Circular route starting from Chaumes-en-Brie

Park in the car park at 6 Chemin de l'Abbaye in Chaumes-en-Brie, just after the castle.

(S/E) Follow 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 name (Rue de la Poterne). Cross Boulevard Aristide Briand and continue straight ahead.

(1) Turn right onto Rue Pasteur and continue to the end. Find the GR®1, marked in red and white, and follow it to the left in front of the cemetery entrance.

(2) Go around the cemetery towards the village exit, then follow the GR® on the right at the corner of the cemetery, Chemin de l'Étang. Walk along a wood 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 carefully to the right until you reach^{the first crossroads}with a sign for "Château du Vivier" on the right.

(4) Leave the GR® and turn right to pass in front of the ruined Château du Vivier (*). Continue along the small road, cross the Bréon, and go up the hill to the crossroads with the D436.

(5) Cross it carefully and continue opposite into the woods. Pass under the old abandoned 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 to find the marked path on the left, just before the bridge. Take it along the ditch to the edge of the woods. Turn right into the woods, then left and right again once you have left the woods. Pass in front of the racecourse, then cross another smaller wood. Be sure to look for the marked path on the left just before you leave the woods.

(7) Take the path on the left. Leave the woods and you will 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. Pass a curious tower (*) to find the castle gate at the edge of the village.

(8) Take the path perpendicular to the street opposite the castle. In the woods, take the perpendicular path on the left and follow it until you reach the road. Continue straight ahead, pass Impasse de la Ferme d'Arcy on your left and continue to the next crossroads. Turn right onto the road that descends towards Argentières to reach the bridge over the Yerres. You can picnic along the Yerres on the left before crossing the bridge.

(9) Cross the Yerres and turn onto the first path on the left. Further on, follow the Yerres on your left.

(10) Turn right, leaving the Yerres, pass the Saint-Martin fountain on your right and continue to the end of the path.

(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 entrance to the woods, follow the path on the left along the edge and arrive at 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 woods. You will come to a crossroads with several signposts.

(14) Take the path that descends to the right until you reach the D32, with a small square and the old gatekeeper's house opposite. Cross carefully and take the path on the left that starts to the right of the house, behind the gate. Continue along the old railway line and cross the bridge over the Yerres. Continue 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, and turn left. At the next crossroads, turn right onto Rue Dumont and at the end turn left to reach the abbey car park (S/E).

(S/E) Pastiche of a medieval castle built on the ruins of the former Abbey of Saint-Pierre-de-Chaumes en Brie, which fell into ruin before the Revolution.

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

In the Bois du Roi, on the other side of the D436, you pass under the Paris Bastille – Marles en Brie railway line, where it joined the line to Grand Morin. Originally, it connected Verneuil-l'Étang to Paris. It was a suburban line, which was used, among other things, to supply Paris with market garden produce and wines from the Val d'Yerres. It was extended to Marles via Chaumes, thus connecting several lines to the east, for military reasons. The aim was to guarantee connections to the east in case one line was bombed. After the phylloxera epidemic, roses replaced wine, hence the current name of the walk: the Chemin des Roses from Brie-Comte-Robert to Yèbles.

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

(13) Just before the château at the end of the straight road is 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 an outbuilding of the Abbey of Chaumes. The château is now occupied by a rehabilitation association.

Argentières. The name of the village indicates that precious metals were once found there.
- On the other side of the D32, the Crénille stud farm above the Château de Crénille estate, on the other side of the Yerres.
- Boulevard Paulat, see the old fortifications. The old abbey and various prestigious monuments in Chaumes:
The châteaux of Crénille, Maurevert, Arcy and Forest, the Grange des Saints-Pères farm, three churches (only one of which remains) and the fortifications demonstrate the importance of the town in the past. It is therefore logical to find famous families there, including: The Couperins, musicians known from 1600 to 1789, and Antoine Parmentier, who helped reduce famine through his efforts to introduce new foods such as the potato.