From La Ferté-sous-Jouarre to Coulommiers via the Butte de Doue

Starting point and access: La Ferté-sous-Jouarre station.
- Transilien - Line P, on the section between Paris-Est and Château-Thierry via Meaux.
Take the only exit, on the side of track 2 (Château-Thierry to Paris direction). If you are coming from the opposite direction, track 1, take the footbridge or the underpass.

Red and white + yellow markings

(S) With your back to the station, turn left and cross Rue de la République (bar). Cross Rue Roger and follow the street on the right of the main road, which runs parallel to it. At the end, turn right into Rue Michel Fauvet.

(1) Cross the square with the town hall on your left and the church on your right and continue along Rue des Pelletiers. At the end, cross the Marne via the Pont Charles de Gaulle.

(2) At the end of the bridge, turn right onto Quai des Anglais and walk along the Marne on your right. Stay on the quay (before a stop sign, you can temporarily go down onto the towpath and come back up shortly afterwards; do not continue along the riverbank beyond the stairs as the passage is narrow). Go through a wooden barrier, stay along the Marne, note the monumental memorial (1914) on the left and go under the road bridge. At the stele on the left, go down to the right onto the towpath, shaded by beautiful weeping willows, and continue to the confluence of the Petit Morin and the Marne.

(3) Then turn left, pass under the bridge over the Petit Morin and follow this river on your right. Then go slightly uphill, pass a wooden barrier and come out at a roundabout (the memorial is on the left). Cross the D603 at the pedestrian crossing and follow it to the right towards Paris and Meaux. Cross the Petit Morin. After a few dozen metres, turn left onto Rue du Petit Pays. Wind your way through a residential area and, at the fork at No. 11bis, turn left. At the stop sign, turn right and leave the silos on your left.

No signposts

(4) At the fork at the foot of the silos, continue left on the tarmac road towards the Ferme du Vieux Moulin (let the^GR®®11go up to the right). Walk along the gardens on your left, then the Petit Morin. Start to go around the buildings of a riding centre on the right.

Yellow markings

(5) Leave the road just before a house on the right and turn right onto a path that enters a wood. Climb with a wall on your left, then a fence. After sloping meadows on the left, you will come to a crossroads.

(6) Turn left (east), pass a pumping station on your right and continue on relatively flat ground with meadows on your left. Ignore the path branching off to the left between two fences and continue along the edge of the meadow. About 50 metres further on, at a shed on the right-hand side, turn sharply right (the purple line on the IGN map is inaccurate here). First walk along a fence on the left-hand side. At a metal gate, ignore a path branching off to the right and turn left.

Blue triangle + red triangle markings (rare)
These are elongated triangles, like the tip of an arrow without a shaft, with the longest axis horizontal.

(7) At the crossroads by a small metal gate on the left, turn left, leaving a small^PR®® trail sign on your right. Follow a shaded path which is none other than the embankment of the Dhuis underground aqueduct. Walk along a fence with large yew trees on your right and look for a tree on the right-hand side with a sign marked "P1" (blue triangle) and "P6" (red triangle). Turn right and, as soon as you reach the tarmac, turn left to continue following the grassy embankment of the aqueduct. You will soon pass a small masonry structure of the aqueduct (see photo) and walk alongside a few gardens.

No markings

(8) After a house on the left, turn right towards a small group of houses (let the aqueduct embankment turn sharply to the left). You will come to a small road at the entrance to Jouarre (EDF power station) and follow it to the right.

Red and white + yellow markings

At a farm on the left, find the markings again and continue on the road that veers to the right. Ignore Rue des Prés Hauts on the right. At the corner of No. 66, turn left into Rue du Chemin Vert.

(9) At the end of the tarmac road, at a fork, follow the farm track on the right. Wind your way between the fields, then stay parallel to a power line on the left and ignore a few side roads. At the T-junction just below the power line, turn left. At the corner of an orchard on the left, turn right onto the grassy path.

(10) Cross a small road and enter Romeny via Ruelle Besnard. Follow this road straight ahead, crossing the D114 and then a smaller road. At the end of the tarmac road, continue along a footpath and, at the end of it, turn left slightly downhill.

