G2 - Les Grandes Virées - 6km

Parking and departure at the former Gembes train station.

The path climbs through the woods to a viewpoint over Gembes. This spot is called Grevi. The walk then enters a contrasting forest area of great beauty. After the broadleaf trees comes the large spruce plantation of Grandes Virées dating from 1926, 27 hectares of communal conifer planting taken from former coppice. The trunks of these spruces rise like cathedral columns. Then comes the beautiful broadleaf forest of Massaumont, on the north-northwest-facing slope of the Almache. Finally, the admirable beech forest of Gros Bois, one of the finest in the region.

An earlier village of Gembes is said to have been located in the Gembrai valley. Its inhabitants are believed to have abandoned it following epidemics. At the bottom of the valley there is a reconstruction of the former Foresters’ Hut. It is a rudimentary construction, in the Neolithic tradition, made of a frame of three forks and poles. Mossy grass fills the gaps. The whole structure is covered with broom on which the rain runs off. It was the dwelling of the “boquillon” (woodcutter) who left the village around All Saints’ Day and returned in June to help his family in the fields; of the “fauldeur” (charcoal burner) who made charcoal from March to November; of the clog maker, before he worked in village workshops; and finally of the “pelleux” who, when the sap rose in spring, harvested the bark of oak trees about 18 to 25 years old before they were felled, according to the old coppice forestry practice. The dried bark, the “tan,” was used for tanning leather.

The Pont des Gades over the Almache dates from the 19th century and is a listed structure. It has three arches, the smallest of which marks the start of the diversion channel that supplied the Gembes Mill. The parapet is made of slate slabs set on edge. A path once climbed the Roche d’en Haut toward Gembes, before the current road from Gembes to Porcheresse existed, which is now more than a century old.