Abandoned sites and dwellings at Pasques

Head to Pasques via the D104. Drive straight through the village and continue on the D10 towards Panges. Park in the Levêque car park, which is next to the cemetery on the left as you leave the built-up area.

(S/E) From the cemetery car park, head back towards Pasques, following the Route de Dijon on the right along the kerb. Shortly afterwards, turn left, carefully crossing the road to head down towards the wash house. Continue along Rue de l’Abreuvoir, then along Chemin du Val Courbe, until you reach the crossroads on the outskirts of the village.

(1) Keep to the right to take the stony track towards the Gouffre du Creux Percé. After following it all the way, you’ll come to a road sign prohibiting cars and motorbikes.

(2) Turn right towards the Gouffre du Creux Percé. After passing through a gate, head for the site by veering to the right.

(3) Walk around the site following the fence (shelter, information board, views down into the abyss). Retrace your steps to the junction just before the site, then continue straight ahead along a path. At the next junction of tracks, turn right towards Prenois, and carry on to the next one.

(4) Turn left – despite the Yellow Cross and Blue Cross – onto a path that climbs slightly. When you reach a Fork in the road, keep to the right. The path is marked but barely visible due to tall grass. Further on, just before veering to the right, head down the first path on the far right, through the woods. After about a hundred metres, you’ll find a rock on the left, by a large tree, which is big enough to catch your eye.

(5) Walk round it to read what is engraved on the back. This is the ‘Poste du Président’. An unusual accident occurred here in 1892. From this rock, walk back two metres and then turn right. Follow a visible path – where you may occasionally need to duck your head – along the cliff (on your right) from the ridge line. Take another path a little over a hundred metres further on. After a stretch in the open, you’ll arrive in front of the ruins of Château Hurpot.

(6) An abandoned settlement with exposed foundations and the outlines of walls. Cross the ruins straight ahead to reach, a little further on, what was once a bread oven (outlines visible) and then, shortly afterwards, descend a few metres down a promontory overlooking the Combe de Vaux de Roche. Retrace your steps back up to the level of the oven and take the path on the right. Follow it along the ridge until you reach the end of the valley. Then turn right and climb slightly. Immediately, at^{the first} junction of tracks, keep to the right onto a grassy path. When you reach the end at the next junction, turn left and, some 40 metres further on, you’ll come to another junction.

(7) Turn right onto a track suitable for vehicles. Follow it gently downhill until you reach the^GR®2below (at the end of the track). Turn left and head towards the ruins of the Moulin de Val Courbe.

(8) At the mill, you can continue along the^GR®2for a few metres to reach a ford across the Suzon. From the ruins of the mill, walk back ten metres along the^GR®2and leave it to climb to the right up a winding path along the hillside. Once back on the plateau, follow it continuously for a long way until you reach a very open five-way crossroads of tracks.

(9) Take the second grassy track on the right (suitable for vehicles). Turn onto the first track on the right, just before a clearing (line 31/28). Pass at the foot of the remains of an old enclosure wall. Arrival at the hamlet of Les Issarts Barodet.

(10) To the right of the track lie the ruins of an abandoned farm, with sections of wall visible here and there (possibly the former village of Pasques). Explore the area amongst the piles of stones. The outline of an old bread oven is visible.
Retrace your steps to the previous crossroads, the start of line 31/28. Turn right and, further on, take the^third path on the left (line 6/8).

(11) Walk for about two hundred and sixty metres before spotting, on the left, a path through the undergrowth leading to the abandoned settlement of Les Cermandets.

(12) Ruins of an old livestock farm overgrown with vegetation. Head back to the junction with route 6/8.

(11) Turn left, then take the^third path on the right (line 13/11). Continue along this path to discover, on both the right and left, the vast expanse of the abandoned farmsteads of Les Grands Charmeaux.

(13) Explore the stone piles of the Grands Charmeaux. Further on, to the right of the track, there is an old well, partly filled in (structure visible). Retrace your steps to the junction where line 13/11 begins. Turn right, then take the^second track on the left (line 14/16). Head down the track. Just before a Fork in the road, leave the track and turn left onto a wide old path. Shortly afterwards, you’ll reach a hillock at a place known as Le Bas du Fourneau.

(14) An abandoned settlement, of which only piles of stones and the base of what appears to be a tower remain. Head back to the Fork in the road. Keep to the right on the most clearly marked track, which leads to the edge of the woodland opposite a field. Head right-hand side to re-enter the woodland. Pass three track junctions, continuing straight ahead all the time; there are yellow markings after the^first and a Yellow Cross at^{the third}. At^{the fourth}, turn onto the^first path on the left. Walk one hundred and fifty metres and head down to the right through the woods. You’ll emerge at a small abandoned settlement at a place called Petit Citeau.

