From Eulmont Castle to the Tour du Crany

(S/E) Return to the Siphons crossroads (roundabout), pass on the left-hand side to cross the D32 using the protected crossing. Continue straight ahead on the limestone path that climbs gently towards the village of Eulmont, following the D32 before turning off. Pass a few houses and you will come to a crossroads.

(1) Take the path on the right and cross the playground to reach the Route de Nomeny. When you reach it, immediately turn left onto Rue de Nancy, which slopes upwards. Pass the school and continue along Rue de Nancy, which turns left. When you reach a crossroads, turn right onto Rue du Château and continue until you reach an ornate gate on the left-hand side.

(2) Turn left, go through the gate and continue to the church. Walk around the north side and return to the south side where you will find the war memorial. Exit via the small alleyway and continue to Rue du Château. Continue climbing north-east to pass the Town Hall on your right, in front of which is a fountain.

After No. 22, turn right into the cul-de-sac leading to the cemetery. In front of the entrance, take the narrow path that goes around it to the south, marked by a "fox" sign. After the cemetery, the path descends slightly to a crossroads. Follow the fox sign and continue straight ahead, passing in front of the Compagnie des Ânes.

Immediately after, turn left and continue uphill between plots where donkeys may be found. Shortly after the "fox" path, turn left. Follow it uphill to Rue du Château. Turn right into this street and continue to the crossroads with Rue de Metz on the left, in front of the castle on the right and a beautiful residence, the "Franche Moitresse".

(3) Continue straight ahead, walking alongside the Franche Moitresse on your left, and take the Chemin du Val which runs alongside it. At the first crossroads with a road on the right, you will see a beautiful fountain. Continue straight ahead on the Chemin du Val, which climbs the hillside diagonally, then enters the woods and climbs gently up the Côtes Saint-Rémy.

Continue to a sort of parking area with a fork in the road ahead: take the path on the right downhill to the Tour du Crany.

(4) Retrace your steps to the previous crossroads and this time take the narrower path on the right, which leads almost flat into the woods towards the north. Follow it until you reach the bed of the Ruisseau de Gencey. Take the narrow path at the bottom of the valley, which winds between two embankments until it joins a wide forest path above.
Note: if there is water present – after heavy rain – it is advisable to cross the stream and take the wide forest path on the left that runs alongside it.
When you reach the forest path, turn left and head towards a nearby clearing at a crossroads.

(5) Turn left onto a wide forest path called Grand Cugnot, which immediately enters the woods and heads southwest on flat ground and then gently downhill. The path follows the edge of the plateau at the top of the Côtes Saint-Rémy. Continue straight ahead and, a little further on, you will reach the path leading to the Croix des Pestiférés on the left.

(6) Walk to the Croix des Pestiférés, about a hundred metres away, and then return to continue along the Chemin du Grand Cugnot. This path soon reaches a clearing on the left and remains on the edge of the Bois d'Eulmont. Further on, it begins to curve to the left at the junction with a path that continues along the plateau. Stay on the path that begins to descend the hill and becomes Rue de Metz a little further on. On the descent, shortly after a road leading to a house on the right, you will reach the start of the grassy Chemin de la Vierge

(7). Turn right onto Chemin de la Vierge, which runs along the flat hillside. Further on, at the magnificent site of the Virgin Mary on the right, turn around to enjoy a beautiful view of the Malzéville plateau and the valley.
The path then descends steeply towards some houses and, on reaching them, becomes Rue de la Vierge.

Just before the first house, turn right onto a narrow grassy path that heads into the hillside, goes around some gardens and eventually leads to Chemin de Saint-Alme. Turn left onto this path and continue to the next junction near some houses. Turn right onto the downhill path until you reach a T-junction. There, turn right and walk about a hundred metres to see a spring. Retrace your steps almost to the previous junction.

(8) Turn onto the narrow path going uphill into the hillside. Continue until you reach a T-junction. Take the path on the right, which almost immediately turns sharply to the left and eventually joins a good forest path, the Chemin des Suzannes. Turn left and go down Chemin des Suzannes, which further on joins Chemin de la Teille coming from the plateau. Turn left onto Chemin de la Teille to continue the descent towards the village. At the junction with Chemin de Lay Saint-Christophe on the right, continue straight on along Rue du Chêne, which soon turns left. Shortly afterwards, turn right onto Rue des Germinites, at the beginning of which there is a fountain on the left-hand side. At the bottom of this short street, turn left onto Chemin de Voivre and shortly afterwards, at the corner of a house's garage, take the narrow path on the right which goes straight down and quickly leads to the playground you passed on the way there.

