Walking in the Ardennes. Jeff Williams
arrange a lift or position a car at Sedan station. In 2013 the bus service ran only on Wednesday and Saturday, leaving the station at 6.05pm to arrive in Bouillon at 7.00pm. Check at the tourist office for the latest information. You could also consider taking the 8.45am bus from Bouillon and walking the course in reverse. Otherwise an expensive taxi is the only option.
Quite apart from being an interesting and highly enjoyable trek from Bouillon to finish, if you wish, at a fine, classic château fort, this is also an opportunity to have a taste of GR14, the Sentier de l’Ardenne: a long-distance path of 215km linking Malmedy in the northeast of the country to Sedan just over the French border. There are GR signs all the way, although some are elusive.
From the Pont de France in Bouillon either go through the road tunnel under the castle or downstream along the Semois, through the Bastion du Dauphin and Bastion de Bretagne and past Pont de Cordemois (this being the longer but more interesting option). Just a short way SW along N810, the Corbion road, is the route down to the river. Follow the easy riverside track, going past Camping Halliru and continuing on a small path at the water’s edge for a further 400m to reach a stone bridge over the Ruisseau des Cornais at its confluence with the Semois.
Turn up the valley, keeping right of the stream. The track climbs steadily through deciduous woodland, curving away from and gaining height above the stream to reach a track crossing. Although the GR goes left here it is shorter (although inevitably steeper) to go straight ahead, following the wooden sign to Corbion. Higher up the hill you rejoin the GR before the gradient eases and emerge on a tarred road. Turn left to join the main road and follow it through Corbion village to the church at the bottom of the hill (5km).
Crossing the border
Opposite the church turn left into the Rue du Chairi and walk along it and its continuation, trending right and downhill to a rough track that, 150m further on, crosses the stream which represents the French frontier. There follows a delightful uphill walk, well signed as a GR, ending in a broad ride with conifers to the left and beech on the right, to join the N810.
Turn left and walk along this road for 300m before forking right onto a small forest road that quickly bends right and heads S, surfaced initially but soon easier underfoot. The way ahead seems extraordinarily level; this is because it’s the old trackbed of the Bouillon to Sedan railway, featuring occasional cuttings, embankments and gentle gradients compatible with elderly trains à vapeur (steam engines).
From 1907 a one-metre gauge local railway ran from Paliseul, north of Bouillon, through Bouillon to Corbion. In 1910 the connection from Corbion southwards into France was completed, running all the way to Sedan. Essentially the trackbed now lies under the surface of roads and little trace remains, but this walk uses the old and not-so-permanent way for a considerable part of its 21km length. The village of Olly was thus a truly international station, the last stop from Sedan before it crossed over into Belgium to reach Corbion. Passenger traffic ceased in 1935.
Don’t be tempted by lateral paths but march resolutely ahead on this excellent surface, usually with steep ground on the left falling away into the valley of the Givonne. The direction is just W of S almost all the way to the hamlet of Olly, punctuated only by three bends to the W that quickly resume the original heading. On the first of these bends there is a nice pond that is highly suitable for a rest stop.
Eventually, just after the third westerly deviation, look out for a sharp left turn that leads quite steeply downhill. A surfaced road announces Olly; the old station is still standing but now merely a dilapidated building at the roadside 100m left of the hairpin bend on the D129.
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