From Mennecy to Corbeil-Essonnes via Robinson Park

Departure from Mennecy station (RER line D, on the section between Paris-Gare-de-Lyon and Malesherbes).

Note to users of the PDFs provided by Visorando: to make it easier to find your way around urban areas, the two IGN map samples in Corbeil-Essonnes (end of the hike) are on a scale of 1:6,250, while the sample for the start of the hike is on the usual scale of 1:25,000.

Without signposting

(S/E) Take the exit on the platform side in the Paris-Malherbes direction (if coming from the opposite direction, take the underground passage). Cross the bus station and pass a bar-restaurant on your right. At the roundabout, take the second right towards the town centre (signposted), Rue du Général Leclerc. At the first crossroads, continue straight ahead.

At No. 15 (note the Portes de Paris opposite and, further on, the bell tower of Mennecy church), turn left onto a tarmac path between two walls (Sentier Boucher). Ignore the entrance to a private property on your right. At the stop sign, cross the road and head towards the entrance to Résidence du Bel Air. Do not enter (private property) and look for a staircase starting to the left of an EDF electricity box: go down the few steps and continue along a path between two fences. Ignore the access to a housing estate on the right and continue straight ahead on the path, which becomes very shady.

(1) At the end of the path, follow the slightly downhill road to the left (Rue Jean Jaurès). Ignore a street coming from the right and, at the next three-way junction (Allée Camille Claudel on the right), continue straight ahead. At the three-way junction, cross the railway tracks at the level crossing and continue along Rue Jean Jaurès. Ignore two streets on the right and you will come to a stop sign.

Blue markings

(2) First turn right then left and take Rue du Four. After passing the foot of the church (on your right) and before reaching a larger street, turn left into Ruelle de la Vallée. Go through a chicane and then follow Rue du Moulin to the left. Pass between Parc de Châteaubourg on the left and a square on the right. Walk alongside the old Moulin d'Ormoy on your right and cross three branches of the Essonne river in succession.

(3) At the corner of the mill, turn right onto Chemin du Bas des Brettes (dead end). At the end of the tarmac road, pass a fire brigade access barrier and continue along a stabilised path that enters the undergrowth. Stay on this good path, ignoring any vague paths branching off to the sides. Pass another fire brigade access barrier, ignore the path that immediately comes up on the left and continue straight ahead. In a clearing, pass under a high-voltage line, then enter the woods again and find the river on your right. Note an old mill on the opposite bank.

(4) Pass under the A6 motorway bridge. At the fork that immediately appears, take the path on the right lined with a row of poplar trees. At the railway bridge over the Essonne, turn left uphill and follow the railway tracks on your right. At the top of the hill, turn right into a street and continue to the stop sign.

Blue + red and white markings

(5) At the stop sign, turn left and climb Côte du Moulin Galant. Ignore a small lane on the left and, just before the "Stop 150m" sign, turn right onto Chemin de l'Ormeteau. Ignore the paths branching off to the sides and, at the roundabout that follows, continue straight ahead along the dead-end Sentier de l'Ormeteau (the purple^GR®®11Croute on the IGN map is inaccurate here). At the end of the dead-end, pass under a gate and follow the path that runs alongside the gardens.

After a chicane, you will arrive at the church square and turn immediately right downhill. Before the next crossroads, take a path on the left between two fences (the start of this path is immediately after the signposts). Walk along the cemetery on your right, pass under another archway and continue along a gravel path.

(6) Cross the road, note the information board on the left and pass through a forest gate. Then follow the Chemin des Bouts Cornus to the north-west, which starts at the edge of a field on the right, with a radio tower clearly visible opposite.

At the junction with another path coming from the left (not shown on the map), the path becomes more grassy. Continue north along the edge of the field on your left and with two successive hedges on your right, even if the path seems poorly marked.

At the end of the field, leave the palisades on your right and cross a small embankment that blocks the path (a short but tricky passage, especially if the ground is wet). Continue between garden fence palisades and ignore the paths branching off to the sides. Go around another embankment and continue on tarmac. After going around a third embankment, follow the tarmac lane lined with street lamps.

No markings

(7) At the roundabout, turn right at a right angle into Rue Fernand La Guide. At the stop sign, turn left onto Boulevard Jules Vallès and cross the railway tracks at the level crossing. After the junction with Boulevard Lecouillard coming from the right and before the Essonne, turn right into Parc de Robinson.

No signposts, small signs at ground level

(8) Follow Chemin d'Ambreville, staying as close as possible to the river on your left. Go through a chicane, go around a car park on the left and take the footbridge on the left that crosses a branch of the river to reach Robinson Island. At the T-junction, turn left onto Allée de Lambertville. Take another footbridge, make a sharp right turn onto Ile de Chateaubourg and take another footbridge. Then take the first footbridge on the left and walk along a playground on your right. At the corner of the playground, turn right onto a paved path (not shown on the map). When you reach the "Essonne-Juine" information signs, turn left, still on the paved path, and cross one last footbridge.

