Walking From Ronde du Chene

Ronde du Chene is a hunting lodge in the middle of the Forest of La Guerche. I joined French friends for a 9 kilometre walk there on Thursday 6 October. We walked through mixed deciduous forests, down narrow paths cut into the limestone, up past my favourite section of the forest which sadly is being logged and all the beautiful old beech trees have been selectively felled, then on to the lovely little hamlet of Bas Montant and back up the hill and through the pine forest.

Warted Amanita Amanita strobiliformis (Fr. Amanite solitaire), a generally rare mushroom, was abundant along the sunken limestone paths. Note the characteristic Amanita spp volva on the left, a sort of 'eggshell' that the mushroom pops out of.

Beech logs.

Sloes on Blackthorn Prunus spinosa (Fr. Prunellier sauvage).

Our group meet another group of walkers doing the circuit in the opposite direction. They came from Vouneuil sur Vienne.

Blue electric fence strands have gone up everywhere in the Forest of La Guerche since I was last there.

Jean-Jacques is not smoking a cigar, he's eating a whole dried banana.

Some sort of sycamore, growing an a garden wall in the hamlet of Bas Montant.

Possibly Great Wood Mushroom Agaricus langei (Fr. Agaric rougissante).

Manmade wallow for wild boar. I assume to encourage them away from the nearby étang (dam) which had very low water.

A bracket fungus and some false chanterelles Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca (Fr. fausse chanterelle).

Orange Oak Bolete Leccinum aurantiacum (Fr. Bolet orangé).