From Alfort to the Pont d’Austerlitz via Lac de Daumesnil

Starting point and access: École Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort.
- Metro - Line 8. Take Exit 1, Carrefour de la Résistance.
- Bus - Lines 24, 103, 104, 107, 125, 181 and 325. Head towards the odd-numbered side of Avenue du Général Leclerc.

No signposting

(S) Upon exiting the metro station, walk straight along Avenue du Général Leclerc for about twenty metres, past the façade of the former Suze distillery (information sign). Turn right into Allée de l’Amourette and walk between the two buildings. At the end, cross Quai Fernand Saguet and climb a flight of steps.

Red and yellow markings

Then turn left onto Promenade Paul Cézanne, a wide cobbled path (do not go down the steps leading to the banks of the Marne). At a sort of crossroads, two narrow cobbled paths lie ahead: take either one.

No markings

At the top, turn right and take the Pont de Charenton over the Marne (the Saint-Maurice lock dam is on the right). Then cross the A4 motorway and cross the D103 road at the traffic lights.

(1) Turn immediately left, cross Rue du Pont at the traffic lights and follow the D103 towards Charenton-Bercy. Take the^first right, just before the metro bridge, onto Rue de l’Abreuvoir. The street gives way to a path interspersed with steps.

At the top, turn left into a cobbled street, Rue de Paris. Walk past a square and a fountain on your left. Pass Charenton Town Hall and a statue of Henry IV. Continue along Rue de Paris, cross Rue Gabrielle on your right, cross Rue Alfred Savouré and emerge onto the forecourt of Saint-Pierre Church.

Yellow markings

(2) Pass between the war memorial (on the left) and the church (on the right), cross Rue de la République and follow Avenue Jean Jaurès, preferably on the left-hand pavement. Go straight on, past a school and then a sports complex (covered market on Saturdays), and ignore all the streets on the right. At the end, cross Avenue de Gravelle at the pedestrian crossing on the left.

Red and white markings

(3) Take the gravel path opposite and pass between, on the left, a former velodrome (now the PUC rugby stadium) and, on the right, the old Charenton cemetery. At a fork in the road, turn right. Cross two tarmac paths in succession and continue along a gravel track (note the Vincennes Pagoda on the left and the rock at Vincennes Zoo in the distance opposite). Cross two more tarmac paths in succession and arrive at a crossroads.

Then take the^second path on the left to reach the shore of Lac de Daumesnil. Turn left and stay as close to the lake as possible.

Yellow markings

(4) At the junction, take the bridge on the right leading to the Île de Reuilly. As you leave the bridge, take the^second path on the right to reach the “Greek Temple” immediately and enjoy a view of the lake.

Retrace your steps.

Red and white markings

(4) After crossing the bridge, walk about thirty metres and turn right onto the Promenade Maurice Boitel. At the Fork in the road that appears immediately, turn right and stay as close to the lake as possible. N.B. In the event of works on the shore (as of December 2020), take a path slightly further away.

No signposting

At a junction near a sign for “Promenade Maurice Boitel”, take the^third path on the left, heading west, and move away from the lake. At the next junction, go straight on and then go round a planted area on the right.

Red and white + red and yellow markings

Cross a tarmac path (Ceinture du lac) and, at the first Fork in the road, take the path on the right. Shortly afterwards, you’ll come out onto a wide path; follow it to the right. Walk past a playground on your right, continue straight ahead ignoring all the side paths, and go over the tunnel under the Boulevard Périphérique. You’ll come out onto a semi-roundabout (with the metal gate of the Foire du Trône on the left).

(5) Cross a road on the right and walk down Place du Cardinal Lavigerie on its left-hand side. Then cross Boulevard Poniatowski and the tram tracks and continue straight ahead into Rue Claude Decaen.

No signposting

Just before a bridge, go through a metal gate on the left and enter the Petite Ceinture park in the 12th arrondissement. Climb a flight of steps. At the top, turn right to cross the railway line (long disused). Turn left onto a hard-packed path and follow the railway line on your left. Under a metal footbridge, turn right, climb a flight of steps and emerge onto Avenue du Général Bizot.

Red and white markings

(6) Cross the avenue and follow Rue des Meuniers opposite. Continue straight ahead, passing Rue de Fécamp, Rue de Madagascar and Rue Nicolaï in turn. At the end, first turn right then left to follow Rue de Wattignies.

At the traffic lights, cross Rue de Charenton to the left, then first turn left then right to follow Rue des Fonds Verts. At the next set of traffic lights, cross Rue Coriolis and enter the Proudhon Tunnel, which passes under the railway lines of the nearby Gare de Lyon. As you exit the tunnel, walk past a church on your right.

Red and yellow markings

Cross Rue Baron Le Roy then Rue de la Nativité. Then turn right to cross at the traffic lights and follow Rue de Dijon to the left. Cross Rue de Pommard on the right-hand side then Rue Paul Belmondo.

(7) Immediately afterwards, turn right into Parc de Bercy and continue straight on for about 40 metres.

No signposting

Take the^first paved path on the left and walk alongside a playground on your right. Then turn right and walk alongside the arcades on your left. At the end of the arcades, follow a narrower paved path to the left. Opposite a drinking fountain and at the foot of a large plane tree, take a wider paved path to the right. Continue straight ahead and go through a metal gate. Walk past the entrance to the Paris-Bercy coach station on your left, then climb a large flight of steps on the left.

Red and white markings

Take the Simone de Beauvoir Footbridge over the Seine (the Palais des Sports and the Ministry of Economy and Finance on your right, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France opposite). Stay on the lower deck.

(8) As you leave the footbridge, turn right and walk along the Quai d’Austerlitz. After about a hundred metres, go down a flight of steps and join the quay on the right at the Joséphine Baker Swimming Pool. Walk along the Seine on your right and pass under the Pont de Bercy. Further on, the quay becomes covered.

Go under the Pont Charles de Gaulle and, immediately afterwards, turn left to find a flight of steps. Climb the steps and, at the landing, turn left to climb a second flight of steps. At the top, turn right and cross the Quai d’Austerlitz at the traffic lights. Then go down a ramp on the right and then down a flight of steps on the left leading to the entrance of Gare d’Austerlitz (E).

To get back home:
- RER - Line C, towards Pontoise, Versailles, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Massy-Palaiseau, Étampes or Dourdan.
- Metro - Lines 5 and 10.
- Bus - Lines 24, 57, 61, 63, 89, 91 and 215.

Good trainers are sufficient for this fairly short urban route.

There are a few toilets and drinking water points along the route, shown on the map background, particularly in Bercy Park, between (7) and (8). Bars, restaurants and shops can be found along the route.

Opening hours of public parks:
Petite Ceinture in the 12th arrondissement:
Opening: 8.00 am on weekdays; 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Closing: 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Parc de Bercy:
Opens: 8.00 am on weekdays; 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Closing: 5.45 pm to 8.30 pm depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.

Walk undertaken by the author on 5 December 2020.

- Saint-Maurice lock dam on the Marne, between (S) and (1).
- Charenton-le-Pont Town Hall, between (1) and (2).
- Saint-Pierre Church (19th century) (2). The inscription of the motto of the French Republic and the words "Propriété communale" on the church’s pediment date from 1896 (the law separating Church and State would not be passed until nine years later).
- Lac Daumesnil and Île de Reuilly (4).
- The 12th arrondissement’s Petite Ceinture (disused railway line), before (6).
- Bercy Park, between (7) and (8).
- Beautiful view of the Seine from the footbridge before (8).