I really cannot understand why this is ongoing… but it is… 
That’s why you must take time before befriending with your french neighbours… 
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I had thought that a Servitude was protected by Law… can’t fathom out where this has gone wrong…
@Maxime what am I misunderstanding… can you please explain why the landowner can suddenly close off the access… ???
I couldn’t read all the article but the suggestion is that she built in 1972 and secured right of access (presumably with the neighbour at the time) but the new neighbour has been there since 2002.
I’d expect the access to have been passed on as an obligation to the new owner in 2002 - perhaps it was; they could have simply fallen out over something else and this is the retaliation?
There are many articles… and amongst them, the Servitude is acknowledged… but the new owner does not want the old entry used…and seems unwilling to offer a suitable alternative.
Our neighbour has a barn, whose only access is across our small piece of land. There is no Servitude, but he has the right by Law to take the shortest route, which we keep clear for him to do so…
well some shared land acess are "shared, but some others might not be shared. And it still happens sometimes that the access road, gravel road or track is owned by one of the two landowners. And the owner recognizes a tacit oral autorisation to use it. It is called a “droit de servitude”. But if your neighbour decides one day that he does not want you to still have that right…well he has the right to not allow you to walk, drive or bicycle on that acces and fence it.
That is why in a way to avoid conflicts, it is better to be independent from any “droit de servitude” on your own property
But if the Servitude is marked on the property Deeds… can this really be set aside without the agreement of both parties… ???
A bit simpler, but a pipe which is the evacuation for our fosse, crosses (buried) next doors garden, a situation we inherited that arises from the fact that the two properties were once one, when next door was sold, this ‘right’ was a condition the purchaser had to accept, it’s been sold twice with no conflict. 
Yep, I can understand that… I just can’t get my head around how the Owner is forcing the neighbour to scramble up a steep woodland, on foot, instead of letting her use the 500 metres of chemin…
Perhaps they are not reporting the whole story?
Hi Jane… I have read several Reports over the last couple of years that this dispute has been going on… every time it seems sorted (by mediation) something else crops up further down the line… I half wonder if the Owner is hoping the neighbour will give up…and go away… or am I being cynical… 