From Boissise-le-Roi to Boutigny-sur-Essonne via the Chemin de l'École

Starting point and access: Boissise-le-Roi station.
- RER - Line D, on the section between Corbeil-Essonnes and Melun.
Take the exit at the end of the platform. If arriving on platform 1, travelling from Corbeil to Melun, go to the front of the train, exit onto Rue du Château and cross the tracks to the right at the level crossing. If arriving in the opposite direction, on platform 2, go to the rear of the train; the exit is on the right, just before the end of the platform: turn left after the exit and head out onto Rue du Château.

No signposting

(S) Head south, walk up Rue du Château and pass the town hall then the church. At the roundabout, take the second right, just after the bus shelter. At the end of the street, first turn left then right to follow Rue du Pressoir and walk through a residential area. At the end, turn left.

(1) At the junction with Rue des Vignes, on the corner of No. 26, turn right onto a path that enters a wood. Follow a fence on your right, cross a stream and ignore the vague paths branching off to the left. Turn left with the path and emerge into another residential area. Then follow Impasse des Ruches to the right.

(2) At the junction, turn left and cross the residential area via Rue de la Fontaine Chertems. At the stop sign, cross the road (pedestrian crossing on the left) and follow it to the right. At the roundabout, turn left, cross the D607 and follow it to the left along a parallel tarmac path. Take the^first right, Rue des Écoles. The street immediately turns left towards the church and descends slightly.

Red and white + yellow markings

(3) At the roundabout, turn right downhill. Pass in front of the church and the Pringy war memorial, then cross the River École. At the stop sign, turn left onto Rue du Ponceau and walk alongside the cemetery. At the next junction, turn left onto Rue Montgermont and cross the river again (wash house). After about 50 metres, turn right onto Rue de Mont-Louis.

(4) At the end (residential area), veer left into a narrow lane between two fences. Continue along a path and walk alongside a fenced-off pond on your right. Ignore a path branching off to the left and pass through a forest gate. Walk through the woodland, ignoring the paths branching off to the left and keeping the École river at a short distance on your right.

Yellow and Blue + Yellow markings

(5) At the Moulin de Montgermont, turn left and, at the fork immediately ahead, keep right on level ground (let the^GR®32head left uphill). Go straight on through the woodland with the river on your right.

Yellow and blue markings

(6) At the junction (sewage treatment plant), continue straight ahead. After about 100 metres (sign for “Espace Naturel Sensible”), leave the path and turn right onto a track through the woods. Walk as close as possible to the school. Cross a river branch and continue with a marshy area on your left. Further on, rejoin the path you left earlier and follow it to the right. Then walk along the right-hand side of a property wall (the Moulin de la Fosse).

No signposting

(7) At the corner of the wall (small white gate opposite), turn right downhill (ignore the signposting heading left uphill).

Yellow markings

Come out onto a road (wash house opposite) and follow it to the left. Immediately ignore Rue de l’Église on the left and cross the village via Rue d’Étrelles (caution: narrow pavements).

Red and white + yellow markings

At the Étrelles crossroads, turn right onto Rue des Grillons and rejoin the^GR®32. Pass the school and head up a wide path between the fields.

(8) At the fork at the edge of a wood (sign indicating an underground oil pipeline), turn left and follow the wood on your right. Cross the wood briefly, ignore a path branching off to the left, and continue along the edge. Then continue for about 200m between the fields, on a grassy path which soon gives way to a gravel path.

(9) At the junction, just as the path is about to become grassy again, head down a gravel path to the left (no arrow or marker here). At the bottom, follow the wall of a property on your left, then another wall on your right. At the end of the path, follow a road to the left and cross the École (wash house). Immediately afterwards, turn right onto Rue de la Vallée.

(10) At the crossroads (walnut tree), turn right, cross the river again and continue along a farm track. At the next crossroads (two-sided alder sign), follow a grassy path to the left between the fields.

Red and white markings

(11) Continue straight ahead along a small road with a hedge on your right. When the road turns right (yellow double-sided sign), leave it and turn left onto a grassy path. Walk alongside a wood on your right, continuing between the fields. Just after passing under the A6 motorway bridge, ignore a turn-off on the right and go straight on. At the first house, the path gives way to a tarmac lane that turns right then left.

(12) At the foot of the little church of Saint-Germain-sur-École, turn left. At the crossroads, take the Chemin des Portes opposite and walk past the town hall on your left, then a car park. Ignore a lane on the right and come out onto a road (car park on the left).

No signposting

(13) Follow the road to the right (let the^GR® head off to the left). At the junction, turn left and walk past a football ground. At the next junction, walk past the Moulin de Réaux and continue straight on. Walk past the adjoining wash house and then a hedge on your left.

