Vallon de Versannes

The Vallon de Versannes is a 3.5-hectare basin, part of which is owned by the Loire-Atlantique Departmental Council as a sensitive natural area.

A historic natural agricultural and wine-growing site

Perched on a seafront hillside, the Versannes valley has been reclaimed by spontaneous vegetation since farming practices in the area were abandoned.

In the past, Versannes was a wine-growing hillside. Sailors used to make their wine here and take it out to sea.
The site remained derelict until the mid-1970s, when sheds gradually sprang up.
The Loire-Atlantique department first acquired the land in the 1980s.

Covering an area of around 3.5 hectares, the Versannes valley site is also known as the "hell hole" (a nickname coined because a large fault, now filled in, used to fill with water at high tide).
The landscape of the site is marked by the return of varied vegetation.


The evolutionary phases of the coastal landscape

The site is rich in natural habitats. There are :


the initial stage of grassland ,
mesophilic hay meadows (herbaceous plant formations established on relatively fertile, well-drained soils) ,
the pre-forest stage of thickets ,
and a mixed woodland of holm oak and pedunculate oak.


The usual flora of these habitats can therefore be observed.

It is also worth noting the presence of a number of species that are rare in the département, and very rare at national level, such as sea fennel, prickly couch grass and scorpionwort.

In the grassland areas, the puff orchid adds a pinkish hue in spring, while the autumn spiretta marks the end of summer.


By the ocean

At the far end of the site, from the cliff overlooking the beaches of Crève-Cœur and La Boutinardière, you can see the typical landscape of the Côte de Jade, with its fisheries ... and its many fishermen on foot during high tides.
From this vantage point, you can also observe seabirds such as :


herring gulls
the brown gull
black-headed gulls
common tern.