Route of the crosses and calvaries via the Étang de Corbéfaing to Le Clerjus

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

Blue Disc markings along the entire route

(S/E) With your back to the Le Clerjus village hall, take the Chemin des Prés Valle and, after 150 m, turn left to stay on this path. Turn right past the ‘Les Biques’ sign to join a path across the fields, passing by the bottom of La Fosse. Continue straight on until you reach the Ruisseau du Hallot. Cross it and you’ll arrive at a crossroads.

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

(2) Turn right, crossing fields and woods, and carry on straight ahead until you reach a road.

(3) Cross the road and head straight on up towards La Rochère. You’ll reach a crossroads where you can admire the Croix Jacquot.

(4) Turn right onto the road, then turn left towards the Lodge de la Rochère before reaching a crossroads.

(5) Turn right onto the stony path and carry on straight ahead, following the signposts. You’ll pass the Croix Germain, known as the ‘plague victims’ cross’, and 100 metres further on, on the left, the Croix Colnot. Keep going straight ahead until you reach the two buildings.

(6) Carry on straight ahead along the road that continues from the track. At the crossroads, turn left twice. The local track leads to the hamlet of Corbéfaing. There, you can explore a 14-hectare natural lake, bordered by a rugged forest. This site is maintained by a fishing association. It is home to enormous, well-looked-after carp (swimming and fishing prohibited).

(7) After the pond, continue along this path for 250 metres and turn right onto a stony track leading back towards the Croix Jacquot.

(5) Keep to the right towards the cross.

(4) Turn right again, then go straight on to reach the hamlet of Le Noirmont, 1.5 km away, by following the path that continues from the track. When you reach the village, take the path on the left towards La Rochère. First turn right then left until you reach a junction with a footpath.

(8) Turn right onto this path, which passes close to the Étang de Dé (on the right). Continue for 500 metres and turn left, at a right angle, at the junction of the paths. Carry on straight ahead until you reach the forest road near the Étang de la Picarde.

(9) Turn left to stay on the track until the next junction. On this path, you can see the Croix Nicolas Colin on your right. Continue along this stony ‘Bon Père’ path. Cross the Chemin du Noirmont and carry on until you reach the oratory.

(10) On the left, you can see the Saint Pierre Fourier oratory. Carry straight on to reach a crossroads. There’s a lovely view over the village.

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

Thank you to the Club Vosgien and 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: made 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…

The Germain Cross: In a notarial deed dating from 1712, the Germain Cross was referred to as the ‘Croix des Germains’. It stands at the junction of the old road to Xertigny and the path leading to the hamlet of Le Champ. This calvary dates from 1640.
Erected during the terrible Thirty Years’ War, it is a cemetery cross situated where victims of the plague and the war are buried. At that time, these unfortunate souls were buried far from the hamlets and villages, their bodies being carried as far away as possible. The cross is double-sided. Facing south, it depicts Christ on the Cross, and facing north, the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. The plinth and shaft bear only one date: 1640. Around 1960, devoted parishioners reinforced and restored this cross.

The Colnot Cross: Originally, it stood on the right, but the farmer who owned the field, fearing he might damage it whilst working the land, moved it and carefully repositioned it on the other side of the path. 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 61 years old and lived in Le Molieu.

It was Jean-Baptiste Moet, a stonemason, who carried out this work; whilst attempting to make a final adjustment, he fell and injured himself so seriously that he died instantly. 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.

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 ‘accidentellement’

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.

(10) 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.

(11) 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.