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Free car park at Saint-Hilaire Church in Thise.
(S/E) Leaving the car park, head down Rue du Presbytère on the right, passing the cemetery. Turn left onto Rue de Beaupré and leave Thise, keeping to the left-hand pavement and following the cycle path to the first junction. Beaupré Castle (1836) appears on the right.
(1) Cross the tarmac road carefully towards the château; an initial information panel provides a brief overview of the building’s history. Continue along the path flanked by pastures. Horses present. A second information panel then provides further details and faces the castle’s beautiful wooden gate, the remains of the old drawbridge (13th century) and part of its surrounding walls.
Continue along the edge of the plain to the next junction and turn left. Walk towards the rear of the castle to see the spire of its delicate chapel (1860).
Continue at a leisurely pace along the Chemin de la Vaivre, crossing the grassy, fenced pastures (cattle present; large animals may be present depending on the time of year and time of day; numerous birds such as grey herons, ospreys, crows and kestrels, and even storks in season).
The railway line is on your right and, in the distance, the Montfaucon mountain range and the ruins of its castle.
Walk past the old, imposing Vaivre building and follow the edge of the Vaivre woods (two benches in succession) until you reach the junction with Rue des Vignes and Rue des Boillons.
(2) Turn left onto Rue des Boillons until you reach Rue de Beaupré. Cross this street very carefully, taking the tarmac road uphill on the opposite side, and head for the picnic area with car park and play area a few hundred metres further up.
(3) Leave the path to the Ferme des Vaux on your left. Go through the gate on the left (altitude 293) at the picnic area to access the forest track. Climb the track to the top of the hill and continue through the beautiful rows of trees (oaks, beeches and hornbeams). Pass under a high-voltage power line (cleared area) then under the trees and reach a crossroads of paths.
(4) Turn left, entering the undergrowth along a distinctive path until you can see the roofs of the farms at Les Vaux. Turn left, heading due south. Walking along a narrow path, pass under the power line again and continue at a leisurely pace for a few hundred metres. You will then join a forest track at a hunting car park (sign). Turn right, heading due west, towards Thise. Leave the forest via the gravelled track suitable for vehicles and reach the road below.
(5) Turn right. Walk safely along the side of the tarmac road known as the Ferme au Vaux until you cross the Chemin des Vaux and a sign pointing to Notre-Dame de la Libération.
(6) Take the road down towards Thise, stopping at the second bend in the road to look out over Beaupré Castle, the foothills of Montfaucon, the alluvial plain and the aircraft hangars at Thise aerodrome. Continue along this road (there is a wayside cross on a mound on the right) and return to the church car park, the end point (S/E).
Visorando Member
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