From the Seine to the Étangs de Ville-d'Avray

Starting point and access: Pont de Sèvres, right bank (first two access points below) or left bank (third access point).
- Metro – Line 9 (terminus). Take Exit 1 (Ile Seguin and Bus).
- Bus – Lines 169, 171, 179, 291, 426 and 467.
- Tram – Line T2, Musée de Sèvres station. Take the exit on the Seine side; at the rear of the tram, turn right if travelling from Porte de Versailles towards Pont de Bezons (if travelling in the opposite direction, cross the tracks carefully at the designated crossing). Then join the route along the towpath (1).

No signposting

(S) Cross the bus station towards the Seine (west), whilst veering to the right. At the end, cross Avenue du Général Leclerc (on your right) at the traffic lights. Then turn left, cross an access ramp and take the bridge to cross the Seine. Just before the old Pont de Sèvres station (a square brick building), go down a flight of steps on the right. At the landing, turn right and go down another flight of steps, keeping the building on your left. You’ll arrive at the tram station.

(1) Continue along the towpath, keeping the Seine on your right. Pass the boat launch ramps belonging to a sailing club and, on your left, the water sports centre building. At the corner of the centre, turn left onto a boardwalk that crosses the wetland area of Île Monsieur. Stay on the main boardwalk and ignore a few narrower ones. At the end of the boardwalk, turn left to cross, in turn, the tram tracks and the Quai du Maréchal Juin (observe the traffic lights). Go through a gate and enter the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud.

(2) Then take the^second path on the left (diagonally). At the roundabout, take the^third path on the right. At the end, turn left and, after a few dozen metres, turn sharply right towards a modern sculpture with large wings. At the foot of the sculpture, follow a tarmac path to the left and, after a few dozen metres, join a path that climbs up to the right. At the T-junction (with a gate opposite), turn right onto a wider path that continues uphill. At the end (forest gate), you’ll reach a wide grassy path.

Yellow markings

(3) Follow the side path to the right and continue straight on until you reach a car park. Then turn left and cross the car park. Next, turn left onto a path that climbs after a forest gate. First turn right then left, and continue south (stone wall on the right-hand side). Walk along the hillside or on a gently ascending slope, ignoring any steep tracks on either side. Walk alongside a wire fence on your left and climb a steeper section to emerge onto a tarmac lane.

No signposting

Follow the lane to the right until you reach an open area (offering sweeping views over the Seine, Boulogne-Billancourt and Paris).

Red and white markings

(4) With your back to the Seine, go round the large grassy roundabout on the left and pass the Allée Couverte car park. Then turn left into the side lane of a wide grassy path. After about a hundred metres, turn left onto a path and, at the Fork in the road that appears immediately, take the path on the right. At the^first junction, continue straight ahead. Cross a grassy path, continue westwards and cross a second grassy path. At a fork in the road, take the path on the left. You’ll come out onto a side path; follow it to the right until you reach a large roundabout.

Yellow markings

(5) Then turn left towards the Maison de Gambetta. At the junction that appears immediately, go straight on and leave the park.

No markings

Carry straight on downhill along Avenue Gambetta. Take the^first left onto Rue des Dames Marie. At the three-way junction, take the right-hand street. At the end, turn right and walk downhill parallel to the railway line below on the left. Carry straight on to Sèvres-Ville d’Avray station.

Yellow signposting

(6) Turn right onto Rue des Jardies (one-way street). At the end, rejoin Avenue Gambetta and follow it to the left (Gambetta monument and house). A few dozen metres past the house, turn right into Parc de Lesser. Walk past a pond on your left, then a playground on your right. Pass a kiosk on your right, then turn left and go under a pergola. Leave the park and follow Rue de Sèvres to the right. Immediately turn right onto Rue Jules Poussin. At the traffic lights, turn left and follow Avenue Balzac to the end. Then turn left and cross Rue de Sèvres at the traffic lights to reach the church forecourt.

