southern top edge.

These stones are fairly easily found, about 500 metres down a forest track into the Baugé forest, reached from a parking area near to a farm called Les Rochelettes, just to the northeast of the village of Echemire.

Pierre Dialan

Trip No.201  Entry No.5  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Normandie:Calvados (14))
Visited: Yes on 21st Nov 2004

Log Text: To the south of the village of Jurques the D.577 road curves its way up and over a forested ridge. At the top of this hill to the east of the road is a small picnic site and a signpost to La Pierre Dialan dolmen, highlighted as a tourist place on the IGN maps. Walk about 500 metres along the track through the forest and on the right, just before the woods end, about 40 metres from the path can be seen a pile of large stones, now becoming closely surrounded by a very large gravel quarry cutting its way into the hillside.

Unfortunately I cannot be 100% sure that this is the actual Dolmen, as on the day of my visit, in pouring rain, there was a hunt going on, with many men out with their dogs, rifles and horns. Although the huntsmen would let me walk down the forest track, I was warned not to stray from the path, unless I wanted to be shot, so I couldn’t get to see the Pierre Dialan properly !

It was disappointing to not get to see the stones, but an interesting wet afternoon in the forest nonetheless, which caused much amusement telling the story to my waiting sister and nephew in the car at the picnic site. I have since found some information which says that this is possibly a natural rock outcrop.

Pierre des Trois Communes

Trip No.205  Entry No.227  Date Added: 6th Dec 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Lozère (48))
Visited: Yes on 25th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Take the D.35 road east from the Col de Montmirat for about 4 kilometres, and there is a parking area and signs to menhirs. Walk up the track a few hundred metres and you get to the Pierre des Trois Communes. It stands two and a half metres tall, and has views all around. In the past it has been attempted to cut up the stone by quarrymen, and still has the scars. It is a shame, but the area of ground around it is very badly worn with vehicle marks everywhere.

As I was passing this stone again on the way back from les Trois Pierres de Chabusse, in a rush to beat the thunderstorm back to the campervan, there was an amazing moment. I turned and patted the stone, and at the exact moment I touched it, there was a massive flash of lightning behind the stone. This was very spooky at the time.

Pierre des Quatre Curés

Trip No.204  Entry No.182  Date Added: 10th Jul 2024
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Auvergne:Puy-de-Dôme (63))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This crystalline basalt menhir has served as a boundary stone between four parishes since the middle ages, hence it's name. It's not much more than 2 metres high, and looks like it has been mended from broken at some point, but I cant be sure. I was hoping for a bit more from this. On the map it looks spectacularly positioned overlooking the Sancy mountains one way, and the valley of the river Dordogne the other. In practice, it really only overlooks the fields around it. It can be found a couple of fields to the south of the busy D.922 road, with a track and footpath almost right to it, and there is room to park.

Pierre des Justices

Trip No.203  Entry No.81  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Couldn't find on 19th May 2005

Log Text: Just off the main road from Perigueux to Les-Eyzies at the junction of the D32 west to Mauzens-et-Miremont is a little picnic and parking area. If you then follow this road west under the splendid railway viaduct after a few hundred metres pass the lavoir then take the little lane up to the left. Somewhere several hundred metres up the steep slope into these woods can be found the Pierre des Justices polissoir stone.

I was told by locals that unless you know exactly where to look then you will not find it. I had a quick look round and decided that there are better things to do than conduct a full search of a large steep overgrown wood.

Pierre de Richebourg

Trip No.204  Entry No.323  Date Added: 16th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Ille-et-Vilaine (35))
Visited: Yes on 13th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: I could initially find no evidence of this stone, looking for it from the east, and thought that it is probably somewhere in the fenced off woodland grounds of the big house on the top of the hill. Further investigation from the north, the D.41 road to Retiers, and I found a trackway which takes you to right besides it, and it is signposted.

The menhir is behind the fence, beside a pond. The stone is about 3 metres tall by 3 metres wide, and looks fairly much just like a big lump of rock. Very difficult to photograph, with not only the fence in the way, but also the dark from being within the woodland.

Pierre de Nautours

Trip No.203  Entry No.65  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: I wasn’t expecting this. I was just getting caught up in rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Périgueux when I saw this large brownish black megalith standing beside a busy roundabout. There was a bus stop conveniently right by it at which I was able to stop and have a decent look although I didn’t spend long here.

I assume its been moved here from Combe du Puy Gauthier wherever that may be and it was dedicated as a monument to somebody whose name I didn’t remember.

Pierre de Minuit Menhir

Trip No.204  Entry No.237  Date Added: 5th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Centre:Loiret (45))
Visited: Yes on 18th Feb 2007. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: I wouldn't have bothered with this one, but was told I should visit it by the farmers wife at Coinche. And my thanks must again go to her. It is a wonderful stone, the tallest menhir in the Departement of Loiret. It is almost 5 metres tall, up to 2 metres wide and very variable in thickness. The stone is half a sort of holed and pitted sarsen like stone, on the west face, while the east face is a puddingstone conglomerate of flints and gravel. Most lovely. Much of the puddingstone face is crumbling, and now makes wonderful shapes, with bits sticking out here and there.

Where the puddingstone layer is thin, there are a couple of holes right through the menhir. It is said that women wanting to become mothers should sit in the chair at the top of the stone. Fantastic. This stone can be found a kilometre or so west of the village, behind the Chaise farmhouse, and can easily be seen from the road.

Pierre de Minoz

Date Added: 18th Sep 2010
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Côtes-D'Armor (22))
Visited: Yes on 11th Nov 2009

Log Text: None