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Starting point: Bures-sur-Yvette station (RER B). (Alternative starting point: Gif-s-Yvette; see ‘Practical information’.)
(S/E) The start is unmarked. Coming from Paris, cross the tracks. Take the ‘Impasse de la Station’ exit. Take the street running perpendicular to the tracks (north), then the first on the left (Passage du Villevert, west). Walk straight ahead into the Parc de la Grande Maison (if it is closed, go round the right-hand side). Once in the park, walk straight on for 150 m, then turn right at a right angle (north) to leave the park in front of the market. Follow Rue Charles de Gaulle to the left until you reach a roundabout. Turn diagonally right onto Rue du Docteur Colle, with a small stream on your left and a football stadium on your right. Take the first left, onto Rue des Bleuets, then opposite, take Rue de la Prairie and follow it to the end.
Red-green signpost No. 4.
The route is well signposted and generally easy to follow, but you need to watch out for unexpected changes of direction and missing signposts in places.
(1) On a footpath, turn right following marker No. 4. Go round the floodplain (Bassin de Bures-Gif) on the right. Turn right, cross a stream, then turn left. At the Fork in the road that appears immediately, head slightly uphill to the right. Head up a gentle slope northwards to join Rue du Hameau de la Févrie, then turn left onto Rue de la Févrie. Turn right, then cross the fairly busy Rue Gustave Vatonne to reach a footpath straight ahead (north). Climb the steep flight of steps straight ahead.
At the top, take the path to the left (west) along a stone wall, the Route des Plants du Moulon, which runs flat along the edge of the plateau.
(2) When you reach a tarmac road (D306), follow it to the right for 50 m. Then cross the D306 ( a very busy road). Keeping an eye on the zigzagging signposts, follow a path (west) then a track to the right (north).
(3) Before reaching the fields, turn left (south-west) then immediately right, towards “Chemin de la Crête” (west, then north-west). Continue on level ground. At a Fork in the road, veer to the right.
(4) Cross a small stone bridge over a stream; then turn left onto the Chemin de la Lisière.
(5) At a gate, you’ll come to a clearing at the edge of a field with a bench. Turn left (south-west) towards “Chemin de la Rigole”. Do not follow the ditch, but keep to the right, walking alongside a wire fence, on a slight downhill slope. After 400 metres, take a path leading downhill on the right-hand side. Pass a few houses, join the D306 and follow it to the right for 50 metres.
(6) Turn right onto Chemin des Fonds Fanettes, towards “Chemin du Moulin”. Stay on level ground. Keep to the left, passing a few properties.
(7) At a stream crossing with a bench, turn right uphill (signposted “Chemin du Moulin towards Saint-Aubin”).
(8) At the top of this climb, turn left, following the sign for “CR5 Chemin de la Fontaine Billehou, towards Le Billehou”. Follow the edge of the plateau on roughly level ground, heading west. After passing a property, the path begins to descend; halfway down the slope, take a level path on the right (north).
(9) At a barrier, turn left downhill (signposted “CR8 Chemin du Bois, towards the Canal”, north-west). On a small tarmac road, pass through the small, Normandy-style hamlet of Le Canal with its little river. Continue along the road until you reach a junction. Turn right onto a wider road (Route de Gif) and follow it for about a hundred metres.
(10) Opposite No. 37, turn left onto an uphill path (poorly marked, uninviting, steep and slippery: if necessary, take a wide detour to the right). At the top, take a wide dirt track to the left. Stay along the edge of the wooded plateau, heading south-west then west-north-west.
(11) At a crossroads, head straight on towards “Chemin de Voisins-le-Cuit” (north-west), downhill. 300 metres further on, at a bench, take a steeply descending path to the left (south). Join a tarmac road and follow it to the left (Impasse de la Petite Barrerie). Walk through the village (with a Norman feel) of La Petite Barrerie. Cut across the Route de Gif, then cross a wetland area via a boardwalk.
Unmarked
(12) At the River Mérantaise, turn left. Cross the river then follow it on your right-hand side. Ignore a wooden bridge on the left, then cross another branch of the river. Continue westwards.
Red-green signpost no. 4.
(13) Cross the Route de Gif (D95) at a car park and continue straight on. At the sign for ‘Carrefour de la Carrière’, continue straight on, at the bottom of the valley, along a wide, gently ascending dirt track (westwards) for 600 metres.
(14) At a junction, at the sign for “Forêt Départementale du Bois des Grais”, turn left at a 90° angle uphill (south-west). At the top, at the junction of plots nos. 11–20, head diagonally left, below plot no. 20.
At the junction of plots nos. 19–20–28–29, turn left (east) onto a wide lane which soon turns south-east. Cross two perpendicular paths. At the end of the lane (rubbish bin; elevation 149), turn left downhill (east). Do not take the path coming from the left; continue eastwards. At the T-junction, turn right. Cross a small road and walk alongside a cemetery on your right. At the end, cross the D306. Take care.
(15) (Signposting missing) Follow the road to the left (east) that runs parallel to the D306 and pass in front of a sports hall. Turn diagonally right onto the path that cuts across the lawn. Between the houses, go down a path on the right (stairs). At the tarmac road, turn right, towards “Centre ville”. Cross a stream and turn left, towards “Centre ville”, to go round the flood basin.
(16) At the sign for “Bassin de Coupières”, turn left at a 90° angle and go under the road (Rue de la Croix de Fer) via an underpass.
For several kilometres, you will now follow signpost no. 4 along the concrete path beside the Yvette, heading generally eastwards, alternating between one bank and the other.
(17) Take the path on the right in front of a school, at a sign for “Jupiter”, to cross the Yvette; you will cross it again 200 m further on. Follow the river. Ignore the sign for “Gare de Gif Centre”, but take the underpass beneath Rue Alphonse Pécard. Continue for 200 m.
(18) Turn right (let the GR® continue straight on). Join the main branch of the Yvette. Turn left and walk alongside the river on your right and a large green meadow on your left. There are some pretty houses on the opposite bank.
(1) After the sign for “Bassin de Gif-Bures”, rejoin the path you took on the way there to the right and, heading in the opposite direction, make your way to Bures-sur-Yvette station (S/E).
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