(15) A small pile of stones. Return to the original path and head right until you reach the D10 further on, below you. Cross it carefully and continue on the other side along a narrow track that joins a cross-path. Turn left to follow the edge of the woods (signposted left). This will take you to a tarmac road leading to the Puiset farm.

(16) Cross this road and head straight ahead, after a very slight detour to the right. Follow the route of the gas pipeline along a very wide track. Cross the D10 carefully at a bend. Continue along the gas pipeline whilst descending. Once you reach the lowest point, before heading back up, turn left to follow an old boundary wall on the right. You will arrive at a place known as La Mare des Bordes.

(17) A large-scale abandoned settlement with numerous depressions in the ground and walls that are largely still standing, now forming enclosures. The site is well preserved. Head back until you cross the D10 again and join the path to the Puiset farm.

(16) Turn left onto this track before leaving it almost immediately, keeping to the left to enter the woods via a dirt track. Continue along this well-marked track until you reach a crossroads of tracks in the middle of a clear-cut area.

(18) Turn sharply right and head up the forest track which zigzags through the clear-cut area. Just before moving from one clear-cut area to another, at a line of trees, head left off the track across the clear-cut for about twenty metres. You’ll come out onto a cross-track; follow it to the right until you reach some visible ruins.

(19) Abandoned settlement of Bas de la Vigne near the Puiset farm. Walls still standing and piles of stones visible. Retrace your steps to the crossroads of tracks, in the middle of the clear-cut area.

(18) Continue straight ahead along the track, which then veers to the right to join the D10.

(20) Cross this road carefully and continue straight ahead towards the fields. Follow this path to control point 502. Keep to the right at the crossroads to skirt the Pasques multi-sports area on the right and return via the original crossroads.

(1) Follow the path back in the opposite direction for its entire length to return to the starting point at the Levêque car park (S/E).

Alternative route 1: Bois Baillot:
Between (7) and (9): at the junction with the track (7), instead of turning right to descend towards the Suzon valley and the Val Courbe mill, you can keep left to stay on the plateau and, after turning left once more onto the path to the mill, reach the five-way junction (9).

Alternative route 2: La Combe du Fourneau:
Between (14) and (1), where the woodland opens out onto the field, instead of turning right to head back up into the woodland, turn left onto the path across the fields until you reach the crossroads at the entrance to Pasques (1). Then return to the Levêque car park by the same route in reverse.

Picnic table by the Pasques drinking trough (Rue de l’Abreuvoir).

(3) Wooden shelter at the Abîme du Creux Percé.

Tall, damp grass in wet weather and at springtime, so gaiters are recommended (ticks may be present).
Rocks protruding from the ground, which are slippery in wet weather.
The abandoned dwellings are now piles of stones – walking is more difficult in these areas.
Walking sticks are useful in wet weather, particularly on ascents and descents.

Partial resumption, following agreement, of research into the abandoned dwellings and traditional uses of the Pasques Forest – 8 years of research, 2012–2019. Document available at Pasques Town Hall, published by the Foyer Rural and the municipality of Pasques – February 2021.

Our heartfelt thanks to Mr Jean-Yves Dupont, the trail’s creator, Ms Céline Vialet, the current mayor, and Mr Alain Duthu, the former mayor, who authorised and brought this unique walk to life.

(3) The Abîme du Creux Percé: a chasm that was once used as an ice house. The first known explorer was Mr Quantin de Pasques in 1882 (who was decorated for rescuing two people who had fallen into it). The karstic cave was then visited in 1892, before the current network was mapped out in 1910 by Messrs Malard and Piot. Explorations carried out in 1942–1943 led to the discovery of the Guillemin network, the lowest point of the karstic cave. The entrance measures 35 x 25 m and the sinkhole is 63 m deep.

(5) The President’s Post and the engraved rock behind it.
It was here that President Regnier, whilst hunting wild boar, fell from this treacherous rock. But Saint Hubert, by coming to the aid of his friends, spared his life. May he be eternally thanked. The members of the Easter hunt: Édouard Blondel, Adrien Clerc, Paul Court, Paul Dodoz, Raoul Fabvier, Léon Ibled, Augustin Japiot, Henri Roussin, Alexandre Roux, Antoine Troubat. Gadeski, gamekeeper – 21 January 1892.

