From Faremoutiers to Mortcerf via the Malvoisine Forest

Starting point and access: Faremoutiers-Pommeuse station.
- Transilien - Line P, on the section between Paris-Est and Coulommiers.
Take the only exit (single track).

Yellow + Red MTB markings

(S) When leaving the station, turn left and cross the car park. At the level crossing, cross the D25 road and continue straight ahead on a gravel path at the corner of a bar-restaurant. The path becomes grassy and runs alongside the railway line on the left. At the corner of the last house, turn right and walk between two hedges. At the end of the path, follow a gravel track to the left and go through a gate. Pass a sewage treatment plant on your left, enter a wood and rejoin the railway line a short distance away on your left. You will come out onto the D216 road.

(1) Cross the road (take care) and step over the safety barrier on the other side. Continue a few metres straight ahead, then turn right. Climb slightly up a narrow path with the woods on your right and a hedge and then a field on your left. You will come out onto a wide path. Follow it to the left (east). Pass a narrow plot of land planted with trees on your right and walk along a fenced-in meadow on your left.

(2) At the T-junction, turn right and walk along a laurel hedge (the two opposing arrows indicate that two^PR® paths cross here). Walk south, ignoring all the paths branching off to the sides, and walk along a fenced plot of very young conifers on your left. About 100 metres after the end of the fence, turn left onto Rue Jacob (which is a dirt track). Go through a chicane, descend into the undergrowth and you will come to a junction with a path on the right.

Red mountain bike signposting

(3) Go straight ahead and continue downhill. At the next junction, continue straight ahead along the edge of the field until you reach a small, clearly visible road.

No markings

Follow this road to the right (Rue du Moulin Jacquot) and note a few clearings on the left side of the Aubetin River.

Yellow markings

At the junction with Chemin de la Petite Rue on the right, continue straight ahead into the hamlet of Le Poncet.

Red and white + yellow markings

(4) At the next junction (bridge over the Aubetin on the left and waterfall opposite), make a first turn right then left to follow the wide path (^GR®14) that runs along the river on the left. A little further on, walk along a large fenced meadow on your left and a wood on your right, ignoring all the paths on the right. Then enter the woods and, after about 250m, walk along a meadow on your right. At the corner of the meadow, ignore a path on the right and continue straight ahead into the woods. At the exit, walk along a large meadow on your left and then a fenced garden on your right.

No markings

(5) At the end of the path, follow a road on the left and leave the^GR® trail on the right. Cross the bridge over the Aubetin and immediately turn right to reach the riverbank (wash house on the opposite bank). Walk along the river on the right on a pleasant path through the woods.

(6) At the metal footbridge, turn left (do not cross the river) and then immediately left again onto the path. At the fork that appears immediately, turn right and climb up towards the wooden steps. At the top of the steps, turn right onto a wide path that soon turns left. Walk up alongside a fenced-in meadow on your right. At the T-junction, turn right.

Red and white + yellow markings

(7) At the next three-way junction, directly below a medium-voltage power line, turn sharply left and follow a grassy path that quickly becomes gravel (join the^GR®). Take the first path on the right, pass a house on your right and, facing an electricity pylon, turn left.

(8) At the next crossroads, follow Rue du Moulinet on the right for about 150 metres. Then take the first path on the left. At the T-junction, turn right and walk down the edge of the path to a small road. Follow the road to the left, zigzagging slightly downhill. Cross a stream and walk back up towards the hamlet of Esse.

Red and white markings

(9) At the crossroads, turn right immediately downhill and walk along a fence on your left, then a hedge on your right. Cross a stream via a footbridge and continue between two fenced meadows. Cross the Aubetin via a wider footbridge (the arrow indicating a left turn is not for the path just before the footbridge but for the road just after it).

Red and white + yellow markings

(10) Follow the small road on the left, then immediately take Rue de Brie on the right. Go uphill and ignore Chemin Penchard on the left. At the top, turn right onto Chemin du Bois Ferment (gravel). After a few metres, at the corner of No. 4, turn left. You will come out onto a meadow; walk along the right-hand side as you climb uphill. Pass the buildings of a horse riding centre, cross the D25 road and follow it to the left for a few metres until you reach a forest barrier.

(11) Turn right, go through the barrier and enter the Malvoisine National Forest. Go straight ahead, heading west between plots no. 125 on the left and no. 141 on the right. After about 500 metres, just before two trees each bearing a mountain bike marker on the right-hand side, turn right, heading due north. Walk along a regenerating plot on your right and, at the T-junction, follow the pleasant shaded path to the left (due west) for about 350 metres.

