Circular route between Nouvion-le-Vineux and Vorges

Park in one of the few available car parks at the junction of Rue de l’Arbaletre and Rue du Vieux Mont, or, failing that, opposite on Place des Tilleuls (free).

(S/E) Leave Place des Tilleuls on your left and take Rue des Vendangeoirs heading south-east. Follow this street for about 200 metres until you reach a junction. On the left is the War Memorial, on the right a wash house.

(1) Turn right (sharp bend) onto Rue du Lavoir to reach Rue de l’Église Saint-Martin. Once on this street, turn left towards the town hall.

(2) Immediately after this, turn right and take Rue du Vieux Mont opposite. Continue along this path, which climbs very steeply. Ignore the paths on both the right and left to reach a tarmac road after about 800 m.

(3) Cross this road and take the path continuing straight ahead, along the hillside (^GR®12A, red and white markings). Continue for about 1.3 km until you reach a group of buildings on the left: the Château de Presles farm.

(4) Turn left and follow the Route du Château downhill for about 250 m, until you reach a house (no. 18). Leave the road and take the path that veers right (still^GR®12A) uphill; follow it for about 2.5 km (red and white markings), heading north-east to the hamlet of Les Carrières.

(5) Turn left onto the tarmac road, which descends quite steeply for 300 m. At the bottom of the descent, you will find yourself facing a reservoir.

(6) Leave the road and the^GR®12A, take the path on the left and climb a few steps. Follow this path for a few hundred metres before coming out onto the Chemin des Caves, in the municipality of Vorges.

(7) Turn right, follow this street for about fifty metres, then turn left onto Rue du Mont, which leads to Place de l’Église. Walk past the church forecourt, keep left to join Rue de l’Église. Walk for about sixty metres until you reach a narrow passage on the left just after No. 7.

(8) Turn into this alley, which leads back to Rue du Mont. Turn right, cross the D25 (Rue du Docteur Ernest Ganault) and look for another alley on the left, about fifty metres further on (opposite No. 2). Take this alley, which continues as a path, and join Chemin de la Gare.

(9) Turn left and reach Rue du Docteur Ernest Ganault. Cross it, first turning left then right into another alley. Keep to the right to reach Rue des Rouages, which you should follow straight on for about 150 m.

(10) Turn right at a 90° angle, then after about a hundred metres, back on the D25 (Rue des Presles), follow it to the left for fifty metres. Then turn left onto a grassy country lane (yellow and blue markings), walk for about 200 m to reach a crossroads.

(11) First turn right then left and enter the forest. Further on, the path joins another coming from the right; continue to the left and, on leaving the forest, you will reach the Franche Rue (municipality of Presles and Thierny).

(12) Turn left, leave the yellow and blue markings and follow this road for about thirty metres before turning left onto a grassy path. Ignore the first path you come to (on the left) and then the second (on the right). At the next junction, turn right, then after about 80 m, turn left and continue for about 200 m until you reach a junction.

(13) Turn right before reaching the first farm buildings and join Rue de l’Église.

(14) Cross it (return of the yellow and blue markings) and continue straight on along Rue des Vaches before joining the D25 once again.

(15) Continue straight on along the D25 for about 150 m until you reach the next junction.

(16) Leave the road and turn right onto a grassy track; after about 400 m, you’ll reach the start of a first track on the left.

(17) Ignore this track and continue straight on. Pass a boules court on your right and return, via Rue des Sablons, to the starting point (S/E).

The history of the Picardy vineyards according to Wikipedia

Nouvion-Le-Vineux
Saint-Martin Church: built between the 12th and 13th centuries. Listed as a historic monument in 1862. On its south side stands one of the finest Romanesque bell towers in northern France, adorned with rich floral and geometric decoration.
Wash house: built in 1841. Viewable at (1)

_Presles-Et-Thierry
Church of Saint-Georges and Saint-Quirin: built in the 12th century, this church has undergone numerous alterations over the centuries, notably in the 18th century with the addition of a monumental portal.
Listed by decree of 18 December 1919.
Ruins of a 13th-century castle: only the remains of the enclosure and the chapel are listed as historic monuments, by decree of 24 October 1927.
Visible just before (4)

Vorges
Saint John the Baptist Church: this listed church is a jewel of the region’s Catholic architecture.
In the villages along the route: 17th- and 18th-century wine presses, 19th-century mansions including Valbon Castle.