From Nation to Bastille via Faubourg Saint-Antoine

Starting point and access: Place de la Nation.
- Metro - Lines 1, 2, 6, 9. Take exit 4 Boulevard Voltaire.
- RER - Line A. Take exit 4 Boulevard Voltaire.
- Bus - Lines 20, 56, 75, 91.

(S) When you exit the metro or RER, turn around and cross the boulevard that circles the square at the protected crossing (traffic lights). Head towards the central monument (allegory of the Triumph of the Republic) and walk along it on your left. Continue straight ahead and cross the boulevard again at the pedestrian crossing. Turn right, then left onto Rue Fabre d'Églantine. Note the neo-Gothic façade of the Art Nouveau building at No. 9.

At the crossroads, turn right onto Rue de Picpus, then right again onto Rue Jaucourt. Between numbers 4 and 8 (there is no number 6), note the neo-Gothic motifs on the building, which is the rear of the one mentioned above. Back at the edge of Place de la Nation, turn left twice and take Avenue Rue Dorian. At the crossroads (note the building opposite on the left with plant motifs and the building opposite on the right with motifs of female heads and cats), turn right into Rue de Picpus. Cross Boulevard Diderot and continue straight ahead.

(1) At the crossroads, at the corner of Maison Eugène Napoléon, turn left onto Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. After No^{. 246bis}, turn left under a porch and follow Passage du Génie to the end. Cross Boulevard Diderot again and continue straight ahead into Cour Saint-Éloi. Go under a porch, come out onto a street and follow it to the left towards the Église Saint-Éloi. Cross Cour d'Alsace-Lorraine on the left, which houses workshops but is not accessible (private road).

(2) Shortly afterwards, turn right to cross the street at the pedestrian crossing, then cross Place Maurice de Fontenay, keeping the (modern) church on your left. At the corner, go through a small gate on the left and continue along the church. At the end of the tarmac path, turn right into Square Saint-Éloi. Go down two sets of steps and turn right at the small paved roundabout. Ignore a path on the left and pass a small pond decorated with a whale sculpture on the left. Immediately afterwards, turn left and leave a playground on your right. At the end of the path, climb a staircase and leave the square.

Turn left immediately, go through a metal gate and take a spiral ramp down to Rue d'Artagnan. At the bottom, follow the street to the left for a few dozen metres and, when you reach the gate of a school, turn right and go under a porch. At the exit, follow Rue Eugénie Éboué to the left. At the end, turn right and then immediately left into Rue Rondelet.

(3) At the end, cross Boulevard Diderot at the pedestrian crossing on the right, then first turn right then left to take Passage Marie Rogissart. Enter Jardin Martha Desrumaux on the right and cross it diagonally to the left. When you reach Rue de Reuilly, turn left again. Leave the garden and cross a paved courtyard (Passage Jacqueline Giraud). You will come out onto a street; follow it to the right (Rue Chaligny).

Go around the crossroads on your right and cross Rue de Reuilly and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Continue along Rue Faidherbe and cross Rue de Montreuil. Then turn right into Rue Paul Bert. Take the^second right, Rue Cesselin, and at the end, turn left into the Jardin de la Folie Titon. Pass under a pergola and, at the fork that immediately appears, keep left and leave a lawn on your right. Follow a paved path and exit the garden onto Rue Chanzy.

(4) Follow this street to the left. Stay on Rue Chanzy and cross Rue Paul Bert and Rue Faidherbe. Then cross Esplanade René Lebas between two public gardens, leaving Sainte-Marguerite Church on your right. Continue straight ahead onto Rue Charles Delescluze. Take the^first left, Passage Saint-Bernard. Cross Rue de Candie and continue along Passage Saint-Bernard, slightly to the left.

Go under a porch, find Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine and follow it to the right. Go straight ahead and pass two traffic lights. After No. 135, turn right into Passage de la Main d'Or (porch). Cross Rue de la Main d'Or on the right-hand side and continue along the passage of the same name.

(5) At the end, turn left onto Rue de Charonne (note the small crooked house between numbers 58 and 56). Cross Avenue Ledru-Rollin and take the^first left, Passage Josset.

At the crossroads, turn right onto Passage Saint-Antoine, which immediately turns right. At the end, rejoin Rue de Charonne and follow it to the left. Take the^first right, Rue des Taillanders, then the^first left, the passage of the same name. At the end, turn right onto Passage Thiéré.

(6) Take the^first left, Passage Louis-Philippe. This leads to Rue de Lappe, which you follow to the right. At the crossroads, cross Rue de la Roquette and go straight on into Rue Daval. Cross Cour Damoye on the left-hand side (private road, not accessible). At the traffic lights, cross the eastern branch of Boulevard Richard-Lenoir. Then turn left and follow the wide central avenue to Place de la Bastille (E).

To return home:
- Metro - Lines 1, 5, 8. The nearest station is located at the corner of Boulevard Beaumarchais and the western branch of Boulevard Richard-Lenoir.
- Bus - Lines 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91.

Good sports shoes are sufficient for this urban route.

There are numerous bars, restaurants and shops along the route. Public toilets are available in some gardens.

Public garden opening hours:
- Opening times (valid for all gardens): 8 a.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing times:
Square Saint-Éloi: 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Jardin Martha Desrumaux: 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Jardin de la Folie Titon: 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed opening hours).

Useful detailed map (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on¹ October 2022.

From Place de la Nation (S) to Maison Eugène Napoléon (1):
- Place de la Nation with, in its centre, the monument Le triomphe de la République (1879).
- Art Nouveau building with a neo-Gothic doorway at 9 Rue Fabre d'Églantine.
- Rear of this building, with neo-Gothic motifs, between 4 and 8 Rue Jaucourt.
- At the two corners of Rue Dorian and Rue de Picpus, buildings with sculpted motifs on the façade.
- Maison Eugène Napoléon (1). Building constructed in 1856 to house an orphanage, according to the wishes of Empress Eugénie (1826-1920).

From the Maison Eugène Napoléon (1) to Boulevard Diderot (3):
- Cours d'Alsace-Lorraine (unfortunately not accessible), shortly before (2).
- Saint-Éloi Church (1968).
- Square Saint-Éloi, where a multicoloured whale sculpture stands. This square occupies the site of a Merovingian manor that belonged to King Dagobert, of whom Saint-Éloi was minister (a popular song has preserved the memory).
- Mural frescoes on Rue d'Artagnan and Eugénie Éboué.

From Boulevard Diderot (3) to Rue de Charonne (5):
- Martha Desrumaux Garden, located in the centre of the former Reuilly barracks.
- Jardin de la Folie Titon, on the site of a former "country house".
- Sainte-Marguerite Church (17th-19th centuries).
- Plaque in memory of Raoul Nording (1882-1962), Swedish Consul General in Paris during the Second World War, who played an important role in the liberation of Paris in 1944. The plaque is affixed to the gate of the square that bears his name, at the foot of Sainte-Marguerite Church.
- Passage Saint-Bernard.
- Passage de la Main d'Or.

From Rue de Charonne (5) to Place de la Bastille (E):
- Passage Josset.
- Passage Saint-Antoine.
- Léon Mager building (early 20th century), Passage Thiéré.
- Cours Damoye (unfortunately not accessible).
- Colonne de Juillet (1840) (E), commemorating the revolution of 27, 28 and 29 July 1830, which brought Louis-Philippe, the first and last King of the French (not King of France), to the throne.