From Italie to Didot via Butte-aux-Cailles and Petit Montrouge

Starting point and access: Place d'Italie.
- Metro - Lines 5, 6, 7. Take exit 4 Marie du 13e Arrondissement.
- Bus - Lines 27, 47, 57, 59, 61, 64, 67, 83.

(S) When you exit the metro station, turn left, walk past the 13th arrondissement town hall and cross Avenue des Gobelins at the traffic lights. Then take the^first right, Avenue de la Soeur Rosalie. At the end, turn left onto Rue Abel Hovelacque, then immediately right onto Rue des Reculettes. Go downhill, turn left with the street and then right. At the bottom, follow Rue Croulebarbe to the left. Turn with this street at the corner of No. 63, then turn left again into Rue Corvisart, which is slightly uphill.

At the traffic lights, cross the^first branch of Boulevard Auguste Blanqui, pass under the elevated metro arch and then cross the^second branch of the boulevard. Follow Rue Eugène Arget opposite: pass under a porch and climb a staircase. At the top, turn sharply left. Then cross Rue des Cinq Diamants and follow Rue Jonas.

At the end, turn right onto Rue Samson and continue straight ahead. You will come out onto Rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles; follow it to the right. Cross Rue des Cinq Diamants on the right-hand side and you will reach Place de la Commune de Paris.

(1) Turn left, leave the triangular square on your right and follow Rue de l'Espérance. Take the^first right, Rue Michal. At the end, turn right and then left onto Rue Daviel. At number 10, note the typical Petite Alsace building on the right and walk to the left and back in Villa Daviel, lined with small houses. Continue down Rue Daviel. Cross Rue Vergnaud and continue opposite, Rue Daviel.

(2) At the end, turn left onto Rue de la Glacière, preferably on the wide pavement on the right. Pass in front of the Church of Saint-Albert-le-Grand and continue straight ahead until you reach a crossroads. Go around the crossroads on the right, cross Rue d'Alésia, continue along Avenue Reille and take the^first right, Impasse Reille.

At the end, climb a flight of steps, cross a small square and a street, and enter the Jardin Marie-Thérèse Auffray. Go straight ahead along a cement path, noting on the right and behind a gate the remains of a Gallo-Roman aqueduct and then, on a small hill, the manhole cover of an old 17th-century aqueduct. Leave the garden at the end of the path. Turn right and walk along the Jardin partagé de l'Aqueduc. Turn right again and go down Rue Thomas Francine.

At the end, turn left onto Avenue de la Sibelle, then left again onto Rue d'Alésia. Continue straight ahead and pass under a railway bridge (RER line B). Cross Avenue René Coty in two stages.

(3) Then turn left and climb the stairs on Rue des Artistes. At the top, follow the street to the left. Cross Rue de l'Aude and continue straight ahead to the foot of the Montsouris Reservoir. Then follow Rue Saint-Yves to the right, keeping the brick church (Chapelle Saint-François d'Assise) in your sights. At the crossroads, turn right onto Rue de la Tombe Issoire.

After about 40 metres, turn right and walk back and forth along Villa Seurat, lined with painters' studios. Continue along Rue de la Tombe Issoire and cross Rue de l'Aude again on the right-hand side. Then turn right and walk back and forth along the narrow Cité Annibal. Continue along Rue de la Tombe Issoire and you will soon come to Rue d'Alésia.

(4) Then turn left to cross Place des Droits de l'Enfant (statue) and follow Rue Sarette to the left. Take the^first right, Rue Couche. Cross Rue d'Alésia and turn right into Rue de Bigorre. At the crossroads, turn right into Rue du Commandeur, which curves to the left.

At the T-junction, follow Rue Bézout to the right. At the crossroads, turn left onto Rue d'Alembert. Go straight ahead at the next two crossroads. Join Rue Hallé and note the very large brick house on the right-hand side and, opposite, the town houses arranged in a semicircle.

(5) Follow Rue Hallé to the left. At the three-way junction, turn right onto Rue Sophie Germain. At the end, cross Avenue du Général Leclerc at the pedestrian crossing on the left. On the other side, follow the avenue to the right and cross Rue Mouton Duvernet. Then take the^first left, Rue Ernest Cresson. Cross Square Henri Delormel (private access) on the left and continue straight ahead.

At the end, first turn left then right onto Rue Charles Divry. Take the^first left onto Rue Saillard. After a few dozen metres, turn right and cross the square between a park on the left and the 14th arrondissement town hall on the right.

