From the Fort de Villey-le-Sec to the Caves on the banks of the Moselle

Park behind the cemetery, accessed via the church square.

(S/E) Leave the car park on the north-eastern side of the cemetery, taking the path heading south-east. On your left is a wooded area. Walk past the water tower on your right before reaching the Route de Maron (D909). Cross the road carefully and continue straight ahead for about a hundred metres before turning right onto a cul-de-sac with parking spaces, leading to Rue de la Géologie. Turn left and follow this street. Before the last building on the right, turn right onto the tarmac road, which turns into a path just past the last houses. The path climbs gently and steadily towards the Fort de Villey-le-Sec. It reaches the fort at its south-eastern corner.

(1) Turn left onto the path that runs alongside the fort as far as the south-west corner.

(2) At a junction of dirt tracks, take the small path on the right which leads towards a copse of trees and up to a turret.

(3) Return to the crossroads at this point.

(2) Take the path on the right (as you come down from the turret) and turn onto the second path on the left, known as ‘Les Sept Noyers’. This is the^GR®5F, which heads south-west on a gentle slope. Shortly afterwards, it reaches a clearing and runs alongside the woods on the left-hand side. It then turns left to enter the Villey-le-Sec Communal Forest and begins a steep descent towards the Moselle. Continue straight on until you reach a T-junction. Turn left to complete the descent about a hundred metres further on, above the hamlet known as Ras de l’Eau.

(4): At the bottom of the descent, turn right and follow the^GR®5F, which passes close to various caves at the foot of the hillside, including the Grotte des Sept Salles, the Grotte des Puits and the Grottes Sainte-Reine. Please note: Access to the caves is regulated by a right of way granted by the local council and the ONF!

(5) Upon emerging onto a sort of forest track, turn right onto the path which climbs straight ahead towards the north into a sort of small valley. At a junction with a path on the right, continue straight ahead to cross the bottom of the valley and carry on along its western flank before walking along an almost level slope. The path then moves away from the Moselle river and, just as it bends to the right, take the path on the left, staying on the^GR®5F.

(6) The path climbs diagonally towards the edge of the woods at a place called La Rouge Pierre. There, the path joins a white track at the edge of the woods. Follow it straight on to the right to reach a T-junction after about one hundred and fifty metres.

(7) Head right along the white track, which crosses a small strip of woodland and, a little further on, joins the road to Villey-le-Sec. Turn left and follow the road to Villey-le-Sec with care until you reach a junction with two tracks on the right at the edge of the woodland at a place called Fond du Rupt.

(8) Turn right and immediately leave the^GR®5F, which heads north-west along Rue de Lattre de Tassigny, and turn right again onto a white track (^PR®) that climbs gently. About six hundred metres further on, the track enters the Dommartin-lès-Toul Communal Forest.
Carry on straight ahead until you reach a junction with a small road/track.

(9) Turn right onto the track heading south-east, which slopes gently downwards. Follow it straight on until you reach the junction with the road to Villey-le-Sec, next to the Chaudeney Battery.

(10) Turn left onto the level road which skirts the Chaudeney Redoubt on its western and northern sides.
Just as the road begins to descend, turn right onto the path which continues to skirt the Redoute de Chaudeney on its north-eastern side. Shortly afterwards, the path veers away from the Redoute de Chaudeney, heading eastwards and climbing gently towards the Fort de Villey-le-Sec. The path is then lined with a hedge of trees on the left-hand side. Follow the path until you reach the south-western corner of the fort.

(2) Take the tarmac lane branching off to the left to go round the Fort de Villey-le-Sec. Continue along this lane, skirting the fort, until you reach the middle of the fort’s eastern side. There, turn right onto the gently sloping Rue du Fort. At the junction with the D909, cross it carefully on the right-hand side (at the pedestrian crossing) to continue straight ahead into Place de l’Église. Walk past the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, then past the cemetery to return to the car park on the right behind the cemetery (S/E).

The car park is located behind the cemetery, with access via the church square.
Access: A31, Toul exit. Take the D611, then the D400 to leave Toul via the east. At Pont de Villey, turn right onto the D909. In the centre of Villey, turn left into the church square just before the town hall.

This walk across varied terrain requires suitable footwear.

This walk follows the GR®5F from Fort de Villey-le-Sec to Fond du Rupt; the rest of the route is on^PR® (Promenade et Randonnée) paths. There are no real difficulties with navigation. In addition, it is advisable to follow the directions in this description and on the map, whilst also paying attention to the landscapes you pass through. Distance markers from the starting point, or even the GPS coordinates of waypoints (including the start), can also help walkers find their way.

Villey-le-Sec
The village has an unusual history.
Nestled within its fort, it lies at an altitude of 324 metres, 8 km from Toul and 23 km from Nancy.
Life here revolves around a population that works elsewhere, children who travel to school by bus, and a community that practises its faith across several merged parishes, alongside the numerous visits to the fort and the activities at the rural community centre and the campsite.
It has stood the test of time, having been home to Romans, monks and a lord of the manor. With the Revolution bringing change, the little village lived a quiet, hard-working life with its farmers and winegrowers until 1870.
Then came a period of upheaval in the 19th century, which saw the construction of the fort, the channelling of the Moselle, the railway, electricity and the water supply. In the 20th century, houses and the church were rebuilt following the 1939–45 war.
Whilst weathering successive wars, the village had to adapt to these changes in daily life and, above all, move forward.
For years, Jean-Pierre Uriot took notes and transcribed council minutes and notarial deeds from the departmental archives. I began to piece together the history of our village and its key events using these documents, supplemented by recent Town Council minutes, documents from the town hall, my collection of old postcards, my own photographs and Jean-Pierre’s drawings.
Danièle Uriot.

