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In Placey, go down to the bottom of the village and follow the signs for the church and then Multi-activités. This will take you to a car park with a picnic table and a superb fountain.
(S/E) Go back 80 metres and take the street with the cemetery on your left, then the Chemin des Combes, which is almost a continuation of it.
(1) At the crossroads, turn right, pass in front of the farm building and continue along the path. When you reach the D415 road, follow it to the left for about 100 metres. Then take the path diagonally to the right, in the middle of the fields. You will come to a crossroads at an elevation of 242 metres.
(2) Continue straight ahead, ignoring a path on the left, and walk alongside three ponds on the left. Cross the Breuil stream over a pretty stone bridge and arrive at the village of Franey.
(3) Turn left (there is a pretty fountain/wash house on the left) and, just before the church, take the steeply ascending tarmac lane on the right. Pass the cemetery and continue along Rue de Vauchon. Ignore the path/trail that branches off to the right. Continue, cross a small wood, pass a hunting lodge on your right and continue along this path until you reach the bend to the left.
(4) Leave the wide path that turns left at a right angle and continue straight ahead. Turn right with the path until it turns left.
Be careful when it turns left: do not follow it!
(5) Continue straight ahead through the grass to the beautiful Fontaine de Vauchon fountain, going downhill along a fence (respect the crops on the side). Retrace your steps. In 2023, the path is no longer maintained and is full of brush and brambles.
(5) Take the path on the right until you reach a cross path, then turn left and follow it for about 200 m. (In 2023, a hiker told me that it is best to follow the yellow-blue markings that lead to point 6, ignoring the route between 5 and 6).
(6) Follow the markings. Further on, veer left. Further on, after a right-hand bend, at a crossroads, turn left, heading east, climb slightly and continue on the path which becomes a tarmac road and takes you slightly downhill (eastwards) to Lavernay.
Cross the village of Lavernay (church on the left). After the church, descend to the left, passing in front of the town hall, then left at the bottom. Then continue straight ahead (do not take the D13 which leads to Franey).
(7) Cross the Ruisseau du Breuil stream, which you will come across again. Then take the fountain path to discover the fountain-wash house
(8) Take Rue de Prêle on the right for 200 m, slightly uphill, leaving the yellow and blue markings.
(9) Turn left onto Chemin de Rougeolle towards the Grandes Fosses housing estate without entering it, continue to the right, towards the east. Go uphill, arrive at a flat area, walk along the forest and reach a path that enters the woods.
(10) Take this path on the left, which shortly afterwards heads east and then turns left towards the north after about 160 m. Follow this zigzagging path until you reach the tarmac road. Take this road to the right for a good kilometre. It will actually turn into a path that winds along the woods on your left.
(11) Take the beautiful forest lane on the left at a right angle. After 600 m, the path veers to the left. Continue until you reach a road. Opposite is the feudal mound and the discovery trail. Take the time to follow it and walk around the mound. There are information panels.
(12) Set off again, on the left, along this road, heading north-west. Then veer right to reach the cemetery. There, turn right. The path veers left after 200 m and joins the car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Easy 
