Circular route starting from Chaumes-en-Brie

Park in the car park at 6 Chemin de l’Abbaye in Chaumes-en-Brie, just past the château.

(S/E) Follow the Chemin de l’Abbaye, passing the château on your right, and take the^first street on the left (Rue du Cloître). At the end of the street, turn left onto Rue Couperin and then immediately right onto Rue de l’Archelet, which changes its name to Rue de la Poterne. Cross Boulevard Aristide Briand and continue straight ahead.

(1) Turn right into Rue Pasteur and go to the end. Look for the GR®1, marked with red and white signs, and follow it to the left past the entrance to the cemetery.

(2) Walk round the cemetery towards the village exit, then follow the GR® to the right at the corner of the cemetery, onto Chemin de l’Étang. Walk alongside a woodland until you reach a crossroads.

(3) Turn left onto the GR® to pass in front of the old mill between the ponds and fishponds. Continue to the D144A. Follow it to the right with care until you reach^{the first junction}with a sign for ‘Château du Vivier’ on the right.

(4) Leave the GR® and turn right to walk past the ruined Château du Vivier (*). Continue along the small road, cross the Bréon, and head up the hill to the junction with the D436.

(5) Cross it carefully and continue straight ahead into the woods. Pass under the old, disused railway line (*) from Paris Bastille to Marles-en-Brie via Verneuil; only the bridge walls remain on the right and left. Stay on the main path until you reach the D402.

(6) Cross it carefully, then follow it to the right for a few dozen metres until you find the signposted path on the left, just before the bridge. Take this path along the ditch until you reach the edge of the woods. Turn right into the woods, then left, and right again once you’ve left the woods. Walk past the racecourse, then cross another, smaller wood. Make sure you spot the signposted path on the left just before you leave the woodland.

(7) Take the path on the left, then first turn right then left and leave the woods to find yourself at a T-junction in front of a field. Turn left and follow the path to the village of Arcy. Turn left onto Rue du Château d’Arcy. Walk past a curious tower (*) to reach the castle gates at the edge of the village.

(8) Take the path running perpendicular to the street opposite the château. In the woods, you’ll come to a path running perpendicular to the main path; turn left onto it and follow it until you rejoin the road. Carry on straight ahead, passing the Impasse de la Ferme d’Arcy on your left, and continue to the next junction. Turn right onto the road leading down to Argentières to reach the bridge over the Yerres. You can have a picnic along the banks of the Yerres on the left before crossing the bridge.

(9) Cross the Yerres and turn into the first path on the left; further on, follow the Yerres on your left

(10) Turn right away from the Yerres, pass the Saint-Martin fountain on your right and continue to the end of the track

(11) Turn right onto Rue de la Tourelle, then take the first path on the left and follow it to the D32E4

(12) Cross it carefully and take the barely visible path opposite. At the edge of the woods, follow the path to the left along the edge of the woods until you reach the D32.

(13) Cross it carefully and take the path on the right. Cross the bridge over the old railway line and continue along the edge of the woodland. You’ll reach a crossroads with several signposts.

(14) Take the path that descends to the right until you rejoin the D32, opposite which is a small clearing and the former gatekeeper’s house. Cross carefully and take the path on the left which starts to the right of the house, behind the gate. Continue along the old railway line and cross the bridge over the Yerres. Carry on straight ahead until you reach a path on the left

(15) Take this path on the left (Chemin de la Brèche des Vignes), which winds through the greenery to Boulevard Paulat, then turn left. At the next junction, turn right onto Rue Dumont and, at the end of the street, turn left to reach the abbey car park (S/E).

(S/E) A replica of a medieval castle built on the ruins of the former Abbey of Saint-Pierre-de-Chaumes-en-Brie, which had fallen into disrepair before the Revolution.

(4) Château du Vivier: a royal castle where Philip IV the Fair stayed. Philip VI of Valois added the chapel dedicated to Saint Louis to the estate. Charles VI the Mad was confined there during his episodes of madness. François I was the last king to stay there, by which time the château was already in a very poor state of repair. It remained a royal estate until 1791, known for its ponds which served as a royal fishpond: the carp supplied the kitchens of the Louvre.

In the Bois du Roi, on the other side of the D436, the track passes under the Paris Bastille–Marles-en-Brie railway line, where it joined the line towards Grand Morin. Originally, it linked Verneuil-l’Étang to Paris. It was a suburban line, used, amongst other things, to supply Paris with market garden produce and wines from the Val d’Yerres. It was extended to Marles via Chaumes, thereby connecting several lines heading east, for military reasons. The aim was to ensure connections to the east in the event that a line were to be bombed. Following the phylloxera epidemic, roses replaced wine, hence the current name of the promenade: the Chemin des Roses from Brie-Comte-Robert to Yèbles.

(8) To see and visit the Château d’Arcy, continue straight on along Rue du Château. Then head down Route de Courtomer.

(13) Just before the château at the end of the straight stretch of road stands the Tour Saint-Firmin: built in 1896 by the actor Léon Noël, in memory of the set of the play that made him famous: *Les Mystères de la Tour de Nesles*. Léon Noël was Louis Jouvet’s teacher.
- Château d’Arcy. Formerly part of the Abbey of Chaumes. The château is now home to a social reintegration organisation.

Argentières. The village’s name indicates that precious metal was once found there.
- On the other side of the D32, the Crénille stud farm lies above the grounds of the Château de Crénille, on the opposite bank of the Yerres.
- Boulevard Paulat: see the old fortifications. The former abbey and the various prestigious monuments of Chaumes:
the châteaux of Crénille, Maurevert, Arcy and Forest; the Grange des Saints-Pères farm; three churches, of which only one remains; and the fortifications, which bear witness to the town’s former importance. It is therefore no surprise to find famous families here, including: the Couperins, renowned musicians from 1600 to 1789, and Antoine Parmentier, who helped to alleviate famines through his efforts to introduce new foods such as the potato.