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The old international station at Olly today
The next leg is testing. Go right and uphill on the D129 for 850m and then turn left onto a track by some buildings. Follow the track SE, bending SW to a track crossing. Here turn right (unsigned) and soon walk downhill almost to the village of Illy. Just before Illy, take a surfaced road left (again unsigned) and go uphill for 350m to a most pleasant picnic area by two crosses, both remembering the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. This is the famous Calvaire d’Illy. It is much quicker to go straight into Illy on the Olly road and then turn left out of the village to find the Calvaire, but the GR prefers to avoid tarmac.
Leave the Calvaire on the track between the two roads, going downhill to cross a shallow valley of agricultural land and up the other side to join another track. Turn right and go alongside the wood, under a few trees and up the slope the other side. Take the path that crosses open ground right (W) and then runs down alongside open ground to a fork on a road just after the first house.
Beneath the trees of the fork is a German memorial honouring the memory of Saxon soldiers of the 94th Infantry Regiment of Weimar, who died hereabouts during and after the battle of 1 September 1870.
Take the left fork and walk down to the splendid and very large memorial dedicated to French African cavalry regiments from 1870 right up to the Algerian troubles of the 1960s. It’s a very impressive place. Turn left (S) at the gate to walk just a few metres to the even larger and much more sombre French military cemetery of World War II. Continue downhill, curving round to the NW. From here until reaching the banks of the Meuse in Sedan, the navigator has to remain lynx-eyed as the GR markings are infrequent. This starts here where, with the Floing church just in sight, it is necessary to spot the tiny path going acutely back left and down between some houses. At the bottom turn left onto a road and after the short hill turn right into Allée de la Hte Gravière. Where this curves right go straight ahead onto an unmade, apparently private, road. It has no GR signs. At the end bend right and go down to a narrow earth path that continues downhill to emerge on a tarred road again by a gate. Follow the road down to where it joins the busy D5 on the edge of Sedan.
To visit the château fort, instead of heading directly to the traditional end of the walk at the railway station, turn left onto the D5 and continue straight along Ave General Margueritte to the Place Turenne in the middle of town. The fort is ahead on the left and well signed.
Turn left and cross the D5 at the traffic lights and then turn right into Boulevard Gambetta. This takes a right-angled left turn and leads up to a bridge over the river Meuse (the Pont Neuf). Cross the river and go down steps on the right to reach the riverbank, rather like a towpath here. Go back under the bridge and walk along the subsidiary canal and under the next bridge to pass two locks. Continue to the third and final bridge and get up to the road on a grassy path. Turning right onto the road reveals Sedan’s railway station just ahead.
THE BATTLES AT SEDAN
Sedan was the site of one of the most important battles of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–1871. A large French army, commanded by Marshal MacMahon and accompanied by the Emperor Napoleon III, was attempting to lift the siege of Metz. It was out-manoeuvred by the armies of the Kingdom of Prussia and its allies and cornered at Sedan. The French rear was protected by the fortress of Sedan and an apparently good defensive position set up at the Calvaire d’Illy. However, ultimately the French were surrounded and a rout ensued. After massive casualties Napoleon III called off the counter-attacks and surrendered. He was later exiled in England whilst the German troops besieged, and later took, Paris.
The so-called second battle of Sedan took place between 12 and 15 of May 1940 as part of the German invasion operation ‘Fall Gelb’ (Plan yellow). The main thrust was to take Sedan, lying as it does on the E bank of the Meuse, to use as a springboard to capture the Meuse bridges. They would use three Panzer Divisions commanded by the highly-thought-of General Heinz Guderian. The French had long believed the Ardennes to be impenetrable to a modern mechanized army and had put few resources into its defence, assuming that an extensive system of concrete bunkers would be sufficient. German troops captured the town itself by nightfall on 12 May without serious opposition. The next phase was to cross the Meuse. Although the preliminary, heavy Luftwaffe bombardment was fairly ineffective in terms of destruction of defensive positions, its effect on the morale of the French troops was considerable and many abandoned their posts. The 1st Panzer Division (1Pz) crossed the river just N of town near Floing on 13 May and made steady progress. The other two divisions met considerable opposition trying to cross the river at Donchery, W of Sedan, and near the village of Wadelincourt. But, thanks to the success of 1 Pz, the bridgehead was established and the breakout to the NW started, the beginning of the end of the 1940 defence of France.
Calvaire d’Illy
WALK 2
Corbion, Crêtes de Frahan, Rochehaut and Corbion
| Start/Finish | The church in Corbion, 8km west of Bouillon |
| Distance | 15.5km |
| Ascent | 650m |
| Time | 6–7hrs |
| Map | Carte des promenades du Grand Bouillon (1:25,000) |
| Refreshments | Ample opportunity to buy food and drink in Frahan, Rochehaut, Corbion and Poupehan |
| Access | You can start this sporting challenge in Corbion, Frahan or Rochehaut simply by jumping in at the appropriate point in the text. |
This walk combines an interesting mix of woodland walking, ridges, steps, a vertical ladder and, at acceptable water levels, a crossing on foot of the Semois. The section preceding the single ladder encountered en route is signed on the path as ‘dangerous and difficult’. After significant rain when the path is muddy it would be very unpleasant and awkward rather than dangerous. Please read the detail in the text. If you don’t fancy a ladder then don’t do the walk. In its entirety this is a tough but rewarding walk with opportunities for shortening the distance and varying the route.
From the church in Corbion go down the main road, bear right into Croix de Poupehan and after 140m fork left. The route proper starts at the cross a further 120m on, at a three-way split of roads where there are wooden route signs and a barbecue area.
Take the left-hand option, signed for Chaire à Prêcher (The Pulpit) and Frahan. After a short walk past some houses and through an open area the road becomes a track and enters first coniferous and then deciduous woodland. Just at the point where it begins to swing left, walk over to the edge of the escarpment on the right and, a little lower, find the great view down to Poupehan and the river, and seating from which to enjoy it. This is The Pulpit.
Poupehan from The Pulpit
Do not rejoin the track after this. Instead take a small path that follows the edge downwards NW, winding through the trees and eventually bringing you out on the normal route much lower down. It’s just a short distance from there to the crossing of the main road at its sharp bend by the Restaurant Les Croisettes. Go straight over onto a road (signposted Frahan) and after 150m take the track that winds down left into the shallow valley of the tiny Ruisseau du Moulin Joly – the mill referred to being about 1km upstream. Keep the stream on your left and keep right at a junction where the track begins to climb. After 150m there is a fork; although the Crêtes de Frahan is signed uphill and right from here, you should take the left, downhill, option. Just before a small bridge and a campsite, look out for the small path (signposted for the GR) that goes up steeply rightwards into woods. This is the first part of the highly enjoyable Crêtes de Frahan
