Saint-Nazaire Path

Start: Start at Place de la Mairie in Ablain Saint Nazaire.

(S/E) Walk along the square on the left, down Allée Jules Ferry to the small bridge.

(1) Cross it and turn left, going along the stadium and joining the path (GR^®127). Turn left and follow the fields until you reach a tarmac road (Rue de la Vallée du Chauffour). Continue straight ahead, then turn left onto the main road (D57).

(2) Take this road to the right as far as the bend, then leave it to follow the dirt track. Go as far as the picnic area before turning right again on the path before you, heading up through the woods.

(3) At the first crossroads, turn right to reach the Notre-Dame de Lorette cemetery.

(4) Follow the cemetery to the right, then before the lookout point, take the right-hand path down through the shrubbery (beware of the steep slope).

(5) At mid-slope, about 50 m before the road, fork left. Follow the path to the junction with Rue de Lens.

(6) Take the street on the right for 100m, then turn left into the next street. Pass the ruined church and follow the main street to the right.

(7) At the end of the bend, before the bridge, turn right along the Saint-Nazaire. Cut through three streets and rejoin the bridge you crossed at the start.

(1) Turn left again to reach the square (S/E).

Start: Start at Place de la Mairie in Ablain Saint Nazaire.

Alternative:
At waypoint (3) possibility of touring the Memorial in honor of the Great War 1914-1918.

The memorial on the hill of Notre-Dame de Lorette bears witness to the violent fighting of the Great War. The battle that raged there cost the lives of 100,000 soldiers. Today, the cemetery is one of France's leading necropolises, containing almost 20,000 graves and seven ossuaries containing the bones of 23,000 unknown soldiers.
Against the grey skies of northern France, the Romanesque-Byzantine basilica and its lantern tower stand out against the whiteness of their limestone facades.
At the foot of the hill, the Vieille Église (Old Church) also bears witness to the Great War; paradoxically, it was bombed by the French army in October 1914 to prevent its use as an observation post by German troops then stationed in the village.
Nearby, along the path and from the lookout, you can see the mining basin and the twin slag heaps 11/19 of Loos-en-Gohelle (the highest in Europe), the ruins of Mont Saint-Éloi and the Vimy Memorial.