ポワニー・ラフォレの湖・トップ13

Great outing 👍

This former retention basin was part of the network that was used to supply water to the Palace of Versailles. Today, it is a beautiful bird sanctuary where it is pleasant to walk.

Napoleon's bridge crossing the ponds of the Cheuvreuse valley. Very nice place to get some air in the Paris region

Passing over the Pont Napoléon between the Etangs de Saint-Hubert and de Pourras in the heart of the Cheuvreuse Valley

At the edge of this road a pond which forms with the forest which surrounds it a protected natural area. Each year, during the thaw (roughly from February to April), a "toadstool" is installed on the road that runs along the pond. But what is a toaddrome exactly? So, it is not a place where one could indulge in clandestine bets on toad races, but a device intended to prevent these poor beasts from being crushed by cars in crossing the road to breed and lay their eggs in the pond on the other side of the road. Indeed, thousands of common toads, but also frogs and newts, begin their long prenuptial migrations around March each year. They go to the nearest pond or pond to breed. Once their duty is done, they leave the aquatic environment to return to their summering areas where they will spend most of their time feeding. In order to avoid a carnage of amphibians on the road, a tarpaulin is planted 600m on each side of the road to block their passage. In various places a hole has been made in which a bucket is buried. By looking for a passage all along the tarpaulin, the toad will inevitably end up at the bottom of a bucket. Every morning, volunteers come to collect toads and other frogs and drop them off on the other side of the road.

A family and incredible place a few steps from the city center of Rambouillet

Located at an altitude of 154 meters1, the pond covers an area of 0.8 hectares. The “Ponts-Quentin stream” flows into the Rompu pond — coming from the Holland ponds located about 1 km upstream to the east — and comes out to flow, about ten kilometers further to the west, in the Vesgre, having previously changed its name twice: first under the name of “Etang-Neuf stream” then under that of “Grapelin”. The Ponts-Quentin stream passes under departmental road 138 before flowing into the pond, which justifies the undulation of the road and its bend. The pond is part of the Rambouillet national forest, a private state domain. As such, its management is ensured by the National Forestry Office (ONF). Wikipedia

Developed during the reign of Louis XIV, this set of ponds and hydraulic structures was set up under the supervision of the “engineer, architect and hydraulics engineer”: Vauban himself. The 6 ponds, perched at an altitude of 174 meters, had the primary purpose of draining water in order to supply water to the basins of the Domaine de Versailles.