(11) At the stop sign, follow the D114 to the right. Before a slight bend to the right, leave the road and take a discreet path on the left with a fenced meadow on the left-hand side (the purple^GR®®11trail is inaccurate here). Descend between two hedges and, at the fork, take the right-hand path. Stay on fairly flat ground, with a few wet patches. At the next junction, turn right. At the T-junction that follows, turn left and descend steeply. Cross the D204 and continue straight ahead, still descending and ignoring a few paths branching off to the sides.

(12) At the bottom of the descent, at a crossroads, turn right and walk along the left-hand side of a campsite with bungalows. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead (despite the presence of an arrow pointing to the right). Opposite the gate of a large house, turn left. Ford a stream and, at the fork immediately ahead, take the left-hand path. At the next fork, take the right-hand path. Follow a wide path through the woods in an east-southeast direction, ignoring a few side paths.

Red and white markings

(13) At the crossroads in the clearing, turn right (ignore the yellow markings that continue straight ahead). Climb up into the woods and then along the edge. Below a road, turn right. Then turn left to cross the road and continue straight ahead towards Les Petits Montgoins. Climb gently and enter this hamlet.

(14) At the crossroads, continue straight on towards Goins. From here, we leave the Petit Morin Valley and cross the Briard Plateau with the Butte de Doue, its highest point, in the distance on the left. At a fork, turn left towards an isolated house. Pass under a high-voltage power line and reach the house in the locality of La Chevrie.

(15) At the corner of the house, turn left. At the gate, the tarmac gives way to a grassy path that leads between the fields towards an electricity pylon. Pass under the high-voltage line and at the foot of the pylon on your right. After about 150m, at a fork, turn right with the Butte de Doue in your line of sight. Pass under the high-voltage line again and continue south-east parallel to a power line.

(16) Cross the D37 and follow a small road opposite. Ignore the road to Villiers on your left and continue straight on towards Le Château. Before a large farmhouse, turn right towards the church. Pass a beautiful gate on your left and climb the hill. Shortly before the chevet of the church, leave the road on the right and temporarily abandon the markings to follow a fence on your left. Then follow the cemetery wall on your left. At the corner, turn left, go through a forest gate and cross a lawn. Turn left again, pass the cemetery entrance and reach the church entrance.

(17) Find the markings again and go down the road on the right. When the road turns right, veer left, go through a chicane and go down a grassy path between two hedges. Pass a football pitch on your right, then a playground, and go through another chicane. At the next fork, turn right. Walk along the fenced gardens and ignore a lane on the left.

(18) When you reach a square on the left, turn right into Rue du Général d'Harville. Just before No. 3, turn left onto a footpath. At the end, turn left into a street. When this street turns left, continue straight ahead into Rue du Pont de Pierre. When this street turns left, turn right, and the tarmac quickly gives way to a path. Cross a stream and continue straight ahead along the edge of the woods on your right. After a final patch of woods, continue straight ahead between the fields.

(19) At the T-junction, turn left onto a wide path. Cross the D19 road and continue straight ahead on a path. Walk along a wall on your left and, at the corner, turn left onto a tarmac lane. At the end, turn right onto the D37a and leave the hamlet of Le Croupet. When the road begins to curve to the left, follow a grassy path on the right with a fence on your left. Walk alongside fields on your right and fields and meadows on your left. The path gives way to tarmac and leads to a crossroads (cross on the left).

Red and white + yellow markings
In the areas between the fields, there are no markings due to a lack of support: follow the map and description.

(20) Turn left, coming out opposite the church of Saint-Germain-sous-Doue, and turn right onto Rue de l'Église. At the crossroads, turn left and then immediately right at the pond. Pass a pond on your right, cross a stream and climb slightly. After a metal cross on the right-hand side, the tarmac gives way to a farm track. At the next fork, take the left-hand path and walk along the edge of a fenced orchard on your right. At the end of the orchard, continue straight ahead between the fields for about 150 metres.

(21) At the T-junction, follow the farm track to the right. Walk alongside a copse on your left and, at the corner, turn left. At the next junction (elevation 133), take the path on the left which descends towards the bottom of a small valley with a large farmhouse on the opposite slope.

(22) Halfway down the slope, turn right onto a grassy path leading towards a wood. Walk along the wood on your right and continue downhill. Cross a stream via a footbridge, climb up opposite towards a wood and then enter the wood. At a three-way junction, turn right. Leave the wood, continue along the edge and then walk alongside a small fenced orchard on your left.