(6) Château Hurpot: a fortified site dating from^{the 11th–12th} centuries. The complex occupies a promontory of the cliff overlooking the Combe de Vaux de Roche to the west. A moat separates the tip of the plateau, hewn into the rock, 4 metres wide and at least 2 metres deep. The embankment of the fortification above the moat (the escarpment) was topped by a thick wall running the full width and, in the centre, by a rectangular building most likely comprising one or two storeys above a windowless ground floor. Behind it, wall levels indicate enclosures, buildings and a bread oven. For a long time, the site was thought to date from prehistoric or protohistoric times, but excavations carried out in 2015 showed that it was founded, occupied and abandoned during the feudal period, in the 11th–12th centuries. It is not known to which lord it was answerable, nor even what its functions were.
There is a beautiful view from the promontory of Hurpot Castle over the Vaux de Roche valley and its surroundings.

(8) The Val Courbe Mill. It belonged to Saint-Seine Abbey. It is first mentioned as early as the late 12th century, comprising a mill, a threshing floor and a pond. It is situated on the southern bank of the River Val-Suzon and belongs to Pasques. It is linked to the village by a wide, very old carriage road which crosses the plateau in a straight line and winds its way down the steep hillside via carefully constructed hairpin bends. Still in operation in the 20th century, it received the wheat from the plateaus. An important hub for social life and the local economy.

(10) The abandoned settlements of the Issarts Barodet: During excavations in 2015, a roughly quadrangular stone pile, several metres across, was found, strewn with fragments of Roman roof tiles. Artefacts were discovered on the surface, brought to the surface by badgers. Estimated to date from^{the 2nd} and^3rd centuries AD.
Subsequently, the site served as a sheepfold, which was established, occupied and abandoned during the^14th century; this is confirmed by the pottery, coins, clothing ornaments and carbon dating of the charcoal found within the structures.

(12) Abandoned settlement of Les Cermandets.^14th-century sheepfold. Cowbells were found at this site.

(13) The abandoned settlement of Les Grands Charmeaux: a 14th-century sheepfold, just like the previous site. Coins were discovered there, some dating from 1295–1303 (Philip VI) and between 1342 and 1353 (a type of gold florin from Buda in Hungary), as well as a door key, a glazed tableware piece and a gilded bronze wall sconce.

(14) The abandoned settlements at Bas du Fourneau: Dating based on carbon-14 analyses suggests occupation around the 8th–9th centuries; however, the construction techniques and pottery date them to the 11th–12th centuries. Immediately to the south of a small settlement dating from the 14th century, the corner of a building constructed from large, roughly hewn stones bound with clay was discovered beneath a substantial quadrangular mound of rubble. There may have been a multi-storey building.
The site served as a sheepfold during the same period as Les Issarts and Les Grands Charmeaux. The same conclusions apply.

(15) Abandoned settlement at La Lisière de Citeau. Ancient site. A small farm comprising two buildings within an enclosure situated at the centre of four quadrangular plots. Built on a stone foundation, the walls of the buildings were plastered with lime. The ceramic finds date the occupation to between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.
(17) Abandoned settlement at La Mare des Bordes. 14th-century sheepfold. A glazed ceramic calling horn was found there.

(19) Abandoned settlement at Bas de la Vigne. 14th-century sheepfold.
In the 14th century, there was a remarkable intensification of the use of wooded areas in the Dijon mountains. Whilst the sheepfolds certainly have distinctive features, particularly in their layouts, they also share many similarities. All are linked to Pasques and consist of no more than one or two farmsteads. All consist of large farm complexes comprising a dwelling and farm buildings, systematically surrounded by livestock enclosures. Many have a water source outside and are extended by paths lined with low walls (to facilitate the herding of livestock). None are accompanied by surrounding fields. These are the dwellings of livestock farmers, not arable farmers.
The structures are built to last and are, all things considered, comfortable by the standards of the time. The walls are stone, the roofs made of lava rock or thatch; the floors often blend seamlessly with the flattened bedrock. Bread ovens, domestic hearths, wall niches and thresholds are carefully finished.
Although living deep in the woods, the inhabitants of these ‘bordes’ were by no means destitute: the dressers they used, like the finery of their clothing, were every bit as fine as those of the inhabitants of the villages and even the castles and towns of the time.
Their speciality was sheep farming. This activity was driven not only by the urban demand for meat, milk, cheese and parchment skins, but also by the extensive international trade in wool.