An uphill battle

Park in Fauquembergues on the square in front of the post office.

(S/E) Opposite the Post Office, take the right-hand street. This becomes a footpath and joins Rue Saint-Sébastien, which you follow to the right. Cross the Aa river and turn left onto the D191. Pass the Saint-Martin-d'Hardinghem church and, shortly afterwards, reach a fork.

(1) Turn left. First climb ahead. At another fork, turn right onto a steeply uphill dirt track. At the crossroads, go straight ahead and, downhill, reach another crossroads. Take the path opposite (dirt, grass). Follow it to reach the D158 and continue left for 300 m.

(2) Turn right (Rue du Marais) to reach the Villaine river, which has washed away the footbridge I was using. Waiting for it to return, continue on Rue du Marais to reach a T-junction.

(3) At the T-junction, turn right. A hundred metres further on, take a hairpin right to reach a fork in the road. Turn right up towards Cloquant and join the D191. Superb view of the Vallée Saint-Pierre on the left.

(4) Follow the D191 to the right for a few metres, then turn left onto the path with the GR^®127B. Continue on the same path to reach the D225 at Merck-Saint-Liévin (opposite, the wind turbines await you).

(5) Follow the D225 to the right for a few metres, then turn left into Rue du Moulin. After 100m, at the crossroads, leave the GR^® which goes off to the left, and continue straight ahead, then turn right.

(6) Cross the Aa on a footbridge near the mill. Follow the road to the left to reach the church.

(7) Turn right and rejoin the GR^®. Now tackle the "petite côte de l'église". Good path at first, then a little rough.

At the top, turn right. Ignore a path to the left, another to the right and, as you descend, reach a small road. Follow it to the left, then turn left again (Rue de la Creuse) to join the D928.

(9) Cross it to take the wide road opposite. Approx. 1.3 km further on, at the T-junction, turn right onto the D158. Cross it and take the path opposite (still GR^®). Pass a farmhouse (abandoned?) and continue southwards, ignoring a track on the right. On the left, the embankment has been converted into a fitness trail. Reach the D92.

(10) Follow it to the left (caution, poor visibility). 300m after the left-hand bend, leave the road to take the path on the right. 100m further on, leave the GR^® (which goes downhill) to take the path on the right, not very obvious but very pleasant (edge of field). Continue straight ahead until you reach a hut on the right. Turn left to follow the path marked on the IGN to the south-east, reaching a T junction at 124m.

Turn right, then left to reach a crossroads.

(12) Turn right onto GR^®127A. At the fork, keep right and climb to a crossroads (windmill).

(13) Continue straight ahead to reach a wider track. Follow it to the left and join the D928 .

(14) Cross it to take the track opposite. Just after a wind turbine, reach a fork in the road.

(15) The easiest thing to do (see practical info) is to take the path on the left (not always easy) to reach a crossroads.

(16) Take the right-hand track, which descends gently to reach a path which you follow for a few metres on the left until you reach a hut (see the difficult variant in the practical info).

(17) Go right, past the hut, ignore the side paths and reach a small road.

(18) Follow it to the right and reach a block of houses. Continue straight on for about 150 m.

(19) Turn right, cross the D928 and reach a T-junction. Take the left-hand path to reach Fauquembergues and the Rue de Fruges. Follow it to the right until you reach the traffic lights. Turn left to reach the post office (S/E).

Good equipment, plenty to drink and, of course, courage.
A good shortcut is to take the road opposite (10) to go directly to (13) (there is also less ascent).

Variant to get to (17)
For thrill-seekers: at point (15), take the path opposite (blocked by a concrete block to prevent vehicles from passing) and descend to reach point (17).

Warning, this part is very difficult: huge ruts, steep slope and is as slippy as it is chalky. It was relatively okay on May 12, 2024, but you have to be careful. It's worth a try, even if it means heading back to point (16) if it gets too dangerous.

Variant after point (4) for lovers of grassy paths :
- Just before descending steeply to Merck (hill 126), take the grassy path on the left. It bends right, then left to arrive opposite the Rue de Thiembronne school.
- Turn right onto the D225.
- Cross the road and take Rue du Hamelet (one-way street).
- At the end, turn left and then immediately right to cross the Aa river (back on the GR^®) and reach the church (7).

And for the mad ones
You can easily add a good ten kilometers (and a nice climb) by adding the "de la Turquie au Fond Breton" trail to this route. https://www.visorando.com/randonnee-de-l...
After point (13), just after the wind turbine, turn right onto the GR^® which leads to point (2) of the short hike (link above).
After this circuit, back at point (2), follow the GR^® again to rejoin the main route.