Le Charme de l'Arbre à Loques

Hasnon

Opposite the modest chapel of the Bon Dieu de Giblot, a hornbeam and a conifer bend under the weight of a strange foliage: hundreds of pieces of cloth, ribbons, swaddling bands and children's clothes tied to the branches by generations of pilgrims. The name "Giblot" is thought to come from Gembloux, in Belgium, where a crucifix is said to have bled when an attempt was made to move it in the 16th century — a cult that spread as far as this corner of the Nord countryside. Here, tradition holds that the wish or the cure is granted when the piece of cloth, eaten away by the weather, finally falls off by itself. Mothers once brought their infants here on Good Friday so that they would walk sooner; those with fever tied a garter to the tree. The present tree took over from an old oak that received these offerings for decades before dying. The chapel itself moved in 1980, but the rite has never left this corner of countryside between Saint-Amand and Denain, where "Bon Dieu de Giblot" has remained, in local speech, the expression still used for someone looking a little dazed.

Getting there : Along the D40, near exit 4 of the A23, at Hasnon (Nord)

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound