The Chapelles and Buse Trail

Car park: Town Hall car park

(S/E) On leaving the town hall car park, turn left onto Rue de la Mairie and head towards the church at Place André Coupillaud (church square); with your back to the church, turn left and then, at the junction, turn left onto Les Hayettes towards the stadium. Take the small tarmac road, pass a wayside shrine and continue along the road lined with hedges and pastures alongside the Helpe Majeure. Go straight on along Route Fache behind the church.

(1) At the three-way junction, continue to the left, keeping the Helpe Majeure on your left. Carry on to the 19th-century Saint-Etton Chapel.

(2) Turn left towards Fuchaux, cross the metal bridge over the Helpe Majeure and carry on straight ahead along Chaussée Brunehaut, which climbs gradually.

(3) Turn left onto the stony path at a place called Le Coquelicant. At the end of the path, at the T-junction, turn right and then immediately left (altitude 145m) onto Rue du Château Gaillard.

(4) Head back along the road in the opposite direction, with your back to the castle, turn left and then, at the end of the street, turn right onto Rue de la Mairie. Walk carefully on the verge and cross back over the Helpe Majeure

(5) At the chapel, take the first street on the left (Rue des Bouchers), then at the end of the street, take the first left again to return to your starting point.

(S/E) With your back to the starting point, head left. At the Fork in the road, carry on straight ahead and cross the bridge over the railway line. Continue straight ahead (on your right, you’ll see the belfry of Avesnes-sur-Helpe).

(6) At the Cogniot crossroads, cross the D951 with care and take La Croisette opposite.

(7) At the Fork in the road, turn right onto La Croisette, a narrow road between hedgerows heading towards Saint-Aubin.

(8) At the three-way junction, continue straight ahead along La Croisette, which climbs uphill. Ignore the path on the left.

(9) At the junction, continue left onto Rue des Bodelez. At the end, turn left. Pass a first wayside shrine dedicated to Notre-Dame des Affligés, then a second wayside shrine and, finally, the Chapel of Saint Joseph, partly hidden by shrubs. Carry on straight ahead.

(10) At Place des Bodeletz, turn left onto Rue des Bodelez.

(11) Turn left onto Chemin du Petit Moulin, then ignore the path on the right which leads down towards the Ruisseau de la Tarsies.

(12) At the fork in the road between the two farms, turn left onto the grassy Chemin de l’Hermitage, which continues on. Carry straight on, ignoring the adjacent paths, and rejoin the route you have already taken.

(7) Continue straight ahead along the long, straight road which climbs gradually.

(6) Carefully cross the D951 again at the Carrefour Cogniot junction, then cross the bridge over the railway line and return to your starting point (S/E).

Route listed in the PDIPR (Departmental Plan for Walking and Hiking Routes)

Follow the yellow markings.

Short alternative route for the Sentier de la Buse:
Follow the start of the main route description
At point (8), turn left onto La Sablière – a road closed to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. Continue straight on, crossing the Ruisseau du Père Queue
At the T-junction with the Chemin de l’Hermitage, turn right and head towards the Place des Bodeletz
Resume following the main route description from point (10) to complete the walk.

The Church of Saint-Hilaire, named after the Bishop of Poitiers, was the first to be built in the Avesnois region and the first to baptise early Christians.

(2) Saint-Etton Chapel (19th century) – Saint Etton, who came to evangelise the region, was laid to rest in the year 651 near the Moulin de Fuchaux. The mill’s current condition is the result of work carried out by Charles III de Cröy. The building has retained a fine entrance door, and thanks to the mill, the village of Saint-Hilaire was one of the first to be electrified.

(4) Château Gaillard: a former fortified farmstead that belonged to the Avesnes estate. In 1473, the building also belonged to Philippe de Bourbon, Lord of Duisans. If you turn right, you can still see bullet marks on the door dating from the Russian occupation of 1815 to 1818.

The bocage landscape features numerous varieties of trees. Many ponds and rivers, such as the Tarcy, feed this thriving and fertile landscape.

(5) Around 1900, a bandstand was built amongst the branches of a lime tree (since dead) that had been planted as a ‘Tree of Liberty’. The villagers would gather around the bandstand to organise dances, and the musicians would take their places on the bandstand.