Then turn left, walk past an EDF power station on your left, let the paved path turn right and follow Allée de la Vallée de Vaux between the river on your left and a hedge on your right. Ignore a footbridge on the left, go under the railway bridge and leave Robinson Park.

No signposts

(9) Turn left, cross the Essonne river and walk past a school on your right. At the traffic lights, turn right and walk past the town hall annex on your left. At the corner of this building, turn right and enter an outdoor car park, passing under a gate marked "No entry for persons taller than 1.75m". Cross the car park and head left towards the opposite corner. Leave the nursery school on your left and take a gravel path that runs alongside the Essonne river on your right (small private wash houses on the opposite bank). Ignore a footbridge on your right, continue along the river and pass a chicane. Continue along a street and pass under a porch formed by a building.

(10) At the traffic lights, cross Rue de Paris. Take Place Léon Cassé and walk along the Church of Saint-Étienne on your right. At the end, make a zigzag turn and enter Square Dalimier through a large metal gate. After a second, smaller gate, turn left and then immediately right. Cross a roundabout and continue straight ahead to exit the square. Then turn left into a street (Impasse du Parc).

(11) At the roundabout (central fountain), take the third right, Rue Feray, towards the media library. Cross a branch of the river and continue straight ahead.

(12) At the crossroads (bar opposite on the left), turn right onto Rue Widmer. Note the former Commandery of the Knights of Saint John on the right, behind a gate, and continue straight ahead. At the stop sign, turn left onto Rue des Chevaliers de Saint-Jean. At the next intersection, continue straight ahead. At the next intersection, take the second left onto Rue Edouard Petit. At the end of the street, turn right onto Avenue Carnot.

(13) At the crossroads, turn left at the foot of the "Toutes directions" sign and follow the quay along the Essonne river on your right. At the stop sign, continue straight ahead on the quay and, when it becomes a dead end, continue in the same direction. Take the footbridge over the Essonne river and then turn left into a cobbled alleyway. At the end of the alleyway, turn left into Rue Saint-Spire and ignore the two streets on the right.

When the street becomes paved and one-way, turn left onto Rue Vigier (red and white marker). Continue along a small paved pedestrian street and pass a car park and the marker on your right. Take the footbridge over the Essonne river. Continue along a small street, then take the first right onto Rue de Cuillon. Take the first right again, Rue de la Barre, and cross the Essonne again. Turn immediately left into a tarmac alley (Rue du Trou Patrix; red and white signpost) and you will find Saint-Spire Cathedral on your right.

(14) Walk around the church in either direction and note the monumental door at the chevet that leads to Rue Saint-Spire.

(14) Continue along Rue du Trou Patrix with the river on your left. At the crossroads (market halls on the right), continue straight ahead along Rue des Remparts. Ignore a footbridge on the left. At the end of the street, go around one of the Grands Moulins de Corbeil buildings on the right and immediately turn left to pass between this building on your left and the town hall on your right. At the end, turn left onto Quai de Seine and cross the Essonne one last time at its mouth.

At the roundabout, turn left onto Rue de la République and follow it, preferably on the right-hand side. At the next roundabout, turn right onto Avenue Darblay towards the RER station (sign). At the next roundabout (fountain), continue along Avenue Darblay, ignoring the "Gare RER" sign on the left for motorists. At the fork immediately ahead, continue left along Avenue Darblay and follow this avenue to the station (E).

Train timetables: check the Transilien website.

For motorists: Mennecy and Corbeil-Essonnes stations have car parks, so you can leave your car at either station (you will need to take the train to or from the other station) or at both stations.

Although most of the route is urban, hiking boots are recommended for walking through the woods and, above all, between the fields. A map is essential (at least the one accompanying this description).

There are no drinking water sources along the route. Shops, bars and restaurants are located near Mennecy station (S) and in Corbeil-Essonnes from (10) onwards.

Hikers should be aware that the passage between the gardens surrounded by fence palisades, before (7), is neither particularly attractive nor clean (situation in September 2016).

Variations:
As this hike passes near Moulin-Galant station, it is possible to do only part of it:
- From Mennecy station to Moulin-Galant station: 5.5km (approx. 1½ hours). At point (5), turn right and follow the^GR®® to the station.
- From Moulin-Galant station to Corbeil-Essonnes station: 9.5km (approx. 2½ hours). From the station, follow the^GR®® to point (5).

Hike completed by the author on 17 September 2016.

- Porte de Paris (18th century), in Mennecy shortly after (S).
- Saint-Jacques Church (12th-19th century), in Ormoy between (2) and (3).
- Moulin d'Ormoy (3).
- Parc de Robinson, between (8) and (9), with its maze of paths and footbridges over the numerous branches of the river.
- The town hall annex, shortly after (9), which is none other than the former town hall of Essonnes.
- Old private wash houses along the Essonne, between (9) and (10).
- Saint-Étienne Church (12th century), just after (10), open during the day.
- Commandery of the Knights of Saint John (11th-13th centuries), between (11) and (13).
- Market halls (second half of the 19th century), after (14).
- Grands Moulins de Corbeil (19th century), before (E). Located above the Essonne at its mouth on the Seine, they are still in operation.