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Parking: abbey courtyard in Maroilles
(S/E) Leave the abbey courtyard and join the Grande Rue. Turn right, pass the church.
(1) At the fork, take Rue des Juifs on the left. Continue straight ahead.
(2) Leave the road that will be the return route on your left and continue straight ahead until you reach the exit of the village of Maroilles.
(3) Turn left onto the D32A and cross the Pont des Parts bridge
(4) When you reach the D32 (Maroilles road), turn left and cross the bridge over the Sambre. Then cross the railway line and continue straight ahead. You are now in the Mormal forest.
(5) At the Carrefour de l'Ermitage, turn left onto the Landrecies road and continue straight ahead.
(6) At the Carrefour du Pont Routier, turn left onto the Route du Pont Routier, which is part of the Route Van Gogh. Continue straight ahead until you reach the railway line.
(7) Cross the railway line and take the path on the right that runs alongside it. Continue straight ahead.
(8) When you see houses, you will arrive at Les Etoquies, part of the town of Landrecies.
Continue straight ahead, cross the railway line and turn left, staying on the long Chemin des Étoquies. There are beautiful houses on both sides.
(9) Go under the road bridge, continue straight ahead on Rue du Syndicat, which turns right and joins Rue d'Happegarbes. Turn right.
Be careful, you are approaching a busy road.
At the roundabout, turn right onto Avenue de la Marne, cross the bridge over the railway line and continue straight ahead on Avenue de la Légion d'Honneur. On your left, you will see the former Clarke de Landrecies barracks.
(10) Just before the Sambre canal bridge, take the towpath on the left and continue right along the canal. On your left, you will see the Etoquies marsh. You can observe moorhens, ducks and the typical flora of the riverbanks
(11) The only difficult part of the route is crossing the Écluse des Étoquies lock with your bike using the footbridge to get to the other side of the canal. Then follow the canal on the other bank, pass under the bridge you crossed on the way there and immediately turn right onto the metal footbridge. At the end, turn left onto the Route de Maroilles.
(4) Immediately take the first path on the right (D32a) that you took on the way there.
(3) When you reach the D32, turn right
(2) Then take Chemin Dame Marguerite on the right and follow it to the end. You will see the Moulin des Prés on your right (you will need to get closer to see the sluice gates).
(12) Turn left onto Rue du Lieutenant and continue straight ahead along this long street until you reach the centre of the village of Maroilles. When you reach Grande Rue, turn right and then left to return to the abbey courtyard (S/E).
AONB
Moderate 
