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Starting point and access: Cité station.
- Metro - Line 4. Take the only exit.
- RER - Line B or C, Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame station. Take exit 5 Hôtel-Dieu/Parvis de Notre-Dame.
- Bus - Lines 21, 27, 38, 47, 58, 70, 75, 96.
The main places and buildings to see are indicated in italics in the description.
(S) When you exit the underground station, turn right twice and then cross Place Louis Lépine diagonally to the left. When you reach Rue de la Cité, turn right and follow the street. At the traffic lights, cross the street and then first turn right then left to reach the square in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Walk along the Hôtel-Dieu on your left.
(1) Walk along the cathedral on your right and continue straight ahead along Rue du Cloître Notre-Dame. At the end, take the Pont Saint-Louis bridge to cross a branch of the Seine (on the left, there is a beautiful view of Paris City Hall and the Tour Saint-Jacques). On the other side, take thesecond right, Rue Saint-Louis en l'Ile. Follow this street straight ahead and note the old houses, mansions and colourful shops.
After crossing Rue des Deux Ponts, walk past a school and then Saint-Louis Church (17th-18th century). Cross Rue Poulletier and, at number 6, turn right under a porch and follow Rue de Brettonvilliers. You will come out onto Quai de Béthune; turn left and follow it.
At the end, cross Boulevard Henri IV at the pedestrian crossing and follow it to the left. After about 20 metres, turn right into Square Barye. Pass a group of sculptures on your left, continue straight ahead, go down a flight of steps and you will reach the upstream tip of Île Saint-Louis.
(2) Retrace your steps and, after climbing the steps, turn right and leave the sculpture group on your left. Leave the square, turn right and take the Pont Sully bridge over a branch of the Seine. On the other side, follow Quai Henri IV to the right without crossing it.
After about 20 metres, go down the steps on the right. You will come to a wide tarmac path (a former riverside road) and follow it to the right. Just before the bridge, turn left towards the Port de l'Arsenal (watch out for the many cyclists) and go down to the quay along the Seine. Walk along the river on your right until you reach the mouth of the Canal Saint-Martin.
(3) Then turn left and go through a metal gate that leads to the Port de l'Arsenal. Ignore the steps on the left and go under the metro bridge (which is elevated here). Walk along the Arsenal lock on your right and go under a road bridge. On the other side (with a distant view of the July Column and Place de la Bastille), turn right and take the metal footbridge over the lock. Then walk along the Port de l'Arsenal on your left and pass its administrative building. Just before the footbridge over the port, turn sharply right and walk slightly uphill.
At the top, cross Boulevard de la Bastille at the pedestrian crossing and continue opposite on Rue de Bercy. Cross Avenue Ledru-Rollin at the traffic lights and then cross Rue d'Austerlitz on the left-hand side. Immediately turn left onto Rue Crémieux (trompe-l'oeil on the corner). Follow this cobbled street lined with pastel-coloured houses. At the end, follow Rue de Lyon to the right. Cross Rue Traversière on the right-hand side and continue. At the next traffic lights, cross Boulevard Diderot in two stages and you will arrive at the foot of Gare de Lyon with its clock tower.
(4) Follow Boulevard Diderot to the left. At the crossroads, cross Rue Van Gogh (which comes out of a tunnel) on the right-hand side, then Rue de Chalon, and continue along Boulevard Diderot. Take thefirst right, Place Henri Frénay, and cross Rue Hector Malot on the right-hand side. Then turn left, cross an esplanade and leave the entrances to the Gare de Lyon on your right. Walk past the Chapelle de l'Agneau de Dieu and continue along Rue Roland Barthes.
After about 100 metres, at the corner of a brick building, turn left onto Passage Gatbois and walk along a square on your right. At the end, first turn right then left to cross Avenue Daumesnil at the pedestrian crossing. Then follow the avenue to the right, along the arcades of an old railway viaduct, under which shops and art galleries are now located. At the traffic lights, turn left into Rue de Rambouillet.
(5) Immediately on your left, you will see a gate leading to the René Dumont Coulée Verte. Climb the stairs that lead to it. At the top, on the other side of Avenue Daumesnil, you will see a building whose top two floors are lined with reproductions of the statue "The Dying Slave" created in 1516 by the sculptor Michelangelo. Follow the Coulée Verte on the left and take the footbridge over Rue de Rambouillet. After about 100 metres, on another footbridge, leave the Coulée Verte and go down either the stairs on the right or the lift on the left.
At the bottom, turn right into Passage Miriam Makeba. At the end, turn right onto Rue de Charenton. At No.182bis, turn left into a cul-de-sac (Rue Charles Nicolle) and walk along Square Frédéric Rossif on your right. Pass No. 173ter on your right and climb a flight of steps. Then turn left, go through a metal gate and follow a path between a building on the left and a sports field on the right.
(6) At the end, turn right and enter Square Saint-Éloi. At the three-way junction that appears quickly, turn right and pass between the ping-pong tables and a wooden dovecote. At the foot of the dovecote and before the exit of the square, turn sharply left and you will reach a small pond decorated with a sculpture representing a whale. Then turn right, leaving a small kiosk on your right. Immediately ignore a path on the right and, at the small paved roundabout, continue straight ahead.
Leave the square and continue along Passage Stinville, between two buildings. You will soon come out onto Rue Montgallet. Turn left and follow the street.
(7) At the end, turn right and cross Place Sarah Monod. Immediately turn right into Rue Jacques Hillairet (pedestrianised) towards Espace Reuilly. Then take thefirst left, Rue Riesener. At the three-way junction, cross Rue Antoine-Julien Hénard and follow it to the left. Just after the police station, turn right under a porch and follow Rue Georges et Maï Politzer, which winds between buildings. At a fork, keep right.
At the end of the street, turn right and go down a flight of steps or a small ramp. Pass under a porch and then cross Allée Vivaldi in two stages. Continue along Rue Dukas. At the end, turn left onto Avenue Daumesnil and walk past the former Reuilly train station. Note the Art Deco façade of a former telephone exchange at nos. 187-189. You will reach Place Félix Éboué (with a fountain featuring lions in the centre).
(8) Go around the square on the right. Cross Boulevard de Reuilly, follow it to the right, then immediately turn left onto Rue Taine and walk gently downhill. At the traffic lights, turn left onto Rue de la Durance. At the next crossroads, turn right onto Rue de la Brèche aux Loups (pedestrianised) and walk alongside Collège Jules Verne. Continue straight ahead and cross Rue de la Lancette and Rue de Wattignies.
At the three-way junction, turn left onto Rue des Meuniers. Continue straight ahead, crossing Rue Nicolaï, then Rue des Jardiniers on the right, Rue de Madagascar on the left and Rue Théodore Hamont on the right. Cross Avenue du Général Michel Bizot at the traffic lights, continue straight ahead and take the footbridge over the old Petite Ceinture railway line. You will come out onto Boulevard Poniatowski and quickly reach Porte de Charenton (E).
To return home:
- Metro - Line 8.
- Tram - Line T3a (stop slightly further than the metro station).
- Bus - Lines 77, 87, 111 (stops a little further away).
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