(12) At the crossroads, turn left (south-west) onto a well-maintained forest track (the purple line supposed to represent the^GR®14on the IGN map is not updated here). At Les Trois Carrefours (a large triangular crossroads with a kiosk in the middle), turn right twice to follow the Route de l'Essart. Walk north-west for 1 km, ignoring all the tracks and paths on either side, first through a forest with beautiful fern undergrowth and then, towards the end, through younger trees.

Red and white + yellow + red mountain bike markings

(13) At a crossroads, take a very discreet path on the left (be careful). At the crossroads immediately ahead, continue straight ahead. The path is not very well marked, so keep heading west and follow the markings carefully. Cross a path and then cross a stream (which may be dry).

Red and white markings + red mountain bike trail

(14) At a crossroads in the undergrowth, make a zigzag turn. Cross a tarmac forest road, pass a forest barrier, ignore a path on the right and follow a grassy path westwards. Cross through forests where thinning has recently been carried out (situation in October 2017).

Red and white markings

(15) After about 900m, continue straight ahead and leave the mountain bike markings on the right. At the next crossroads, after about 75m, turn right (tree marked with no. 231; no arrow or marker at this point). Continue straight ahead until you leave the forest. Then turn right onto a wide grassy path at the edge of the field on the left. After about 200m, at a small metal gate on the right, turn left (west-southwest) onto a path between the fields.

(16) Make a zigzag turn onto the D20E to follow a small road towards Les Tournelles. Pass between a shed on your left and a farmhouse on your right. Still on the tarmac, turn right, follow a wood on your right and then turn left.

No markings

(17) Continue along the small road at the edge of the woods on your right. After a right turn and then a left turn, you will arrive at a place called La Malmaison. Cross the D20 road, continue straight ahead on the small road and pass a farmhouse on your left. Shortly after a slight right turn, take a gravel track parallel to the road on its right-hand side.

(18) At the end of the track, when it joins the road, turn right onto a grassy path between the fields. At the end, turn left, walk along a hedge on your left and rejoin the^GR®14for a short while. At the crossroads (cross), take the first right, Chemin du Port. At the next crossroads, turn left onto Chemin de la Bossière, which quickly becomes grassy. At the end, follow the street to the right. Ignore a path on the right and walk along the cemetery on your right. Then turn left onto Rue des Grimoins. At the end, turn right and you will immediately reach the chevet of Mortcerf Church.

(19) Turn left and walk along the church on your right. Then take Ruelle de l'Église, a path that descends between two walls. At a fork, take the narrower path on the left. Descend between walls and garden fences. At the bottom, turn right. At the stop sign, turn left and walk up Avenue de la Gare. Just before the level crossing, you will find Mortcerf Station on your right (E).

To return home:
Transilien - Line P, towards Paris-Est or Coulommiers (check the screens to find out which platform to use).

Train timetables: consult the Transilien website.

For motorists:
Both stations are located on the same section of the same line: leave one vehicle in the car park of one of the two stations and make a return trip by train. It is also possible to organise two vehicles, one at each station.

Hiking boots are necessary, as there are wet and potentially muddy sections in winter between (4) and (5) and in the Malvoisine Forest.

No drinking water sources identified along the route.
Bar-restaurant at Faremoutiers-Pommeuse station (I've never seen it open...). Bar and pizzeria opposite Mortcerf church (19).
Picnic tables or lawns suitable for picnics: in (5), on the other side of the road; after crossing the footbridge over the Aubetin (6); at Les Trois Carrefours, between (12) and (13).

A 1:25,000 map is essential (at least the one accompanying this description).

Variants:
- At point (3), you can of course follow the yellow markings. Turn right (south) into the woods. Leave the woods and walk along a hedge on your left. At the crossroads (bus shelter), turn left and go down Chemin de la Petite Rue. At the bottom, turn right and rejoin the main route at point (4).
- At the point (7), it is possible to shorten the hike (very) slightly. At the three-way junction, continue straight ahead and pass under the medium-voltage power line. At the crossroads, follow Rue des Coteaux opposite in the direction of Esse. Rejoin the main route between the points (8) and (9) and continue along the road.

Hike completed by the author on 26 October 2017.

- Aubetin Waterfall (4). More than a real waterfall (designation on site), it is a steep passage where the river takes on the appearance of a torrent.
- Pleasant walk along the Aubetin between (5) and (6).
- Malvoisine Forest between (11) and (15).
- Saint-Pierre and Saint-Nicolas Church (17th century) in Mortcerf (19).