Bouillon – Florenville

Starting point: Bouillon Youth Hostel, Rue du Christ.

(S) Walk down Rue du Christ. Pass the hairpin bend and take Rue des Champs diagonally to the rear left. Further on, it becomes Rue de Laitte. At the ‘T’ junction with Rue du Collège, turn left, cross the Pont de France over the Semois and continue along Rue Faubourg de France, ignoring all the streets on the right.

(1) A path along the river allows you to take a route across the start of the street. When you reach it, continue to the left, ignoring all side streets. Cross over the N89. Continue along Rue de la Platinerie.

(2) At the ‘Y’ junction, it turns right and begins its long climb towards and into the woods.

(3) Keep to the right and ignore any side paths. Continue straight ahead until you reach the N816. Follow it to the right. At the next junction, continue straight ahead to Les Quatre Chemins, where you’ll join the N83.

(4) Follow the N83 to the left. Pass the first bend to the right.

(5) At the start of the second bend, carry on straight ahead along Rue Ferme des Blancs Sarts. Ignore all side paths until you reach a crossroads.

(6) Turn left here, then immediately right – signposted as hiking trail 4 – and follow the path straight ahead until you come to an old railway line (Ravel?). Continue downhill to the left until you reach the bridge. Cross it.

(7) Take the path on the left and cross a first ford, then a second, before heading back up onto the ‘Ferme de Pérensart’ road (N884). Turn left.

(8) Turn into the first road on the right, which leads down towards Watrinsart. Cross the Ruisseau des Cuves and head back up.

(9) At the end of the next bend, take the road on the left, then cut across the other road to continue straight ahead. The path is initially stony until you reach an isolated house on the left; it then becomes a passable country lane, then grassy, and finally a simple, unmaintained footpath. After a sharp bend to the right, it climbs through the undergrowth and emerges – when I walked it – onto a steep, overgrown fir forest clearing, leading to a stony country lane. Follow it to the right until you reach the junction.

(10) Turn left (Rue Mé d’Cholet), continue to Rue Nigely, then turn right. At Rue Nichelette, the road first turns right then left. Follow it, ignoring all side paths, until you reach a cross – ‘Y’.

(11) Take the left-hand branch – Rue de la Haie Maujean – and carry on straight ahead until you reach the N818. Follow it straight on. Join the N83.

(12) Watch out for traffic – there is no cycle path. Follow the N83 to the right until you reach the entrance to Florenville.

(13) As you approach the roundabout, take the road on the left just before it (Rue du Chênelet). At the next six junctions, continue straight ahead. The road becomes, in turn, Rue des Epérires, Rue NicolaÎ and then Rue de la Chamaillotte.

(14) On Rue de la Burlanderie, turn left, then left again onto Rue de la Culée. Take the second right onto Rue de la Rosière. At the Y-junction, follow the road to the left until you reach the Semois and the campsite. (E)