Saint-Privé: Hiking, the Rigole and Local History

Saint-Privé offers several different highlights to consider when planning your trip: the Camerolle hiking route, the Rigole de Saint-Privé, a trail featuring reproductions of paintings, and historic buildings. You can plan your stay around what you would most like to focus on: a hiking route with a specified distance, a waterway, or art and local history.

Camerolle hiking route: key details and starting point

The Camerolle hiking route is rated easy, is 9.1 km long and has an elevation gain of 31 m. Its stated duration is 2 hours and 40 minutes. These three details complement one another: the distance specifies the length of the route, the elevation gain gives another indication of the tour, and the duration provides a time estimate for your planning. Together, they give you several concrete details to help assess the route. It begins at the foot of Saint-Privat Church and the Monument du Souvenir. Both named landmarks mark the starting area. As local trail signs may change, check the signs before setting off.

The Rigole and the route through the landscape

The Rigole begins in Saint-Privé. It is a small canal that carries water from the Loing to the Canal de Briare. The Camerolle hiking route runs alongside part of the Rigole de Saint-Privé. So the canal accompanies one section of the tour, not the entire route. A shaded section along the Rigole passes wild areas, gardens and the pond. The names Loing and Canal de Briare make the water connection specific: the Rigole carries water from the Loing to the Canal de Briare. You can therefore explore the waterway as a distinct local feature and also link it to one section of the hiking route.

Art and history along separate themed trails

The Amis d'Harpignies trail offers a distinct focus on art: along the route, you can see around 20 reproductions of paintings by Henri Harpignies. The Camerolle hiking route has a practical framework in its distance and duration; the trail focuses on the artist and his paintings. This difference can help you choose the theme that interests you most as you walk.

Saint-Privat Church is another historic landmark in Saint-Privé and is also located in the starting area of the hiking route. After being largely destroyed during the Hundred Years' War, it was rebuilt around 1420–1440 and completed around 1530–1540. The two periods mark different phases: the rebuilding and completion did not happen at the same time. The church therefore combines a practical point of orientation at the start of the tour with a building history spanning several periods.

The washhouse of Saint-Privé also adds to the picture of local building history: it was roofed during the Second Empire. While the church's history centers on its rebuilding and later completion, the historical note about the washhouse concerns a specific structural change. Together, the two buildings offer different points of interest for a visit that takes in local history as well as hiking.

A dated local recommendation

A guide from 2018–2019 lists Les Douceurs de Saint-Privé in Saint-Privé, offering handmade lollipops, 26 flavours and direct sales. If you would like to include this in your trip plans, check in advance whether direct sales are currently available.

Discover more destinations: Noyers, Fontenay-Près-Vézelay, Villeperrot, Charny, Maligny, Sens, Vergigny, Molinons

For the regional travel overview: Yonne.