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Starts from the town hall in Chauconin-Neufmontiers (spacious car park), in the Neufmontiers area, a few kilometres north-west of Meaux.
N.B. The commune is the result of the merger of the former communes of Chauconin and Neufmontiers, and there is still a building in Chauconin with ‘Mairie’ written on its pediment, but the starting point is in Neufmontiers.
Signposting is one-way (in the direction of the route) using signs depicting the silhouette of a Moroccan soldier from 1914. These signs are found at junctions, usually mounted on dedicated posts. They are also present at the eight stages of the route, which are indicated in the description and detailed in the ‘During the walk’ section, but which do not generally coincide with the waypoints along the route.
(S/E) Opposite the town hall, stage 1 (with map) is located at the bottom left of the building. From there, cross the adjacent street and head towards the façade of Saint-Barthélémy Church (information panel on the right-hand side, stage 2 on the left-hand side). Follow the arrow towards stage 3, take the alleyway leading off to the right of the Espace Michel Colluci and follow the wall on your right-hand side. At the first junction, turn left, walk past a tennis court on your right and enter the cemetery on your left (stage 3; officers’ graves just to the right of the entrance). Retrace your steps and, at the previous junction, turn left towards stage 4 onto a cobbled path which soon gives way to a field path.
(1) At the junction (with shrubs on the left-hand side), carry on straight ahead (north-west) between the fields. When you reach some trees (stage 4), ignore a path branching off to the left (shown as a green hedge on the IGN map) and carry on straight ahead downhill towards stage 5. At the junction at the bottom of the descent, turn right. At the T-junction that follows, take a small road on the right and head gently uphill.
(2) At the junction (stage 5), ignore the farm track on the left and carry on along the tarmac road. When you reach the first houses, note a path branching off to the right at the foot of a ‘Speed limit 30 km/h’ sign (this will be the return route) and carry on straight ahead. At the Stop sign (information sign), turn left onto Rue Georges Frisez, which climbs gently through a residential area.
(3) After house number 35, turn left onto Sente de la Loge. Just after a right-hand bend, pass through a forest gate (information sign) and follow a path northwards, initially between two fields and then along the edge of woodland or wasteland on your right. Pass by the foot of an electricity pylon on the left-hand side and reach stage 6. Continue northwards along the path towards stage 7 until you come to an information board.
(4) Then turn right at a right angle and enter the woodland. The path (not shown on the map) climbs slightly, winding a little whilst generally heading east. At the end of this path, turn left onto a wider track. At the bottom of a short descent, turn right towards stage 7, climb again and follow a fence on your left-hand side.
(5) At the top of the hill, leave the “official” route briefly, turn right and go round a small clearing on the right. Enter the woods again and you’ll soon reach a triangulation point. Facing the information board, turn left and walk down a few metres, following a left-hand arc. Return to the small clearing.
(5) Then turn right and rejoin the main path, which descends for about 200 metres.
(6) Ignore the path on the right leading to stage 8 and carry on straight ahead towards stage 7. After about a hundred metres, ignore a fork to the left and continue downhill. After about 150m, turn right onto a narrow path, which descends quite steeply and is interspersed with a few wooden steps. You’ll reach the Hugot-Derville memorial (stage 7) at the edge of the field.
(7) Retrace your steps along the steep path, then turn left uphill. Ignore the path branching off to the right.
(6) At the next junction, turn left onto a good, fairly level path. After a slight descent, you’ll reach a junction (information board). Then turn left (stage 8) and go through a forest gate. Continue along a narrow lane (Chemin de Montassis).
(3) At the junction you took on the way there, continue slightly downhill along Rue Georges Frisez. At the Stop sign, ignore the ‘official’ signposting which directs you to carry on straight ahead and, to avoid more tarmac, turn right. After about a hundred metres (30km/h sign), turn left onto a gravel track which quickly becomes grassy.
(1) At the end of the track, turn left. At the junction you passed on the way there, near a tennis court, carry straight on. Return to Saint-Barthémély Church and, from there, very quickly reach the town hall (S/E).
Visorando Member
Moderate 
Difficult 
Association / Club / Walk leader
Very difficult 
