Farms of the Pévèle

Starting from the junction of Rue du Beron (note the sign indicating Rue du Bois) and Rue Fl. Desprez, you’ll find parking spaces along Rue du Beron.

(S/E) At the start, you’ll see the Florimond Desprez company on your left and the orchard on your right. Be careful: this is a busy stretch with little pavement. When you reach the end of the company’s premises, you’ll come to a junction where two farm tracks meet the road.

(1) Take the one furthest to the left, which runs perpendicular to the main road, and not the one that takes you back the way you came. Continue until you reach the junction with a road.

(2) Take the road on your right. This stretch of road is short and not very busy. From here, you’ll have a view of the town of Orchies directly ahead of you. Carry on along this road until you reach the ‘Enfer du Nord’ junction, one of the trickiest cobbled sections of the Paris–Roubaix race. A marker stone indicates the start of this section.

(3) Only take this road to the right if you wish to shorten this walk. *
Continue along the route until you reach Rue Deregnaucourt. Keep the Châtelet on your left and you’ll come to a fork in the road.

(4) Turn right into the street, pass a wayside cross and you’ll come to a Fork in the road at a bend.

(5) After the bend at the entrance to the hamlet, take the small road between the farms on your right. It soon turns into a farm track signposted ‘Caution: trapping area’. Don’t worry, the traps are on private land and not along the edge of the track!
Cut across the fields until you come to a country road.

(6) Only take this road to the right if you wish to shorten this walk. *
Carry on to your left. You’ll pass the Ricarderie farm. At the crossroads, turn right towards the Château d’Argerie. This château is now nothing more than a farm; the part of the château that served as a granary caught fire, and all that remains is the farmyard and a small section of the moat. You can also see its magnificent dovecote, which has recently been restored. Further on, a sign points to the ‘Route du lait’ (though this farm, whilst still in operation, no longer has a dairy herd). Behind the farm, you head back towards the cobbled section of the Paris–Roubaix route.

(7) Turn right. The path on the left leads to the Monsè-en-Pévèle greenway, where you’ll be able to make out its bell tower alongside the medieval-style one at Bersée. You’ll arrive at the crossroads in the hamlet known as Le Riez.

(8) The Paris–Roubaix route continues straight ahead.
Turn left to continue the route, passing an old farmhouse on your right and several others on your left.

(9) Turn right onto Rue Florimond Desprez and head back to where you parked, at the end of this street
(S/E).

Alternative route:

• (3) Turn right and rejoin the route at point (8).
• (6) Turn right towards the hamlet of Le Bar and rejoin the route at point (8).

An easy walk that’s perfect for families with a good pushchair, or for cycling or walking.