The Houdemont Pond Route

Park in the cemetery car park.

(S/E) Walk down Rue des Jardins to the junction marked by Saint-Goëric Church.

(1) Turn right into Rue du Général de Gaulle and follow it up.

(2) Shortly after the junction with Rue du Vieux Moulin, take the path on the right. Walk alongside the Étang du Fonteno and then the stream of the same name which feeds it. Cross Rue de Fonteno and continue along the path, which climbs gently to the right, to reach the source of the Fonteno. Continue for about a hundred metres.

(3) Turn right and follow the path which runs alongside the village orchard. After about a hundred metres, turn left to climb up towards the hillside; then, at the junction, turn right and join the^GR® 5F (marked in white and red). Take this path to the right to descend to Rue du Fonteno, which you will then follow uphill to the left. 200 metres further on, take the path on the right and head for the cemetery car park (S/E).

Access to the start point is via Rue des Sources.

This “Discovery” trail is one of four routes designed and maintained by the Écovillage Houdemont association in partnership with the Randonneurs Houdemontais, the Cercle d’Études Locales and the Town of Houdemont. The other three routes can be viewed and downloaded from the Écovillage Houdemont website (website)

Directions provided with the permission of the Ecovillage association.

(1) Saint-Goëric’s Church was built in 1855 on the site of a former 12th-century chapel. Inside, there is a 12th-century statue of this saint, who was Bishop of Metz at that time and is the parish’s patron saint. The baptismal font was constructed in 1958 using the sandstone millstones from the ‘moulin d’en haut’ (see below).
The Étang du Fonteno, formerly known as the ‘étang d’en haut’, already existed in 1391. It was formed following the construction of a small dyke. It then served as a water reservoir to supply the ‘moulin d’en haut’ or ‘moulin de l’écluse’. It is the oldest mill in the village; it was used to produce flour and, more recently, rapeseed oil.

(3) The Fonteno spring has existed since time immemorial. It belonged to the local lord. The Viscountess of Chambrun donated it to the local council in 1930. The waters of the Fonteno spring from a fault in the limestone strata of the hill overlooking the village. The place known as the ‘Fonteno spring’ is a resurgence of this spring. For a long time, the Fonteno was the main source of drinking water for the people of Houdemont.

The communal orchard visible nearby contains heritage varieties of apple trees.