Vaux - Les Sept Nains (fortifications)

We have chosen to start from the small car park located after the Vaux cemetery, where there are benches and bins.

(S/E) From this car park, with the cemetery on your right, turn left onto the main path. After the last house, turn left at the gate.

(1) Pass a small fountain named “à Claire” in honour of the dowser known as… Gérard. The path climbs steeply (we had to dismount and push our bikes as we’re not exactly “hardcore cyclists”).
Once you reach the plateau, take a well-marked forest track for 1,200 m (at the fork, at elevation 323, turn right).

(2) Then turn left onto a dirt track and follow it for 200 m.

(3) The track leads onto a well-maintained road; take this to the left for 800 m. Then turn right onto the dirt track at the end of the gravel platform.

(4) 700 m further on, after passing to the right of Jussy Fort (which we didn’t see), keep to your left

(5) Walk around (clockwise) the Saint-Hubert fortification (which we didn’t see either).

(6) Please note: after the fort, you must keep to the right, otherwise you will end up on the RD603.

(5) After going round the Saint-Hubert fort, you will come back onto the path that passes in front of Jussy Fort.

(4) At the well-maintained track mentioned above, turn right and, 450 m further on, you’ll arrive in the courtyard of an old abandoned building (the Bois la Dame Fort, which, unless I’m mistaken, was used as offices but dates back to the last war, or even later). This fort isn’t particularly interesting.

(7) Leaving this spot, turn right onto the very damp dirt track, rutted by forestry machinery, to reach, 400 m further on, the Saint-Hubert fortification, which lies below the forestry platform.

(8) This fortification is impressive but, sadly, overgrown.
Leaving the fort, take the forest road opposite for 1,400 m and head towards Marival Fort (not visible either).

(9) Turn back along the same forest road for 900 m, then turn right.

(10) The descent is easy but dangerous as there are lots of stones. After the hairpin bends, you arrive in Vaux.

(11) At the stop sign, take the tarmac road on the left which passes in front of the school. After the school, the narrow lane runs between the houses.

(12) At the bottom, take the small path on the left that runs alongside the wall and turns right at the end.
After the short steep climb, rejoin the cemetery road. Turn left and continue to the car park (S/E).

This route is just one of many. The area is criss-crossed by numerous paths. Despite the description, you may well get lost. I therefore advise future hikers to use a GPS and the relevant IGN map to locate themselves as accurately as possible (or better still, the Visorando app).
A few signs indicate the presence of military land, but there is nothing to prevent access as far as I can tell. However, on the day we did this circular route, soldiers in a helicopter were training near the forts of Jussy and Saint-Hubert. We therefore didn’t linger and didn’t try to spot the forts through the overgrown vegetation.
I’d also recommend doing this walk in dry weather; otherwise, the dirt tracks are likely to be waterlogged and, given the many ruts, you’re guaranteed to get soaked.
You’ll find water at the “Claire” fountain and in the village of Vaux.
For lunch, head to Ars-sur-Moselle, where there is a bakery but unfortunately no butcher’s shop (there is a supermarket).

The Moselle Wine Route. In Ancy, after Ars-sur-Moselle heading towards Pont-à-Mousson, there is a winegrower who produces an excellent Moselle wine.
A bit of history below;
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC24...