Route des Croix de Calvaires in Le Clerjus

From Bains-les-Bains, take the D164 towards St-Loup-sur-Semouse. Before reaching this town, turn left onto the D12, continuing to Le Clerjus.

Red Disc markings along the entire route

(S/E) From the village hall in Le Clerjus, take the Chemin des Prés Valle and, after 150 m, turn left to stay on this path. Turn right, passing the ‘Les Biques’ sign, to join a path through the fields, passing by the bottom of La Fosse. Continue straight on until you reach the Ruisseau du Hallot. You’ll come to a crossroads.

(1) Take the path on the left and cross the stream. Continue to follow the signposts for approximately 900 m.

(2) Turn right onto the road, then take the path through fields and woods and carry on straight ahead until you reach the road.

(3) Cross the road and head straight on towards La Rochère. When you reach a crossroads, take a moment to admire the Croix Jacquot.

(4) Turn left onto the road, then take the first path on the left, leading to a fountain. Continue straight on towards Le Noirmont (a forested hill) until you reach a crossroads.

(5) Turn left onto the road and follow it for 250 m. Keep left once, then right once to reach the forest. After fifty metres, you’ll come to a junction.

(6) Turn right onto a path that passes close to the Étang de Dé (on your right). Continue for 500 m and turn left, at a right angle, at the junction of the paths. Carry on straight ahead until you reach the forest track near the Étang de La Picarde.

(7) Turn left to stay on the track until the next junction. On this path, you can see the Croix Nicolas Colin on your right.

(8) Turn right onto the stony path known as the ‘Chemin du Bon Père’. Cross the Chemin du Noirmont and continue to the oratory.

(9) On your left you can see the Saint Pierre Fourier oratory. Carry straight on until you reach a crossroads. There is a lovely view over the village from the top.

(10) Situated at the junction of the roads – one leading to Bains railway station, the other to Xertigny – stands a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus in her arms. Carry on straight ahead along Route de Saint-Loup, then Rue de la Cote, to return to the starting point (S/E).

Thank you to the Club Vosgien and the ASCL Le Clerjus for organising this walk and for the work carried out by their teams throughout the year to mark out and maintain these paths.

(4) Jacquot Cross: created by Joseph Petitjean and Anne Marie Henry in memory of the souls in purgatory.
It is said to have been named after a poor man found dying at this spot, whose name was Jacquot. The Petitjean-Henry couple had this wayside cross erected to put an end to the high mortality rate affecting their livestock, or so the story goes…

It was Jean-Baptiste Moet, a stonemason, who carried out the work; whilst attempting to make a final touch, he fell and injured himself so severely that he died on the spot. He was born on 27 July 1774, was 23 years old and was married to Thérèse Lavez, daughter of Pierre Lavez, founder of the hamlet that bears his name.

(7) Nicolas Colin’s Cross: Nicolas Colin drowned in the pond on 12 June 1818. The inscription on this cross, carefully chiselled in relief, contains a spelling mistake; it reads ‘accidentalement’

Nicolas Colnot’s Cross: Benoit Colnot, a young man of 20, born on 17 April 1821, son of Nicolas Colnot and Anne Jeanmaire, died on 3 October 1841, crushed by the carriage he was driving. His father was buried the day after his funeral; did he die of grief or in the same accident? He was aged 61 and lived in Le Molieu.

(9) The Oratory of Saint Pierre Fourier: an oratory dedicated to Saint Pierre Fourier, parish priest of Mattaincourt in the 18th century and patron saint of the priests of the diocese. It was built by François Hubert Roussel in 1854 following a vow: as he had a son who could not walk, he erected this monument in the hope of his child’s recovery; the boy, Charles Joseph Roussel, was reportedly cured. He was born on 18 August 1852 and died in Le Clerjus in 1927.

(10) The Cross of the Virgin of the Fields: A statue depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus in her arms. This monument was erected following a mission in 1946.