(23) At the corner of the orchard, turn right (ignore the yellow arrow pointing straight ahead towards a transmitter; two^PR®® routes intersect here). The path soon gives way to tarmac and, at the T-junction, turn right. At the next fork, turn left onto Rue des Avenelles. At No. 28, take the path that branches off to the left. Walk along the fenced gardens on your right, cross a wood and then walk along the edge of the field on your left. Enter the wood again and, at the T-junction, turn right downhill. You will come out onto a road; follow it to the left.

(24) When the road turns right, go up to the left onto a track. Ignore a vague start on the left and, at a clearly marked fork, turn left. Continue climbing through the woods and then between meadows. At the corner of a meadow on the right, turn right onto a path that runs between two hedges. At the end, turn right between the meadows. Pass under the canopy and ignore a path on the left. Then descend into the woods (steep slope) and ignore the paths on either side.

(25) Cross the Ru du Rognon stream via a footbridge and walk alongside the greenhouses on your right. Ignore the path that branches off to the right and, after a few metres, turn left onto a wide path (ignore the tarmac road that continues straight ahead) and climb up to the edge of the woods. At the top, cross a street at a place called Le Theil and continue straight ahead on a white path. Cross another street and continue straight ahead on Rue des Ouches.

(26) At the stop sign, turn left twice in succession and descend steeply. At the corner of No. 5, before reaching the D222, turn right onto a footpath. Walk along the flat path through the woods with fenced gardens on your left. Turn left for a short descent and then turn right, still on the footpath with a wall on your left. Further on, the path gives way to tarmac; ignore a street on the right. Turn left and go down a staircase. Follow the D222 on the right, cross it at the traffic lights and continue to the right. At the corner of the school and at the end of the church, turn left.

No markings

(27) Follow the street on the right that runs alongside the Gand Morin. At the crossroads, turn left onto Voie du Président Georges Pompidou and cross the Grand Morin twice (old mill on the left). Then turn right and walk alongside the Grand Morin on your right. At the end of the street, first turn right then left to follow Rue Barbier.

Red and white markings

(28) At the end of the street, turn left onto Rue Bertrand Flornoy. Follow this street straight ahead, passing the war memorial and crossing the Fausse Rivière. At the roundabout, take the second street on the right and you will soon reach Coulommiers station (E).

To return home:
- Transilien - Line P, towards Paris-Est.
- Bus - Line 3, from Coulommiers station to Meaux station.

Train timetables: consult the Transilien website.

For motorists:
Organise at least two vehicles, one in the car park of each of the two stations, which are located on two different sections of the P line. With only one vehicle, travelling there or back by train would require a change at Paris-Est station.

Hiking boots are required.

Drinking water fountain under the cross at point (20). Shops, bars and restaurants in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre between (S) and (2) and in Coulommiers between (28) and (E).

At weekends during the season (September to February), the area is shared with hunters.

Due to a lack of support, there are no markings in cultivated areas. Therefore, a 1:25,000 map is essential (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on 28 April 2017.

In La Ferté-sous-Jouarre (which, along with the nearby Jouarre Abbey, is worth a separate visit):
- Saint-Étienne and Saint-Denis Church (15th-18th century), shortly before (2).
- Banks of the Marne between (2) and (3).
- Shortly before (3), memorial to British soldiers who died during the Battle of the Marne in September 1914.

- Beautiful farmhouse at Moulin de Comporté (5).

Butte de Doue (17):
- Viewpoint.
- Saint-Martin Church (13th-14th century). The church is open on Sundays from 2.30pm to 6.30pm, from Easter to All Saints' Day, except in August.
- In September 1914, during the Battle of Petit Morin (one of the episodes of the Battle of the Marne in which British troops were engaged), the Butte de Doue was a sought-after observation post. The cemetery contains several graves of British soldiers who fell during these battles (as well as the grave of a Prussian soldier who died during the 1870-1871 war).

- Saint-Germain Church in Saint-Germain-sous-Doue, shortly afterwards (20).

In Coulommiers (which is worth a separate visit):
- Old mill on the Grand Morin, shortly after (27).
- War memorial, between (28) and (E).