The Avancée Battery

Small car park near Montfaucon church. Yellow-blue markings. A short section without markings.

(S/E) Head towards the church square and walk up to the right along Place de la Grâce-Dieu. At the first nearby junction, turn left, then immediately right. At Impasse de la Rocaille, continue straight on until you reach Chemin des Pâturages.

(1) Head up to the left. When the road bends to the right (signposted “À Regardot”), head onto the grass to find the zigzag path at the corner of a low wall. Follow the edge of the pasture, passing the first path on your left and taking the second to get closer to the cliffs and a beautiful viewpoint over the Citadel. Follow the path back to the pasture and head for the Alpes viewpoint.

(2) Enjoy the view from the viewpoint, walk down the road for about 200 metres, then take the path on the left after the high-voltage transformer, following the yellow-blue markings. At the clearing, continue straight on along the ridge. You will reach a small tarmac road.

(3) Head towards the entrance to Fort Woirol and walk along the ditches on the right. Soon, take a path on the right for a return trip to the Optical Post. Return to the fort’s ditches, continuing to follow them to the viewpoint overlooking the unsecured feudal castle.

(4) Shortly afterwards, at the meadow, head up to the right along the edge. About thirty paces past a marker, leave the path that branches off to the right into the woods and continue to the next bend, where you’ll find a path on the right leading into the woods, running alongside a small dry-stone wall and a clearing. You pass the remains of the Mairot Battery or the Avancée. Climb the hillock to find a firing post and the foundations of an anti-aircraft gun.

(5) You’ll reach a wider stony path which you follow down to the left. At the crossroads, head down a little to the right, then a few metres to the left, passing a bench, and head down to the right into the pastures of the Combe aux Bâtards along the small tarmac road, quickly leaving the stony paths to your right and left behind. A little further down, at the fork, continue the descent to the right along this same small road, which becomes a forest track, entering the woods.

(6) Leave it when it turns left at almost a right angle, taking the path that branches off to the right, leaving the signposting behind. Ignore the perpendicular cross-country paths. You will find the signposts again as you leave the woods. Head up to the right into Rue de la Sablonnière. This street joins Rue des Ravières, where you turn right. Just before a transformer, turn left onto the cattle track that climbs straight up the hillside, keeping the large antenna in sight. Two-thirds of the way up the slope, veer left, looking out for a wide opening in the thorny hedge bordering the field, which will lead you to a small tarmac road. Head left until you reach a small gravel car park on the right-hand side of the road.

(7) Take the stone mule track climbing the hillside to the right. Look for the sign on a pine tree indicating you should climb to the left. Climb carefully up the embankment and continue, keeping well on the path (there is a small well on the left). At the house, take the path at the top right-hand corner of the small meadow which leads back into the woods, where the markings disappear again. When you come across a path climbing up from the right, continue climbing left along this wide path (crossing, 25 steps further up, another path on your right). You will reach a wide stony path; take it to the left to reach a small tarmac road.

(8) Turn left. At the barrier, continue down Rue de la Vue des Alpes until its hairpin bend (signposted “À Regardot”). Then turn right into the small street, quickly continuing the descent to the left along Chemin des Granges to rejoin the starting path.

(1) Follow the route back in the opposite direction to the outward journey, which will take you back to the church (S/E).

The route includes ledge paths and unsecured viewing points. The paths are rocky and slippery in places. Sturdy footwear is essential and the use of walking poles is recommended. Do not enter the ruins.

At point (8), you can turn right for a round trip to explore the anti-aircraft batteries: emplacements dug out in the 1930s. Surrounded by protective walls, they were armed with 75mm guns. When the small road curves slightly to the left, entering the woods, head about a hundred metres to the right into the field.