(7) Turn left, leaving the church on your left, and cross a car park, keeping the war memorial on your right. At the corner of a small square building, turn right onto the Mail du Docteur Boisvieux and walk between a playground on your left and a nursery school on your right. Cross Rue de la Ronce and continue along the avenue at the foot of the blocks of flats. Go through a small gate (with a statue on the left), walk past some gardens and a beautiful house, and go through a second gate.

(8) Turn left and take the embankment of the Étang Neuf (the easternmost of the two ponds). At the end, turn right onto the path that runs closest to the pond. At the end, turn right onto the embankment separating the two ponds. Then turn left and walk along the northern bank of the Vieil Étang (the westernmost of the two). Cross a stream via a footbridge without a railing.

You’ll come out onto a wide path; follow it to the right. At the next junction, turn right and head up a small lane. You’ll come out onto Rue de Versailles; follow it to the right for about a hundred metres (passing a bus stop). Then cross the road at the pedestrian crossing and turn right.

(9) Immediately leave the road and take a path leading off to the left (forest gate). Walk gently uphill through a young beech forest.

Yellow + horseshoe markings

At the crossroads, take the^third path on the left (north), which is less obvious than the others, and follow the^PR®®4(do not follow the^GR®®2and^PR®®10further to the left, which are more obvious). After about 200m, at a vague junction, turn left (west). Cross the^PR®®10and continue straight ahead on a path that winds through the undergrowth. After about 300m, turn right and you’ll soon reach a junction.

Unmarked

(10) Then take the^second path on the right and go straight on (north-east).

Red and white + yellow markings

At the end, turn left, walk alongside the wall of a cemetery on your right and turn right at the corner of the cemetery. Ignore a path branching off to the left and, at the end of the track, follow a street to the left. At the end, turn right onto Avenue Thierry. Take the^first left, Rue Neuve Thierry, which further on becomes Rue Jean Minaud. Before the end of the street, turn left, following the road sign arrow, and pass by the chancel of the church in Marnes-la-Coquette. After about fifty metres, turn right between the town hall (on the left) and the church (on the right) and emerge onto Place de la Mairie.

Red and white markings

(11) Cross the avenue, walk a few metres and turn right onto Rue de la Porte Blanche towards Parc de Saint-Cloud (pass the old post office on your left). At the end of the street, enter Parc de Saint-Cloud again (toll for cars). Immediately leave the tarmac and take a path branching off to the right, reaching a junction about a hundred metres further on.

No signposts

Then turn left (north-east) onto a gently sloping path (the path shown further to the left on the OSM map does not exist). Ignore a path coming from the left and continue north-east then east through the woodland, on roughly level ground. At a T-junction, turn left. Ignore two offshoots on the right and you’ll reach a crossroads.

Red and white markings

(12) Join the^GR®®1and follow it to the right, due east, climbing slightly. Descend again and, at a junction, go straight on.

No markings

Cross a tarmac lane and continue straight ahead onto a path (forest gate). Walk along the left-hand side of the fence bordering the La Faisanderie estate. At the end, cross a wide grassy lane and take the path straight ahead through the woodland. The path turns left and winds its way whilst remaining parallel to a road situated some distance away on the right-hand side. At the end of the path, follow a side lane to the right and cross the road, then a railway line. Continue straight on to the Bassin de la Grande Gerbe.

(13) Walk round the pond on the right and continue downhill along the side path opposite (forest gate). As you approach the Bassin des 24 Jets (statue of Jupiter on the right-hand side), first turn left then right to walk down a short, steep stretch of lawn. Go through a gate and walk round the pond on the right or left. Continue in the same direction as before along a wide gravel path lined with flowerbeds. Go down a few steps and walk round the small Bassin de l’Orangerie. Pass two statues, go down another flight of steps and reach the Château Terrace (map of the old château and its grounds).