(14) After the hedge, turn left and cross a footbridge without a railing over the school (see an alternative route in the practical information). When you reach the edge of the field, turn right and follow a path between a field on the left and a hedge on the right (depending on the season and maintenance, this path may be more or less overgrown). At the end of the field, continue along a track and follow a wood on your left. Enter the wood and rejoin a good path.

Yellow markings (rare)

(15) At the junction (there is the option of a short detour to the right towards Moulin Neuf), go straight on along a grassy path at the edge of the woodland on your left (sections may be damp depending on the season). At the end of the path (sewage treatment plant), continue along the road opposite.

No markings

At the junction (EDF substation), go straight on along the flat. Pass over the route of the underground Loing aqueduct.

Red and white markings

At the T-junction, follow the road to the right and cross the school (wash house). Then take the D90 to the left towards La Ferté-Alais. At the next junction, continue straight on the D901 towards Milly-la-Forêt.

(16) At the stop sign, turn left onto Rue du Moulin à Huile. Pass the École (wash house) again and turn immediately right. Follow the river on your right, then veer away from it to climb slightly through the woodland. You’ll come out onto a road; follow it for a few metres to the right along a parallel path. Then turn right and take a wide, tree-lined avenue leading to the Château de Courances.
N.B. In June 2018, as in July 2020, a makeshift fence made of twine blocked this lane halfway along: do not hesitate to step over it, as passage is duly authorised here.

(17) In front of the castle gates, turn left and head up the D901 along its wide right-hand verge. Just past the bus stop, turn right into Rue de l’Abreuvoir, between two walls. At the end, turn left then right, leaving the war memorial on your right, and arrive at the foot of the church (with the wash house on the right).

(18) Continue straight ahead into a street between two walls (the one on the right, which you will follow for a while, is the castle park wall). After a sharp left-hand bend, leave the road, follow a grassy path to the right and walk alongside a large lawn on your left (possibly a polo field). At the end of this lawn, walk briefly through a wood.

(19) At the corner of the wall (marker post), turn right onto a path that leads into the undergrowth (be careful, this start is inconspicuous). You’ll come out onto a small road; follow it to the right. At the end, walk alongside the Moulin Grenat on your left and cross the École one last time. Continue along a small road. Note an old military marker on the left bearing the number 21 and ignore a red and white arrow pointing left (two branches of^{the GR®} here). Go straight on and walk alongside the church of Moigny-sur-École on your right.

(20) Follow the D948 to the left and turn immediately right onto Rue de Verdun.

Red, white and yellow markings

At the next junction, turn left onto Rue Adonis Rousseau and walk alongside the cemetery wall on your right. Cross Rue des Écoliers on the left, then Chemin des Ruelles on the right.

Yellow markings

At the next junction, turn right onto Rue des Gros Mahaux (let the^GR®32veer off to the left).

(21) After passing a dead-end on the left, the tarmac road gives way to a path that veers left between two fences. Pass through a forest gate and enter the Domaine Départemental de la Platière de Bellevue. Continue through the forest along a path where old, rough paving is still visible. Initially, climb a fairly steep, winding section. Then, walk through a flat, more open area, staying on the main path.

(22) At the T-junction (signpost; option for a short detour to the left for a viewpoint), turn right (west) onto a flat path that runs along the edge of the plateau. At the next junction (marker on the left-hand side), continue straight ahead through typical heathland scenery. The path then descends into the forest. Go through a forest gate and leave the departmental estate. Then turn left, with the forest on your left and a field on your right.

(23) At the crossroads, take a zigzag to follow the^PR®53Btowards the Malabri Forest (signpost, boundary marker). Stay along the edge of the woodland on the left, and alternating woodland and fields on the right. At the crossroads in the forest, follow the^PR®53to the right towards the Essonne valley (signpost, boundary stone). Leave the woodland, continue along the edge and then through the fields. At the T-junction, turn left and walk alongside a woodland on your right.

(24) Cross the D105 and follow the path opposite into the forest. At the first fork, continue straight ahead. At the second fork, turn left and, at the third fork which comes up quickly, turn right.

Red and white + blue markings

(25) At the junction, follow the^GR®1to the right. Ignore a path branching off to the right and head down a stony track. Ignore a path branching off to the left (marker 83) and when, further on, a path (not shown on the map) joins from the left, continue straight ahead.

(26) At the next junction (signpost), turn right. At the crossroads (elevation 66), go straight on through a fern-covered wood. Ignore a path branching off to the right and climb slightly. At a sort of pass, ignore a path branching off to the right and head back down. Cross a small car park, go under a metal gate and come out onto the D105. Follow the road to the left (take care) and arrive at a place called Le Pressoir. At the left-hand bend in the road, turn right onto Chemin du Pressoir.

