The Notre-Dame de Lorette Memorial

Start at the Town Hall Square in Angres

(S/E) Head to the roundabout and take the D51 on the left, towards Aix-Noulette.

(1) After the square, turn right and then immediately left into Rue du 19 Mars 1962. At the end of the tarmac road, continue along a track. Go straight on (north-west) until you reach the military cemetery.

(2) At the corner of the cemetery, turn left. At the T-junction, head right until you reach the D58 at Aix-Noulette. Then turn left and go under the motorway bridge. Continue on to the church.

(3) Keep going in the same direction, go round the roundabout and take Rue de l’Abbé, which continues as Rue du Bois, to the end; opposite No. 61, veer to the right. At the next junction, join the D165 (Rue de Bouvigny) and carry on for about 500 m.

(4) At the cubic-shaped house, leave the D165 and take the path on the left – a former railway line – until you reach the tarmac surface of Rue Davy in Marqueffles. At the junction, turn right onto Rue Louis Pasteur. At the end, turn right onto Rue de Marqueffles and walk past the care home. Then take the first left, Rue Ampère, which soon bends to the right.

(5) At the end, head towards the woods on the left. Leave the tarmac and continue along the path that runs alongside it. At the edge of the woods, turn right and stay on the edge until the next junction.

(6) Turn sharply left and enter the forest. Head uphill, ignore a path branching off to the right and cross a clearing. Then veer left and walk along the edge of the woodland. At the T-junction, turn left.

(7) After about 40 metres, at the far end of the clearing, turn right and enter the woodland. Keep heading south-east to cross the woodland for about 900 m.

(8) At the three-way junction, follow the^GR® 127 and 145 signposted straight ahead. Stay on the marked path which winds through the forest and then along the edge of the woodland.

(9) You’ll come out onto a road; follow it to the left and walk past the Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery on your right. Continue to the War Museum.

(10) Take the path leading down through the undergrowth, which hides you somewhat from view of the cemetery. Ignore the paths to the left and go round the memorial to the north and then to the east.

(11) You’ll come out onto the D58E3; follow it to the left (panoramic view). Pass under a high-voltage power line and continue for a further 50 m.

(12) After about fifty metres, leave the D58E3 and take a path on the right. After about 250 m, turn left and head downhill. You’ll reach a small pond and come to a T-junction. Turn right here.

(13) Take the first path on the left and follow the^GR®127. Enter Souchez via Rue du Chemin Vert, which continues as Rue Rixe Oxley. At the Stop sign, turn left to reach Place de Souchez.

(14) At the Stop sign, turn right onto Rue Carnot (D937 towards Arras). Then turn left onto Rue Taillandier. At the end, turn right onto Rue Victor Hugo. At the three-way junction, turn left onto Rue du 19 Mars 1962.

(15) At the junction, turn right onto Rue de Givenchy and follow the^GR®127. Go under the motorway bridge.

(16) Immediately afterwards, take a path on the left and walk alongside the motorway for about 2 km (leaving the^GR®).

(17) Turn right onto Rue des Normands and follow the^GR®127again. Walk along the edge of the woods for about 500 m. Then take the first left, Rue des Ormes.

(18) At the junction, turn right onto Rue des Hirondelles. Ignore the streets on the left and right and carry on to the end. At the junction, turn left onto the D51, Rue Georges Clemenceau, towards the centre of Angres. Continue to the roundabout and, beyond it, to the starting car park (S/E).

(3) You’ll find several restaurants.
(10) If you’d like to eat at the Notre-Dame de Lorette memorial, it’s a good idea to book in advance, as it’s always fully booked on public holidays and at weekends, and is closed in winter.
(14) “La table de Pascal” in Souchez is also an excellent restaurant along your route.

I recommend the Visorando GPS app on your smartphone. For less than €20 a year, it makes it impossible to get lost.

The highlight of this route is, of course, the Notre-Dame de Lorette Memorial, which was targeted by the Germans from October 1914 right through to the end of the war. The memorial bears witness to the human cost of that terrible conflict. The beautiful villages along this route were largely destroyed, and even Souchez was completely razed to the ground.

I suggest you visit the War Museum, 300 metres past your point (12), which is off the route at the stop sign at the end of the D58E3.