Intro:
This part of the GR 128 trail through French-Flanders definitely leads us away from the coastal region.
During the first hike we already noticed the vastness and the desolation of this area. The sequel only reinforces this impression. Never-ending fields, vast forests, clearly this is not the place to come to if you only feel comfortable in the big crowds and need a lot of hustling around you.
Back and forth
We arrived on foot at Bonningues-les-Calais and spent the night in that place. It doesn't look as if public transport is frequently coming here, but the place is easily accessible by car. Just beyond Calais on the A16 highway there's an exit pointing to Bonningues-les-Calais The village center is situated only 1.5 km. from the exit.
From Licques it's best to drive to Calais taking the road to Ardres. Near Calais just continue on the A16 highway towards Belgium (along the coast or to Lille).
(Provisioning: none, except in the village of Hames-Boucres where you might find a shop if you leave the trail a few hundred meters).
The hike
From Bonningues-les-Calais the GR 128 trail immediately takes you into a landscape of wide open fields. It's a chilly and dark day, it's even raining when we start the hike at 10.00 am. Fortunately it were the last drops because 10 min. later it stops raining and we kept it dry during the rest of the day. Just outside of the village budding snowdrops tell us that one day thise dreary winterperiod will be over. Hope keeps us going!
A 2 km. long straightlined dirt road leads us through an endless field, a good illustration of what large-scale agriculture means. The farmer having to plough this field will spend more than a few hours on this job.
We cross the railway line Calais – Boulogne with right next to it the HST line. Half a kilometer further the little village of St-Tricat can be seen slumbering in the distance. A weak bell-tolling comes our way. The inhabitants are invited into the church but we ignore the invitation and continue our hike. If this is God's land, we might as well meet him along the trail. We pass by some impressive farm buildings in the hamlet of Leulingue. Just like yesterday the landscape stays hilly which is a good thing because that way the strong wind won't chill us.
Hames-Boucres is the next village on our trail. A bit further, almost 9 km. after the start of this hike, we arrive at the forest of Guines. For the next 9 km. we'll stay in this 785 ha. forest. There are primarily beech trees, but large parts of the forest have been ravaged by fierce storms in recent years. Complete lots had to be cleared and planted again. Nevertheless there's enough left and you can still admire some quite impressive trees. Because of the radical changes brought about by these exploitation activities, it's often not obvious to follow the correct path. Finally it were the numbered forest lots, in combination with the map in our topoguide, that saved us from getting lost in these woods.
Somewhere halfway the forest trail we found a marble memorial: the Blanchard Column. This is the place where on Jan. 7, 1785 landed the first airballoon that crossed the Channel after taking off in Dover. This bold venture was accomplished by the frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and the american John Jeffries. It didn't happen without lots of quarrels and problems. Before the landing Jeffries even had to grab a passing branch, while Blanchard opened several air valves to get them safely to the ground. Here (website in dutch language) you can read more about these aircraft pioneers and their adventures.
We continue our hike though the endless forest. The last kilometer takes some serious rising over a difficult forest trail. It's a relief to finally leave the forest, but then all of a sudden we're again confronted with the harsh wind that blows freely over the open plains. That way we arrive at Le Mat, a hamlet consisting of only a few houses.
The last 7 km. of this hike lead us essentially over a crest overlooking the Pays de Licques landscape. On the calcium-rich slopes several species of orchids can be found, but at this time of year it's way too early for that. Anyway, all our attention is taken by the path which has been transformed into an almost impassible mudd pool. Obviously 4x4 vehicles and farmer's tractors have trouble in plowing through their own destructions and their solution is to start destroying also the adjacent field. Sometimes the mud pool is over 30 m. wide. All we can do is to make our way around it through the fields.
Finally the trail descends the hill and heads towards the little town of Licques. Here it's even worse. Either we sink in the white mud up to our ankles, or we paddle through the adjacent field carrying with us several kilos of the loamy soil.
All in all, this was an intense hike though a wonderful region. It's worth the effort and it will certainly make you sleep well.
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