Au Nord-Ouest de Villers-au-Bois

Car park at the entrance to Rue Pasteur

(S/E) Join Rue de l'Église and follow it to the right. At the corner of Rue Sanverne: there is a drinking trough on the right and an information panel about Villers-au-Bois. Walk past the church (there is a mortuary slab at the entrance) and join the D58.

(1) Cross at the pedestrian crossing and take Chemin de la Chapelle opposite (slightly to the right). You will reach a crossroads.

(2) Take the path on the left (Chemin du Faÿs). At the crossroads, continue straight ahead on the grassy path and you will reach a T-junction. Turn left to join the D58.

(3) Follow it a few metres to the right, then turn left into Rue des Pâquenettes. At the end of the tarmac road, continue straight ahead on a grassy path until you reach a T-junction.

(4) Turn right, then immediately left and follow the path to the next junction.

(5) Turn left and continue to the junction with the D65. Head straight ahead towards the isolated house (former station on the 'Tortillard' railway line). Pass in front of the military cemetery (low wall in the shade) and you will reach a T-junction.

(6) Turn right. The path, which is wide at first, eventually narrows between the trees. It finally turns left to cross the Bois de Villers and reach the Chaussée Brunehaut (beautifully renovated chapel and bench opposite).

(7) Follow the Brunehaut on the left, first in the open, then under the trees. After about 1.5 km, pass under a fallen tree before reaching a fork. Take the left fork and a few metres further on, you will find a gate on the left.

(8) Go through the gate to enter Bois Poret and you will soon reach a fork.

(9) Take the beautiful path on the right through the ferns. You will come to a bench. Take the path on the left that goes uphill to go around Bois Poret. You will then come back to the fork you passed earlier.

(9) Turn left to return to the bench you passed earlier. Head towards the gate on the right.

(10) Go through it and follow the path on the left. Walk along the edge of the woods until you come to a gate on the right.

(11) Go through the gate and follow the grassy path. Shortly afterwards, it turns left and joins a fitness trail.
Follow this path, either to the right (this is the route) or straight ahead, until you reach a metal gate. Go through it and you will come to a T-junction.

(12) Take the hairpin bend to the left. At the next T-junction, take the wide path on the right (beautiful tree hedge on the right). About 300 m further on, find the path that branches off to the right into a hedge.

(13) Follow this path to Rue du Bois Jacques and follow it to the left. At the end, at the fork, take the third street on the right, Rue Pasteur, which leads back to the car park at the entrance to Rue Pasteur (S/E).

The paths are pleasant in dry weather, but can become difficult in wet weather.
So make sure you are properly equipped for the weather.