The lock and the dam By Guy Boyette, a retired shipping professional, who introduces us to the village’s dam and lock.
A river flows at the bottom of the valley: the Moselle
The various imposing structures you will see, situated in the bed of the Moselle, are hydraulic works designed to harness the river’s water for various purposes. Constructed between 1975 and 1980, as part of the works to bring the waterway up to European navigation standards, these structures include:
The lock
It is 187.50 m long and 12 m wide. It allows boats coming from the downstream leat (from the Toul lock) to continue their journey along the upstream leat towards the Neuves-Maisons lock. Each of the leats is approximately 10 km long.
From the bridge overlooking the lock chamber, watch as pleasure boats, motor vessels and pushed convoys of up to 4,000 tonnes pass through.
The dam
It consists of three movable gates, formed of segments at the lower section and topped with flaps. Each section is movable and articulated by hydraulic cylinders.
Its purpose is to regulate water flow to maintain a constant water level, as well as to manage the river’s flood and low-water flows.
The Moselle, which rises in the Hautes Vosges mountains at Bussang, can become a raging river, with flows approaching 1,000 m³/s. Conversely, it can have very low flows of less than 3 m³/s.
The lock and dam are managed by Voies Navigables de France.
Construction of the hydroelectric power station began in May 1986. It is situated adjacent to the dam. As its name suggests, the facility is designed to generate electricity using the head created by the dam. The power station does not operate during periods of high flood or low water. The power station is managed by EDF.
This site is a fine example of technological progress. It replaces part of the southern branch of the Canal de l’Est, built after 1870, and its needle-gate dam with slats, which were operated manually in all weathers, day and night. It also replaces the Freycinet-gauge lock and the barges that were hauled or towed.

La Vieille Pierre
Villey-le-Sec has always been a wine-growing village. From its very inception, there were vineyards and therefore grapes; and to make wine, a wine press is required.
The wine press was a seigneurial right. There was the communal wine press (in use throughout the seigneury) and a fee had to be paid to use it. This wine press was housed in a building belonging to the seigneur, which he maintained. This building was also known as ‘the wine press’.
As yet, Jean Pierre has not managed to pinpoint the exact location of the building.
On the 1810 land register, there is a locality known as ‘derrière les pressoirs’ (‘behind the wine presses’), situated where the water tower was later built. The term ‘les pressoirs’ makes sense as there may have been two wine presses: the large one for large quantities and the small one for smaller batches.
For a very long time, the region’s wine presses were of the shaft-and-stone type. This is our famous stone, the one that adorns the northern entrance to the village.
The principle was based on the weight of the shaft (often an assembly of wooden planks), which was lowered onto planks that pressed the grapes. The grapes were contained in a large vat fitted with slits to allow the juice to flow through. The large stone served as a pivot to support the press screw (the top of this screw could be guided by a slot in the ceiling).
The considerable weight of this stone also helped to force the timber beams downwards, thereby crushing the grapes more effectively.
This stone was set within a recess cut into the floor, of the same shape—that is, hexagonal—to prevent it from rotating when the screw was turned.
These wine presses were ‘monsters’ that were often repaired (especially the screw), but they were never moved.

The Fort
1874–1879: the only modern fortified town!
As a consequence of the 1870 war, the Séré de Rivières defensive system was built along all of France’s land borders. As evidence of this effort, rarely repeated in the course of history, the fort at Villey-le-Sec stands as an unmissable testament to the discovery of one of the greatest fortification systems.
The Citadel
The cornerstone of the Toul stronghold, it is unique in having enclosed the existing village within a 3.5 km-long rampart.
Comprising four elements (the redoubt, the northern and southern batteries, and the redan), Villey-le-Sec is the only example of a fortified village from the late 19th century. With a garrison of 1,300 men and 79 artillery pieces, the fort was one of the largest in France.
1904–1914: the concrete shell and the artillery turrets!
Modernised from 1888 onwards, then completely rebuilt in concrete from 1904, the fort was fitted with one machine-gun turret and two turrets housing two 75 mm guns, one of which has been brought back into service and from which you will witness a blank-firing demonstration.
As well as these fortifications, you’ll discover the imposing concrete barracks and an interesting museum dedicated to the fortification and various items of military equipment. A number of artillery pieces are also on display, including a rare 1879 Hotchkiss revolving cannon. The site features a 155 mm turret, a veritable 200-tonne metal monster and the last remaining example in northern France.
Today:
Maintained and open to the public by volunteers from the La Citadelle association, a visit will allow you to explore part of the fort in lush green surroundings with breathtaking views of the coasts of Toul and Woëvre.
Your visit will be enhanced by rides on a small train running on 0.60-metre gauge track, similar to those that once supplied the fort.
Source: the town’s official website

The Caves of Pierre-la-Treiche
The municipality of Pierre-la-Treiche is the municipality in Meurthe-et-Moselle with the richest karst formations. It boasts no fewer than thirty-nine caves explored by humans, two-thirds of which are situated on the right bank. Furthermore, these caves are among the largest in the department, and three of the department’s four caves with a length of over 1,000 metres are found here.
The caves in this area still hold many secrets. Unfortunately, many passages are completely blocked by sediment deposited by the Moselle when it was captured by the Meurthe over 300,000 years ago. Today’s explorers are continuing the work begun by their predecessors nearly a century and a half ago, with the aim of enriching our understanding of both the underground environment and humanity itself.
For further information:

Please note! Access to the caves is regulated by a right of way granted by the local council and the ONF!
See document
Source: website of the Departmental Caving Committee