The Wismes Loop

Start from Nielles-les-Bléquin, a small square near the town hall (la Place).

(S/E) Walk to the right of the town hall and continue to the T-junction. Turn right and head towards the D202. Follow it to the left for about a hundred metres.

(1) Take the path on the right. It turns right and joins the D191. Follow it for about fifty metres on the left.

(2) At the three-way junction, take the wide path on the left and follow it to the D131.

(3) Cross the road and continue straight ahead on the wide path. Ignore a path on the left and continue to a three-way junction.

(4) Turn right and join a small road. Follow it to the left until you reach a T-junction. Turn right into Rue du Calvaire.

(5) At the end of the street (with the calvary on the left), turn right onto the D205. Just before the left-hand bend, turn right onto a grassy path. This leads up the Grande Vallée and reaches a T-junction.

(6) Then turn left to head down towards Wismes. After a large farmhouse, ignore the path on the right and walk past the school to reach a T-junction.

(7) Turn right and, as you round the bend, leave the tarmac to take a lovely path opposite which leads down to the church.

(8) Turn left onto Rue Principale. 100 metres further on, turn right and walk past the inn. Ignore a street on the right and a path on the left. The street bends to the left. Ignore the road that veers sharply to the right and turn right onto the main road to reach the stadium.

(9) Stay on the tarmac to pass to the right of the stadium. At the junction, carry on straight ahead along a wide path. Pass under the power line and, at the junction (elevation 143), carry on straight ahead. Shortly afterwards, the path narrows and becomes more overgrown for a few hundred metres (likely very damp in places). It widens again shortly afterwards and, after a left-hand bend, joins a small road.

(10) Follow it to the right and head uphill to the D341. Cross it (take care!) and head straight on. Turn right immediately (there used to be picnic tables here, but I didn’t see them yesterday). Turn left and follow the correct path. At the junction, carry on straight ahead to reach a second junction where you’ll find the^GR®127B(signposted), which you’ll follow all the way to Vaudringhem.

(11) Turn right onto the tarmac road. At the first bend, leave the tarmac and take a path straight ahead (we’ve found it very wet in the past and it’s sometimes better to go round it: easy to do with the map). You’ll come to a house.

(12) Turn right onto the footpath. You may come across a metal gate, which opens easily. Next, you’ll need to pass through a double barbed-wire fence (make sure to close it properly behind you!). This path is a ‘cattle track’, so it can sometimes be quite difficult. Turn right, then left, to reach a small road (with a grass verge).

(13) Turn left until you reach the junction.

(14) Turn immediately right (not onto the D191). Pass the Fosse au Lait Battu (!!!) and head uphill to reach the D341. Cross it and continue straight ahead for a few metres.

(15) At the three-way junction, take the grassy path on the left (arrows). It descends and leads to Wismes. Cross the D132 and take the path opposite, which first turns right then left to reach a T-junction.

(16) Turn left and stay on the right-hand path until you reach the D191. Cross it and follow the path opposite for a few tens of metres.

(17) Turn right onto the path, cross the D131 and head downhill (quite difficult) until you reach a small road.

(18) Follow it for a few dozen metres to the right. At the three-way junction, turn right onto the wide path. Cross the D203 and arrive at a metal wayside cross, where you leave the^GR® (it heads off to the left).

(19) Continue straight ahead to the D203. Cross it and take the path opposite leading to Le Bléquin. Follow the stream, keeping to the right bank, and head for the square (S/E).

As always, the same advice applies: wear good walking shoes and take a walking stick or two.

In Vaudringhem (5 minutes from the metal wayside cross: point (19)) there’s a café where we received a warm welcome (03 21 39 82 83). Ideal for a picnic if setting off from Wismes.

Looking at the map, you’ll realise that there are plenty of shortcuts available, but I preferred to stick to the paths.

It’s also easy to split this into two routes of around ten kilometres each.

Finally, one regret: the few animals we came across.

And for keen walkers, at point (19) you can add on the “Balade sur les Hauts d’Artois” (from point (2) to point (1)) to create a route of around 35 km.