(14) Then turn right, go through a gate, go down a flight of steps and arrive at the top of the Bassin du Fer à Cheval. Walk round the pond on the left, down a cobbled path. At the bottom, turn left, go through another gate and go down a flight of steps. Continue straight ahead (ignore a flight of steps on the right), walk alongside a rectangular pond and go down a flight of steps leading to the top of the Grande Waterfall. Then turn right, go down a flight of steps and follow a path. At the corner of the Bassin du Grand Jet, turn left.

Yellow markings

At the other end, turn left again and cross the middle level of the Grande Waterfall. Continue straight on at the foot of the buildings and, at a fork in the road, veer right, heading downhill. At the bottom, follow a wide gravel path to the left and leave the park through a small gate.

(15) Go through the tunnel opposite and exit by climbing a flight of stairs. At the top, turn right and cross the road in several stages at the traffic lights. Then turn left, pass a bus stop, then turn right onto the Pont de Saint-Cloud and cross the Seine once more. At the end, cross the road in stages at the traffic lights and follow Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny straight ahead. Pass a bus stop and you’ll immediately reach the metro (E).

To get back home:
- Metro – Line 10, towards central Paris and Austerlitz station.
- Bus – Lines 52, 72, 126, 160, 175, 260 and 467.
- Tram – Line T2, Parc de Saint-Cloud station. In this case, shortly afterwards (15), at the top of the stairs, turn left and follow the footpath that passes under the A13 motorway bridge. Then turn right, cross Rue Dailly, pass under the motorway bridge again and turn left to reach the station.

Hiking boots or good trainers are recommended.

No water points identified along the route. Restaurant in Marnes-la-Coquette (11).

A detailed map is required (at the very least, the one accompanying this description).

Opening hours of public parks:
Saint-Cloud National Estate:
- Opening: 7.30 am.
- Closes: November–February, 8.00 pm; March–April and September–October, 9.00 pm; May–August, 10.00 pm.
N.B. Between 10 August and 5 September, access is restricted due to the “Rock en Seine” music festival and the preparations for it.
Lesser Park: 7.00 am–8.00 pm.

This walk has been completed three times by the author, the first on 7 December 2019 and the last on 20 November 2021.

From the Pont de Sèvres (S) to the Parc de Saint-Cloud (2):
- Banks of the Seine.
- Île Monsieur wetland.

First section through the Domaine national de Saint-Cloud, from (2) to (5):
- Pleasant forest paths.
- A sculpture erected in 2010 by Bryan McCormack and entitled ‘When Joris Ivens meets Hraesvelgr’. Joris Ivens was a Dutch filmmaker (1898–1989). In Norse mythology, Hraesvelgr is a giant in the form of an eagle.
- An esplanade offering sweeping views of Paris.

In Sèvres and Ville d’Avray, from (5) to (9):
- Several pretty houses and a few quiet alleyways.
- A monument in honour of Léon Gambetta (1838–1882), erected by Auguste Bartholdi in 1891.
- Maison des Jardies, where Gambetta spent the last years of his life. Open to visitors; admission €6 per person as of December 2019.
- Ville d’Avray Church (late 18th century).
- Gardens, a monument to Corot and a beautiful house before reaching the Ville-d’Avray Ponds.
- The Ville-d’Avray Ponds.

In Sèvres and Marnes-la-Coquette, from (9) to (12):
- A pleasant walk through the Fausses Reposes State Forest.
- Marnes-la-Coquette Town Hall (1845) and the former post office.
- Sainte-Eugénie Church (1860). Built at Napoleon III’s expense, it was named in honour of the Empress.

Second section through the Saint-Cloud National Estate, from (12) to (15):
- French-style gardens.
- Ponds and fountains, which are at their most beautiful when they are in operation – that is to say, ‘during the warmer months’, according to the official website, without further detail...
- Numerous statues inspired by Greek and Roman mythology.
- Panoramic views of Paris from the Château Terrace.