(1) Continue straight ahead along the sloping path which joins and runs alongside the Route de Nomeny (D32) and returns to the Syphons crossroads. Cross the D32 road on the right-hand side of the roundabout (protected crossing) and go to the nearby car park which marks the end of this route (S/E).

The parking area is located south of the Siphons crossroads (near the Voie Verte south of Eulmont). Access via the D83C road.

This hike covers varied terrain and requires sturdy footwear.

This route is largely signposted as it largely follows the long route of Trail No. 7 "Campagnes et Vieilles Pierres" (Countryside and Old Stones) proposed by the Grand Couronné in the commune of Eulmont - follow the fox. Consequently, it is advisable to follow the directions in this description and on the map, while also taking in the landscapes you pass through. The distance indications from the starting point, and even the GPS coordinates of the waypoints (including the starting point), can also help hikers find their way.
At the start, the route is marked by a red dot on a white rectangle. In Eulmont, you will see signs with a pretty painted fox that will dot almost the entire route.

Hike completed by the author on 22 June 2020

Eulmont

Situated on a sunny slope of the Grand Couronné massif, Eulmont stretches for over a kilometre, surrounded by gardens, farmland, meadows and forests.

The name
The name of the village has undergone changes over the centuries: we find Oemont in 1076, Amaleumon in 1193, Umons in 1198, Octémon (and Octmon) in 1516, Eumont in 1545, and finally Eulmont at the end of the 18th century
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Built heritage

Although there is evidence that the village has existed since the Middle Ages, its houses, built with poor-quality materials, did not survive the successive wars of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Its current layout is thought to date from the late 17th century. Stretching along a single street with a few offshoots, it is a typical Lorraine village. There are several types of houses:
• houses with narrow facades: dwellings of winegrowers, craftsmen and day labourers,
• houses with wider façades: the homes of farmers.
Of note: niches housing statuettes of patron saints, pretty arched windows, etc
• Larger residences: the Château, La Franche-Moitresse, the Daum-Galtier house on Rue du Chêne, etc.
The presence of cellars in almost all the houses shows that we are in a wine-growing region.
Today
Eulmont has around 1,000 inhabitants. Urban development has greatly reduced the amount of arable land and the vineyards have almost disappeared. Its proximity to Nancy has turned it into a rural-urban village, which has seen its population increase significantly since the 1970s.

Saint-Rémy Church
While the bell tower dates back to the 14th century, the choir dates from the 15th century – with a beautiful Gothic ribbed vault – and the nave from the 19th century. Until 1894, the church was surrounded by a cemetery. Tombstones can still be seen there. The tympanum, depicting the patron saint of the parish, Saint Rémy, baptising Clovis, dates from the 19th century.

La Franche Moitresse
This property is nestled on the hillside above Eulmont and was once home to the controller
of the fortifications of Nancy in the 16th century, then by the illustrious architect E. Héré in the 18th century. Stanislas
granted him the privilege of building a dovecote in 1750. Abandoned for half a century, it was saved and
restored by Mr and Mrs Marsal in 1967. The grounds consist of three gardens: a hornbeam hedge garden, a boxwood and flower garden, and a nuanced arboretum surrounding a natural meadow. It offers extensive panoramic views.
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The Château d'Eulmont
An 18th-century three-storey building with a Mansard slate roof.
On the side, there is still an elegant 17th-century stone watchtower, the last remaining evidence of an older building. The archives relating to its construction have disappeared, but recent research has made it possible to trace all the families who have lived there since the 17th century.

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Vineyards
Vines have been cultivated in Eulmont since ancient times, probably since they first appeared in Lorraine.
The village's well-exposed hillsides make it an ideal location for this crop. It has shaped the way of life
and housing of the inhabitants of Eulmont. In 1892, phylloxera attacks destroyed most of the vineyard, which was never rebuilt. The vines were replaced by fruit trees.
The main grape varieties in Eulmont are OBERLIN and BACCO for red wine, LEON MILLOT for table grapes
or red wine, 604-605 for grey wine or rosé, and Kuhllmann for grey wine.

Le Crany: the tower and the springs
The tower
The tower previously belonged to the Genneté family, whose sealed plaque was affixed above the
door with the date and coat of arms. Around 1630, the Duke of Lorraine brought this family from Brittany, whose father was reputed to be a "very good hunter". This tower was used to watch for game, as wild boars, deer and other animals came very early in the morning to drink from a small pond a few metres away. Small windows on the upper floor allowed hunters to lie in wait. Below, there were benches and a stone table known as the "Gaulish table" where hunters would eat.

The springs
In the 1950s, the Crany springs supplied the first public water distribution network in the commune of Eulmont.
Source: Trail No. 7 information sheet The Grand Couronné hikes - follow the fox -