Circular walk around the village of Lemé

Park in the village’s central square (free parking), near the Grange René Favreaux community hall.

(S/E) Head towards the church and turn left towards Vervins Voulpaix (D29). Continue along the hard shoulder for 100 m and take the first path on the right, a rural track known as Martel. Follow it for 400 m until you reach a junction.

(1) Turn right into Rue Jomotte; the first section is tarmac and the second is a grassy track. At the first junction on the left, continue straight ahead and follow a barbed wire fence for 250 m.

(2) At the T-junction with a stony track, turn left and continue straight on along the D451. Before reaching the Marfontaine National Forest, take the track on the left and follow it along the edge of the forest for 100 m.

(3) Turn left onto a grassy track between two barbed wire fences, known as the Route du Bourrelier. Continue straight on for 800 m until you reach the first junction.

(4) Leave the tarmac road on your left and continue straight on along the same path until you reach the first house on your right at Rue Labuche.

(5) Turn right immediately after this house and continue along this path for about 600 m until you reach the D29.

(6) Turn right and follow the hard shoulder of the D29 for 70 m: watch out for fast-moving traffic. Cross to the left to enter the Bois de la Cailleuse and continue along the path furthest to the left for about 800 m, before reaching a stony track.

(7) Turn right and continue straight on along this path until you reach Chemin de la Sablière. Turn 90° left and head down towards the village.

(8) At a bend, take the path on the right (Rue des Marmouzeaux) and follow this path for 900 m, ignoring all the paths and lanes on the left. You will reach the D452.

(9) Turn right, then immediately left onto a path that is stony and then grassy for about 1.2 km. Ignore the first path on the left and continue straight on until you reach the junction with Rue du Sourd.

(10) Turn left and walk up the street for 350 m.

(11) Before reaching a house with stone walls, turn right and enter a lane. Continue to the Protestant church, now converted into a museum.

(12) Turn right and continue for 1 km. Just before the end of the path, in a right-hand bend, ignore the path on the left. You will come out onto the D29.

(13) Turn right, then left to go round the cemetery and arrive opposite the church. Cross the D29 to return to the car park (S/E).

Benches and picnic tables in the playground, near the church.
The Apple and Cider Festival takes place in October https://www.facebook.com/FeteDuCidreLeme...

Church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glis...

Temple-museum: In the 19th century, Lemé was an important Protestant centre.
Founded in 1988, the Association for the Preservation of the Lemé Temple took charge of the former temple in 1990. It restored it with the support of the Geneva-based society for scattered Protestants. The dedication of numerous volunteers from Thiérache and elsewhere, together with the support of the municipality of Lemé, made this project possible. The museum was finally inaugurated in 2006.
In the restored and furnished former temple (featuring a ‘communion table’, pulpit, pews and a reader’s table), old Bibles, engravings and artefacts trace the history of local, national and European Protestantism. On the ground floor, there is a display of the former Protestant boys’ orphanage and the work of the Reverend Antoine Colani, a pastor who welcomed future missionaries to Lemé before their departure for South Africa. The local history is complemented by panels showing all the churches in the Aisne department. Upstairs, the Reformation is recounted through engravings, old books and texts. The exhibition covers the biographies of the great Reformers, the various Wars of Religion, the history of the Edict of Nantes and its Revocation, and concludes with the Declaration of the Rights of Man. A small cemetery nearby contains the graves of the pastors who lived in Lemé and their families.