Route du Mont César

Park in the car park behind the church.

Park in the car park behind the church.

Blue signposting

(S/E) Set off to the right of the car park towards the town hall and continue until you reach the D49. Once there, turn right and walk a few metres. Cross the road carefully, then take the first left onto Rue des Périers. Walk carefully along this road until you reach the hamlet of Les Périers.

(1) Turn left onto the path, which is a few hundred metres long. When you reach the road, turn right until you come to the first path on the left.

(2) Follow this road carefully until you reach the Blanchet area.

(3) At the junction, take the road on the right to reach Rue du Mont César. Cross this road carefully and head towards the cemetery along Rue Saint Georges.

(4) Turn left onto the street and go round the cemetery, taking the first right onto a path. Continue straight on until you reach a junction with the D72 at La Pilotière.

(5) Turn left and walk carefully along this road. After a few metres, take the first right and stay on this road until you reach Les Vallées, where there is a junction. Then turn right until you reach another junction a few metres further on.

(6) Then turn left and follow this road. Cross the junction carefully. A few metres further on, turn right onto a track.

(7) At the end of the track, turn left, then take the first left towards Les Croûtes. Continue along this track until you reach the junction with the D73.

(8) Cross this road carefully and continue straight on along a new track. When you reach the D49 at the end of the track, turn right and follow this road carefully for a few dozen metres.

(9) Take the first left. Cross the road carefully and continue straight on at the first junction. Then take the first right onto a path and continue straight on until the next junction.

(10) Turn left onto Rue du Clos d’Auguet, then take the fourth road on the right, Rue du Jardin Rosey. Take the first right onto Rue Marcel Cauvin. Go round the church on the left. Turn right to reach the finish point. (S/E).

Difficulty: crossing the D 73 and D 72; dangerous stretch on the D 49.

Picnic tables on Chemin des Matelots, Rue du Rey in Montmartin-sur-Mer and in the town hall square in Montchaton.

Public toilets and drinking water points are available at the town hall square in Montmartin-sur-Mer and Montchaton.

The Roncerets Quarry

Quarries were once used to extract Montmartin limestone. Apart from those that have been filled in, all that remains today are areas developed for tourism and sporting activities, or natural spaces. Some, with the agreement of their owners, are managed by the Normandy Conservatory of Natural Areas, due to their importance for wildlife and flora. They form pockets of biodiversity at the heart of the bocage.

View of the Sienne estuary, the Pont de la Roque and Mont César

From this hill, situated at an altitude of 57 metres, one can see the confluence of the Sienne and Soulles rivers and the start of the Regnéville-sur-Mer harbour. It was here, on this hill, that people settled centuries ago. Traces of an ancient Roman oppidum (fortified settlement) at the site now known as ‘Camp de César’ are still visible, and excavations have uncovered an ancient Merovingian necropolis around the church. Its strategic position on high ground allowed the Sienne estuary and its surroundings to be monitored. Below, you can see the ruins of the Pont de la Roque, which was bombed in 1944 by the Allies to prevent the withdrawal of German troops. Only eight of the eleven arches built in the 19th century remain.

The Montmartin Post Office and seaside architecture

Dating from 1933, its regionalist seaside style is striking. It comprises a central pavilion and lower side pavilions. This two-storey building features a pediment styled as a Flemish gable with stepped corbels and volute corbels at the centre (a sort of short column supporting a ball). The building has been designated a ‘20th-Century Heritage’ site.

The old railway line

You can explore the route of the old railway line passing through Orval, Hyenville, Montmartin and Regnéville-sur-Mer. The single-track line was 8.7 km long. Built to serve the seaside resorts, it was opened in 1902 before being closed to passenger services in 1934 and to freight services in 1941. During the war, the Germans sent the rails to the Eastern Front.