Route des Césars

Start from the car park at the church in Pierrefitte-sur-Sauldre.

(S/E) From the church, take Rue de Chaon towards Chaon and Brinon. Pass the post office, then the cemetery, and continue on the D126 until you reach the sign indicating the village exit.

(1) Just before the sign, turn left at the Fork in the road onto the VC1, Rue des Bouffards. Pass a pond on your right.

(2) Turn right onto a grassy track after leaving the forest, 200m past the pond. Ignore the side paths. The grassy track meets a hard-surfaced track shortly after Le Bouchot. Turn left onto the hard-surfaced track, which soon bends to the right until it meets a narrow street.

(3) Head left onto the small road leading to La Comette and L’Étoile, which eventually crosses a side street.

(4) Turn right at the junction. The lane quickly turns left, heading north. Leave the lane as it heads towards La Bergerie, continuing in the same direction along a hard-surfaced path. This runs alongside La Darnoire before reaching a crossroads, just before La Buissonnière.

(5) Turn left at the crossroads onto the CR18, signposted in yellow as the ‘Route des Césars’. The grassy track leads to La Césarine, crosses a small road and is followed by a forest track; opposite is the CR18. The track runs alongside the Étang des Césars, hidden amongst the vegetation.

(6) At the western end of the pond, the path turns left (CR7), offering a fine view of the water. At the crossroads, continue straight on along the forest path which leads to a hard-surfaced track. Then turn right when the Ferme du Chêne comes into view.

Red and white markings (^GR®®31)

(7) Just before the hamlet of Le Chêne, the route meets the^GR®®31. Keep going in the same direction, leaving the turn-off to the right. At the junction with the D55, the path is lined with white posts on either side bearing the sign ‘Le Chêne’. Head left onto the D55, Route de Lamotte, for 700m until you reach a crossroads.

(8) Leave the tarmac and take the hard-packed track on the right, the VC14. Ignore the various turn-offs until you reach the D122, Route de Nouan.

(9) Continue straight ahead along the gravel track signposted Boulaire, la Boulatte. Keep right at the Fork in the road just after Boulaire, then, after about 120m, turn left onto the forest track to follow the edge of the pond.

(10) Turn left at the junction with a cross-road, then stay on the busiest track, turning right after 50m (CR11).

(11) Turn left onto a grassy track at the crossroads (CR12, passing under a power line). The track leads to a hard-surfaced path which you take to the right, with the Pierrefitte bell tower in sight.

(12) At the junction with the D55, do not take the private road straight ahead but instead take the hard-surfaced track slightly to the right (VC9). This runs alongside the reed bed at the sewage treatment plant, which it goes round, then becomes tarmac just before the first houses in Pierrefitte, becoming Rue du Gué du Poirier.

(13) Keep left at the Fork in the road to come out onto Rue de Salbris, which you take to the right; this street leads to the church, the starting point of the walk (S/E).

Be careful of signs indicating private property. There are many of them and their location is often confusing, especially on the forest path shortly after La Césarine, which crosses a large hunting estate, running alongside the Étang des Césars.

Saint-Étienne Church was destroyed by fire after being struck by lightning in 1937, and was rebuilt a few years later.