Intro:
'On a discovery trip in een wonderful part of French-Flanders', that's how one should label this hike if you're not familiar with the region. The trail leads through wide open hilly landscapes with vast panoramic views, only interrupted by some impressive forests and a few slumbering villages.
It takes a little effort because the area is never really flat, and some slopes can be long and tiring. Also, we seriously doubt the distances mentionned in the topoguide. Based on the time we were hiking, the trail must be at least 5 km. longer. Maybe someone who recorded the hike with a gps system can confirm this?
While spending a few days at the Belgian coast we decided to once more hike a part of the GR 128 trail in French-Flanders.
If that region wasn't so difficult to reach for us, we'd go there every day ... but that isn't the case which really makes us look forward to the rare opportunities that may present themselves.
Back and forth:
We got a lift to Licques (an 85 km. drive from Nieuwpoort) and were picked up in Mentque (a 76 km. drive to Nieuwpoort) by the family cab. Many thanks to the willing driver who didn't mind covering all that distance. Although he admitted enjoying the region from behind the car windows since also for him this was unknown territory.
There are possibilities to get to Licques using the public transport means. If that's also the case for Mentque, that seems less probable. Tournehem (on the map only a few kilometers from Mentque) offers some possibilities as well. We're not sure though whether both places are connected ... Anyway, for us it's impossible to travel back and forth to those places in one day.
The hike:
We can only describe it in superlatives.
(klik op de foto voor de volledige reeks op Picasa)
The hike makes you discover a vast hilly landscape. A big difference with the better known hilly regions such as the Flemish Ardennes is that everything looks wider and bigger here. You can go on for many kilometers without passing any villages nor crossing traffic roads. The panoramic views succeed each other and present you with ever changing viewing angles on the region.
The area is scarcely populated, certainly when you compare it to busy Flanders. This desolation only reinforces the impression of wideness and vastness.
But besides being a wonderful hike, this part of the trail is also quite trying. The slopes are never steep, but sometimes they continue over several kilometers. Fortunately we had beautiful weather: 16° C. and a moderate wind. An ideal combination for this hike. On warm summerdays you'd better have enough water, and in the wintertime the icy winds on the open hills can really be troublesome.
The first long slope starts a few kilometers after having left the center of Licques. In fact you're climbing back up the range of hills you descended when approaching Licques at the end of the previous hike. But the effort is well rewarded because at the top you get a wonderful view on the coastal plain. The weather was clear and we saw Calais and further up Dunkerque. We thought that by now we had left the coast far behind us, but from this spot it seemed surprisingly close. The trail now descends and a few kilometers further we were almost back at sea level in the hamlet of Yeuse. No shops nor pubs here, but there are several B&B's.
The trail again slowly climbs up following the edges of the forests covering the hill tops. All the time we keep looking at the coastal plain. We're on our way for one of the highpoints of this hike: the ruins of the Chapelle St-Louis. The edifice is situated on a flat hill top at an altitude of 128 m. The roof has long gone. The empty gothic window openings frame the sky. The building dates from 1470 and up to 1790 it was the place where the seamen came to pray for the Stella Maris (Star of the Sea). But long before the christians it was a magic place where the druids came to practice their cults. The Romans followed their example and built a temple here. Looking around it's not hard to imagine why this place is so special. It not only offers the views on the coastal plain, but it also looks towards the inside of the country. It's a 360 degrees panorama and it feels as if you're in the middle of it all, the spot where everything comes together.
500 m. further we get to an asphalted road descending towards the hamlet Guémy. There's nothing more but a little church, a few farms and a little old castle, but it's completely in harmony with the surroundings and there's no modern constructions to make it look wasted. Walking a dirt road we follow the Hem river towards the village of Tournehem-sur-la-Hem.
From a distance you can already distinguish the special construction of the church, situated on a high place in the village. It is surrounded by a few small streets, a little market square with a townhouse (mairie) and a Café de la Mairie. A gate made of chalk stones is all that is left of a 12th century fortress. It's the type of village we won't find anymore in Flanders. But according to Wikipedia the number is inhabitants is rising in recent years. The french also have discovered the charms of living in the country.
From Tournehem we start the last part of this hike. Our destination, Mentque, is situated only a few kilometers from Tournehem if you follow the road connecting the two places. However, the GR 128 trail takes a wide curb through the forested region southwest of Mentque. According to the topoguide this part is 10,6 km. long. It took us over three hours to cover this distance which makes us seriously doubt the correctness of this information. Looking at the map scale and comparing the time it took us, the correct distance must be at least 14 - 15 km.
It starts with a 5 km. long country path that leads through the fields along a hill slope to the Bois du Tertre. The last kilometers penetrate into the forest via an open space. This forest hike is only an introduction for the next forest: the Forêt Domanial de Tournehem. Covering 970 ha. this is not a small forest, and as it is mostly the case in this kind of environment, it's not easy to stay on the right track. Maintenance works often make the trail signs dissapear, some paths are barely visible, and on several occasions we found hiking poles where the base was rotten away. What was left of the pole was simply put against a tree, but that's not a reliable indication anymore to know which way to go. All we could do was carefully study text and maps in the topoguide and from time to time make a lucky guess. Our guesses turned out to be right and eventually we managed to exit this impressive forest without having lost too much time. For another two kilometers we followed an ascending country road and then finally, after three hours we could start our descent towards Mentque ...
Our family taxi was waiting. The driver was slightly worried because we were late and he couldn't reach us. In these forested areas there's little or no signal, so it was impossible for us to tell him what the situation was. But we got ample time to tell him in the only small café in Mentque.
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