(6) Follow Rue Pierre Castagnou to the left and pass by the annex town hall, a brick building decorated with a large Art Deco stained glass window. Cross Rue Mouton Duvernet at the pedestrian crossing and walk along the square on your left. Cross Rue Brézin, then turn right onto Avenue du Maine. Then first turn left then right onto Rue de la Sablière.

At the traffic lights, turn left onto Rue des Plantes, preferably on the left-hand pavement. Continue straight ahead, passing Rue Bénard on your right and Villa Moderne on your left. Walk along a small triangular square on your right and cross Rue du Moulin on your left.

Immediately afterwards, turn left onto Impasse du Moulin Vert and you will find beautiful houses at the end. Retrace your steps and continue left onto Rue des Plantes.

(7) At the traffic lights immediately ahead, cross Rue d'Alésia and follow it to the left. Take the^first right, Villa d'Alésia. At the three-way junction, turn right, still on Villa d'Alésia. Follow this cobbled lane lined with colourful converted old workshops.

At the crossroads, rejoin Rue des Plantes and follow it to the left. At the two successive traffic lights, go straight ahead. Then turn right onto Rue de l'Abbé Carton.

(8) Just before a traffic light, turn left onto Rue Joanès, lined on the right-hand side with small colourful houses. At the end, turn right onto Rue Boulitte. This leads onto Rue Didot, which you follow to the left. Immediately afterwards, turn left and walk back and forth through Villa Duthy.

Continue along Rue Didot and cross Villa Deshayes on the left, then Rue Ledion. Walk to the left and back in Villa Small Pass with its beautiful houses. Continue along Rue Didot and you will soon reach the gate giving access to the Petite Ceinture in the 14th arrondissement.

(9) Unless you are returning by metro (see below), cross the old Petite Ceinture line and continue straight ahead to quickly reach Porte Didot (E).

To return home:
From Porte Didot (E):
- Tram - Line T3a. The station is located in the middle of Boulevard Brune, slightly to the left.
- Bus - Line 58.
From the Petite Ceinture gate in the 14th arrondissement (9):
- Metro - Line 4. Take the gate on the left and go down a large metal staircase. Follow this route from its starting point (5) to the Porte d'Orléans station. It is about 1 km.
- Metro - Line 13. Turn right onto a pedestrian path and follow this trail in the opposite direction between its starting point (5) and Rue Raymond Losserand (red and white markings). Then leave the trail and follow Rue Losserand to the left until you reach Porte de Vanves station. This is about 700 metres.

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route.

Numerous bars, restaurants and shops along the route.

Public garden opening hours:
Jardin Marie-Thérèse Auffray:
- Opening hours: 9:30 a.m. on weekdays; 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing time: 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Petite Ceinture in the 14th arrondissement:
- Opening: 9:00 a.m. on weekdays.
- Closing times: 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.

Detailed map required (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on 20 January 2022.

From Place d'Italie (S) to Rue de la Glacière (2):
- Rue-escalier Eugène Atget.
- Mural frescoes on Rue Samson and Rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles.
- Petite Alsace complex (1912) and Villa Daviel at 10 Rue Daviel.

From Rue de la Glacière (2) to the Tombe Issoire x Alésia intersection (4):
- Saint-Albert-le-Grand Church (1963).
- Remains of a Gallo-Roman aqueduct and a 17th-century aqueduct in the Jardin Marie-Thérèse Auffray.
- Rue des Artistes.
- Villa Seurat and its artists' studios.
- Cité Annibal (narrow cul-de-sac).

From the Tombe Issoire x Alésia intersection (4) to the 14th arrondissement town hall (6):
- Petit Montrouge neighbourhood.
- Beautiful houses at the intersection of Alembert and Hallé (5).
- Square Henri Delormel (private).

From the 14th arrondissement town hall (6) to Rue Joanès (8):
- Art Deco stained glass window (1933) on the façade of the town hall annex, by glass painter Jacques Le Chevalier (1896-1987).
- Impasse du Moulin Vert.
- Villa d'Alésia lined with former studios, including that of painter Henri Matisse (1869-1954).

From Rue Joanès (8) to Porte Didot (E):
- Small colourful houses at the beginning of Rue Joanès.
- Villa Duthy.
- Villa small pass.
- Former Petite Ceinture railway line (9).