Hydraulic structures and sinkholes around Curtil-Saint-Seine

Park at the picnic area, at the junction of Grande Rue and Rue de Suzon in Curtil-Saint-Seine.

(S/E) Walk south along Rue de Sainte-Foix for about 120 m.

(1) Turn left between two houses to take a path partly hidden by vegetation that runs alongside an inhabited property on the right. Join the Sainte-Foix local road (VC 12) and follow it down, ignoring two paths on the right.

(2) Take the first path on the left which climbs into the woods. After a bend to the right and then a second to the left, follow it until you come to another path. Then turn left and walk for about 60 m until you reach the end.

(3) At the track-to-track junction, turn right to descend rapidly towards elevation 474 at the bottom of the valley. Continue straight on, climbing a path, ignoring a track on the right and two others on the left, to reach a plateau. Then, still on the same path, after a long descent, turn right to join the^GR® 7 (elevation 428).

(4) Turn left and follow the^GR®7uphill, passing through elevation 451, until you reach a sharp, horseshoe-shaped bend to the right.

(5) Staying on the^GR® 7, continue climbing until you emerge from the woods. Cross the fields, using a hedge of shrubs on your right as a guide, ignoring any side paths, until you reach the D996.

(6) Follow it to the left, walking along this road, until you reach Saussy. Stay on the D996 until the junction with the D103 E (junction on the left coming from Curtil). Then turn right once (Rue de Curtil), then immediately take the first street on the left (Chemin de la Tour) until you reach the Tour de Saussy, which is already visible.

(7) Tower built in 1876/1878, 25 m high, formerly topped with a wind turbine. Retrace your steps to the D996–D103E junction. Turn right onto the D996, towards Vernot. Continue for approximately 1.6 km.

(8) When you reach a very tight right-hand bend (elevation 489 m), take the unpaved forest track on the left leading into the woods. Follow it until it joins the D103E at the entrance to the village of Curtil-Saint-Seine.

(9) After the wayside cross, enter Curtil-Saint-Seine, pass the old bread oven from the early 19th century on the left of the main street, then turn into the first street on the right (Rue de l’Église) which passes the town hall and the church. Picnic area by the church. Head towards the Croix Colin crossroads (calvary).

(10) Take the path on the right for about 90 m before turning left (at the Chemin de Malte sign). Take the yellow-marked path which descends and gradually leads into the woods. Follow the main path which branches off to the right into the Combe de la Fontaine, whilst continuing to descend.

(11) At the Fontaine des Essarts, you’ll find a spring, wash house and pools – a testament to human ingenuity – as well as a picnic area. Return to the path you arrived on and continue downhill. It turns left and leads onto the D103.

(12) Turn left and walk back up along the road.

(13) Just before a right-hand bend and 50 m from a visible road/track junction, take the path running perpendicular to the D103 on the right, heading north-north-west until, after 300 m, you reach the Gouffre de La Rochotte (signposted on site).

(14) Retrace your steps to rejoin the D103.

(13) Turn right and follow it for 230 m, ignoring the path to the forest house 50 m further on to the left. Turn left onto a yellow-marked path that runs diagonally and heads into the woods; the D103 is to the right. Follow it for about 460 m.

(15) At the only junction of the path with a track on the right, head up the slope to rejoin the D103. Cross it to reach the Gouffre de la Combe aux Prêtres, easily identifiable thanks to the signs.

(16) Retrace your steps by crossing the D103 again to rejoin the original marked path.

(15) Continue along the path to the right, heading due west for 120 m, then turn left to follow it uphill. It passes a structure housing a spring until it crosses the track leading to the forest house. Continue straight on along this path, following it steadily uphill. At the edge of the woods, it veers off to the right, becoming a narrow track and running alongside (keep left) a field. This brings you to the village road (VC 2).

(17) At the junction with the road, turn left towards the four pylons (visible from a distance). Follow this road, which passes in front of a military site, then continue for 330 m in the same direction. Take the first path on the right (No. 14) until you reach a low wall. Cross it and immediately turn left through the woods (the low wall guides you to the left) to go round the field. Reach the cave (not signposted) dug into the ground by walking up the eastern side of the field for about fifty metres. The entrance to the cave is 10 m past a large tree lying across the ground.

(18) Numerous excavations all around the underground cave. Retrace your steps until you reach the village road. Turn right and continue along this road until you pass in front of further pylons (military installations). You will then reach the village of Curtil-Saint-Seine. From the village entrance (Curtil sign), walk for about 330 m before taking the Grande Rue, the first on the right, which leads back to the picnic area (S/E).

Walking poles are recommended for the ascents and descents through the woods.
This route can also be split into two circular loops of approximately 10 km each

Tour de Saussy
Unique in France, it formed part of a water supply system for the village and its castle. An astonishing structure combining hydraulic engineering and wind power, it bears witness to the inventiveness of 19th-century industrial architecture.

Early 19th-century bread oven on the left on the main street in Curtil-Saint-Seine (before the town hall and church, further on to the right).

Fontaine des Essarts. Spring, wash house, drinking trough and cascading flax-beating mill (three uses: laundry, livestock and flax).
Information panels describing the structures on site. Formation of tuff.

La Rochotte Chasm. The deepest vertical drop in the Côte d’Or at 89 m. Connects with the Combe aux Prêtres Chasm.

Gouffre de la Combe aux Prêtres. Discovered in 1969, it is one of the four entrances to one of the largest underground networks in eastern France (28,090 m – water at a depth of 52 m – 33 m entrance shaft).

Spring located below the Sept Grives forest house. A stone building in a semicircle.