The Bois du Temple and Saint-Pierre Collegiate Church

Parking is available in the car park opposite the town hall.

(S/E) Opposite the town hall, turn right onto Rue Jules Ferry and continue to the traffic lights. Cross the avenue and turn into the street slightly to the left opposite, Rue du Bourg. Keep left immediately afterwards, then take the first right onto Rue Messent. At the end, turn right again onto Rue de la Poterne and continue to the first junction.

(1) Turn left onto Rue de la Madeleine. Ignore the next street on the right; walk past the cemetery and carry on to the junction with the D1. Continue carefully to the right, walking alongside the road.

(2) Take the first small road on the right and continue along Chemin du Four à Chaux. At the T-junction, first turn right then left and carry on straight ahead between a cultivated field on your left and a row of trees on your right. Keep going straight along the path through the woodland and then across the fields.
At the end, the path turns left; turn right immediately between two wooded areas and carry on to the village of Montroty. Continue straight ahead along the tarmac road (Chemin de la Côte d’Oliviers).

(3) At the T-junction, turn right onto the tarmac road (Chemin de la Ravine), go downhill and then uphill again until you reach the four-way junction. Turn right onto Rue de Folleville, then take the first left onto Rue de la Mare aux Cerfs until you reach the right-angled left-hand bend.

(4) Leave the road and veer right to pass through the wooden barriers. Continue along a narrow path between cultivated fields and hedgerows. Carry on along this path, stepping over old concrete electricity poles lying across the way. At the last set of poles, there is a T-junction.

(5) Turn right to head down into the ravine: be careful, the ground is very slippery. Once you reach the field at the T-junction, first turn right then left to go down the path and reach the D221 road.

(6) Follow the road to the right; there is very little traffic. Keep going straight on, passing the Ferme des Verts, which is on the corner of the final right-hand bend, and continue to the wayside cross. Opposite is Vardes Castle.

(7) At the Stop sign, cross the D915 with care, turn right and, 60 metres further on, take the first left into Rue Saint-Rémy. In the next bend, keep right onto Chemin des Sablons, which continues as the street of the same name. Join the D915 at the entrance to the village.

(8) At the T-junction, turn left and walk carefully along the road . In the wide left-hand bend that follows, take the first left into Rue de la Serrurerie. Once you’ve left the tarmac behind, take the grassy path; at the end, turn right, then left, then right to arrive in front of the Collégiale Saint-Pierre.

(9) Continue left along Rue du Moulin, passing the vicarage on your right, until you reach a T-junction. On the corner to your left is a steam engine.

(10) Turn right onto the Grande Rue and carry on to the traffic lights. Cross the D915 at the pedestrian crossing and continue straight ahead along Rue Neuve des Fosses for about 200 metres to reach the ruins of the fortified castle.

(11) Retrace your steps to the traffic lights, turn left for 10 metres and cross the D915 again using another pedestrian crossing. Then follow Rue Jules Ferry straight ahead to return to the car park (S/E).

Vardes Castle (private), 17th century.
The former vicarage (1766) on Rue Saint-Rémy, on the right as you face the castle.
Saint-Pierre Collegiate Church (10th and 12th centuries).
The vicarage on Rue du Moulin (18th century).
The 19th-century steam engine.
Ruins of the 12th-century fortified castle.