No signposting

(27) At the T-junction, turn left (ignore the signposting heading right). Return to the D105 and follow it to the right for about 200m, staying on the clearly marked pavement on the right-hand side. Just after Chemin de la Jonnerie on the left, turn right onto a slightly uphill gravel track (yellow double-sided sign). At the end, follow the Allée des Vignes Rouges to the left. At the corner of an equestrian centre, back on the tarmac, turn right onto a gravel track. At the end, turn left.

(28) After about fifty metres, follow Allée du Château Gaillard to the right. Ignore all turn-offs to the right and, at the Stop sign, turn left downhill.

Blue signposting

At the next stop sign, turn right onto Rue de Milly.

Red and white + blue markings

Cross Rue de Cheval on the right-hand side and, at the fork (war memorial), veer left. At the crossroads, turn left and you will immediately reach Boutigny station (E).

To get back home:
- RER - Line D, towards Malesherbes (platform 1, direct access) or Corbeil-Essonnes and Paris (platform 2, use the underpass).

Train timetables: see the Transilien website.

For motorists:
The two stations are located on two different sections of RER Line D. Two options:
- With at least two vehicles: leave one vehicle in the car park at each of the two stations.
- With a single vehicle: make a return journey by train, changing at Corbeil-Essonnes.
N.B. The car park at Boissise-le-Roi station has limited capacity: if it is full, try the nearby town hall car park (open from 07:45 to 21:00 every day except Sundays) or the one opposite the church.

Hiking boots required.

No water points identified along the route. Bakery in Dannemois, just before (16). Bar-restaurant and small grocery shop in Moigny-sur-École, opposite the church (20). Bar-restaurant, grocery shop and pharmacy near Boutigny station (E). Picnic tables in a playground (12) and after the Moulin de Grénat (19).

A 1:25,000 map is essential (at the very least the one accompanying this description).

Alternative route:
At the point (14), if you wish to avoid a very grassy section, continue straight on along the road to the hamlet of Le Moulin Neuf. Take the first left and go round the mill on the left (yellow markings). Cross the river and follow the path back up to the junction (15).

Additional information:
At the end of the walk, if you still feel full of energy and feel you haven’t had your fill of wash houses, you can visit another one on the banks of the Essonne. At point (28), turn left downhill. At the bottom, follow the road to the right and take the first left. At the next junction, turn left and cross the railway tracks at the level crossing. At the crossroads, continue straight on until you reach the footbridge over the Essonne (wash house on the left).
Retrace your steps and continue straight on towards the level crossing (blue markings). Just after crossing the railway tracks, turn left into Rue du Moulin (old well on the left). At the next roundabout, turn right onto the same street. At the stop sign, turn left, follow Rue de Milly and rejoin the main route at the junction on the right with Allée du Croc Martin.
Allow for an extra 500 to 750 metres for this detour.

Walk completed by the author on 26 June 2018. The author would like to thank VR ovil for the information provided in July 2020, which enabled the description to be updated.

From Boissise-le-Roi (S) to Montgermont (5):
- Pringy Church (19th century) (3).
- Wash house in Pringy, between (3) and (4).
- Montgermont Mill (5).

From Montgermont (5) to Saint-Germain-sur-École (12):
- Wash house at Saint-Sauveur-sur-École, shortly afterwards (7).
- Wash house at La Planche, between (9) and (10).
- Church of Saint-Germain-sur-École (12th–13th and 19th centuries) (12).

From Saint-Germain-sur-École (12) to Courances Castle (17):
- Moulin Neuf (15).
- Wash houses in Dannemois, before and after (16).
- Château de Courances (17th–19th centuries) (17). Visits (park and/or château) only from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm, on Saturdays or Sundays plus public holidays, from the first weekend in April to the first weekend in November.

From Château de Courances (17) to Moigny-sur-École (20):
- Saint-Etienne Church (12th–17th centuries) in Courances (18).
- Saint-Etienne wash house and fountain (18).
- Grenat Mill (15th century) between (19) and (20).
- Military boundary stone (17th century) before (20). You can visit a watercress bed just a few dozen metres away by taking a path that branches off to the left between a street lamp and the boundary stone.
- Moigny-sur-École wash house (20).
- Saint-Denis Church (12th–15th centuries) (20).

From Moigny-sur-École (20) to Boutigny (28):
- At the crossroads (22), there is the option of a short detour to the left to a viewpoint and an old sandstone quarry.
- Bellevue plateau, between (22) and (23), with a typical heathland landscape.