In the footsteps of Marie Dubois

de fr

On1 May 1988, the “Marie Dubois” walk was inaugurated. This walk “for freedom and tolerance” aims to revive the route taken by Protestants from the Metz region between 1685 and 1789 to attend services in Ludweiler (Saarland). We cover only a short section of these paths through the forests of Landonvillers and Courcelles-Chaussy.

Details

n°1683725
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.22 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 591 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 610 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,010 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 686 ft
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Description of the walk

Start from the car park of the community hall, behind Varize Town Hall.

(S/E) Leave the car park by walking alongside the town hall. Cross the D19 and first turn right then left onto Rue de l’Église. At the end, turn right onto Rue des Écoles.

(1) Turn left and follow Rue Principale (that is its name; also D103M). Continue along Rue du Château. This street gives way to a farm track, which you should follow to the Nied Allemande river. Cross the river.

(2) As you leave the bridge, turn left to reach the forest. After a right-hand bend, ignore a path branching off to the left. Go straight up and enter the forest.

(3) Turn right and then right again immediately afterwards. After about 150m, turn onto thefirst path. Head up this path, which is heavily used by mountain bikes. At the top, veer right to reach the Route forestière du Fer à Cheval.

(4) Follow this road to the right for about 200m (ignore a wide forest track on the right not shown on the 1:25,000 map). At the start of a left-hand bend, leave the road and take a flat path on the right that leads into the forest. Follow the path and ignore all side tracks.

(6) When the path turns left, continue straight ahead on a less visible path.

(7) At the junction, turn left. Cross the Route du Fer à Cheval.

(8) At the junction, take the path on the right which runs some distance alongside the forest road through the undergrowth. At the next junction (elevation 270), go straight on (south-west) and ignore all the side paths.

(9) At the car park, take the forest road to the left. At the next junction, turn left. Follow the forest road eastwards and uphill. At the junction with the Chemin des Vaches (elevation 238), go straight on.

(10) At the end of the climb, just out of the bend, leave the forest road and turn right onto the Chemin des Huguenots, which leads downhill. Follow the “Croix des Huguenots” markers (fixed quite high up on the trees) and ignore all side paths.

(3) Turn right to leave the forest.

(2) Cross the Nied Allemande again and continue straight on along the farm track, Rue du Château and Rue Principale, all of which you took on the way out.

(1) Turn right onto Rue des Écoles, then left onto Rue de l’Église. Cross the D19 and first turn right then left to return to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 794 ft - Car park at the community hall
  2. 1 : mi 0.15 - alt. 764 ft - Main Road - D103M
  3. 2 : mi 1.07 - alt. 689 ft - Crossroads after the - Nied Allemande (rivière)
  4. 3 : mi 1.27 - alt. 738 ft - Crossroads of the circular loop
  5. 4 : mi 1.7 - alt. 974 ft - Fer à Cheval forest track
  6. 5 : mi 1.84 - alt. 971 ft - Route du Fer à cheval
  7. 6 : mi 2.3 - alt. 991 ft - Junction
  8. 7 : mi 2.56 - alt. 1,007 ft - Crossroads
  9. 8 : mi 2.73 - alt. 915 ft - Junction
  10. 9 : mi 3.33 - alt. 889 ft - Fer à Cheval forest track – Car park
  11. 10 : mi 4.21 - alt. 942 ft - Huguenot Trail
  12. S/E : mi 6.22 - alt. 794 ft - Car park at the community hall

Notes

You will be walking almost entirely through woodland.
Watch out for ticks.

Worth a visit

(5) Between (4) and (6), you have a lovely view of the French Nied valley.

You are very close to the Fontaine de Crémont (natural spring).

(10) Signposting: Blue Huguenot Cross on a white background.

Reviews and comments

3.6 / 5
Based on 9 reviews
Reliability of the description
3.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.7 / 5
Route interest
3.6 / 5
alainLABRE
alainLABRE

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 23, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

Hello.
It would be worth noting that this route presents certain difficulties that would be hard to overcome after rain.
After about 2.5 km, the slope is very steep for about 300 metres.
Kind regards
A. LABRE

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Waltoo
Waltoo

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 30, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We went for a walk as a couple today; it was pleasant in dry weather, but would probably be more challenging in wet conditions (some sections look very muddy). The GPS coordinates are accurate. A hilly route along well-marked paths.

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Patrick57220
Patrick57220

Hike cancelled, hunt underway...
Please check the dates of the driven hunts; I’ll try again shortly.

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Camus D
Camus D

It’s true that the forest is constantly changing.
That is one of the reasons why there are few landmarks. I prefer to follow the GPS data and adapt as the route changes on the ground.
The starting point can indeed be changed. I chose this one because I was bringing a group of about thirty people and we need to park the vehicles without inconveniencing the villagers living there.

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Maximumm
Maximumm

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 17, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed today. We had trouble finding the path between points 4 and 7; this may have been due to the fact that the vegetation has grown thick, that logging has taken place in the forest, and that recent storms have felled trees. Access to the Crémone fountain, for example, has become very difficult. Another example: the description mentions a lovely view over the French Nied valley, but we couldn’t see a thing… What’s more, the route description doesn’t include point 5, which left us a bit puzzled…
That said, the rest of the walk was easy and well described, through a vast, very pleasant forest. In fact, you could easily start the walk at the Nied bridge, as the section through Varize is of little interest. Thanks in any case to the author of the guide!

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choupi57000
choupi57000

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 01, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

To keep things simple and avoid going through the village and along the farm track, I went to point 2 at the bridge, where I parked the car
At point 6, I had great difficulty finding the path straight ahead, which was overgrown with tall grass
Between points 7 and 8, take a short detour to the Crémont fountain via the small path next to the bench
I quite like this easy walk with its little paths, returning via a track that’s partly tarmac.
I often go hiking on my own; if any woman or man is interested, I’m 52 and in great shape
0619118410 Christian

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mich57245
mich57245

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 25, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The landscape is fairly monotonous.
A nice walk

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jamro
jamro

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A sunny walk along a path that’s accessible in all weathers. The landscape is fairly monotonous.
A lovely winter walk

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Incooondi
Incooondi

Overall rating : 1.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : Yes

Luckily, we met someone with a sat-nav who helped us get back on track

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wierzba
wierzba

Overall rating : 1.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 22, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing

A dull hike made longer by circular loops on the Fer à Cheval trail
thanks to the mobile phone’s GPS

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stephane57320
stephane57320

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 30, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A lovely hike, with plenty of ups and downs…
I recommend it

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