From Mortcerf to Tournan-en-Brie via the Forest of Crécy

Starting point and access: Mortcerf station.
- Transilien - Line P, on the section between Paris-Est and Coulommiers.
Take the only exit, Place de la Gare, on the side of track 1. If you arrive on track 2, take the footbridge.

Red and white + purple + yellow markings

(S) With your back to the station, turn right onto the access road to the station and its car park. At the end, turn left and then immediately left again onto a stony path. Then follow the path, which is closed to motor vehicles, around a house on the left. Continue below the car park on the left-hand side and go through a chicane.

(1) Follow a narrow path, then a wider path through the woods. Keep a distance from a meadow on the right-hand side and ignore a few paths on the left-hand side. At a crossroads, continue straight ahead and, further on, cross a stream. After another narrow passage, pass a chicane and come out onto a small road.

(2) Follow the road to the left and note an old lime kiln on the right. Pass under the railway viaduct. In a left-hand bend, ignore a path coming from the right and stay on the road. After a "no entry for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes" sign, leave the road and take a farm track on the left. Pass a farm shed on your left, ignore a vague path on the right and head towards the forest.

Red and white + purple markings

(3) At the crossroads just after an electricity pole, continue straight ahead and enter the forest on a path stabilised by stones. Go straight ahead (west-southwest) through a mixture of high forest and coppice, ignoring all turnings off to the sides (private property, numerous warning signs). At the top of a long, steady climb, enter the national forest and continue straight ahead on a grassy path between two plots of coppice.

Red and white markings

(4) At the crossroads of several paths, continue straight ahead on the^GR®14(ignore the purple markings turning sharply to the left). Continue straight ahead through the forest until you reach the Obélisque de Villeneuve-le-Comte. Go around the roundabout on either side (be careful, busy roads) and head straight across to the Aire de l'Obélisque (car park, ONF sign).

(5) Go through a forest gate and walk along a pond on your left. Then continue straight ahead for about 1.7km, keeping west-southwest and ignoring all the side paths.

(6) After crossing Chemin des Quatre Arches and a stream, turn left and head south-west for about 800 metres.

(7) At the next crossroads, take the second path on the right and let the road turn left (the "Private property - No trespassing" signs framing this path refer to the woods on either side). Leave the woods and continue along the edge on a very wide grassy path.

Red and white + yellow + green markings

(8) In open terrain, ignore a path coming from the right (not shown on the map) and continue between two horse pastures. Walk past a beautiful farmhouse on your right (dovecote, pond) and continue on a small road.

Red and white + yellow markings

When you reach a sign for "Les Égrefins" on the right-hand side, continue along the small road (ignore the green markings going to the left). At the "Give way" sign, follow a small path on the left that runs parallel to the Route de Meaux and cross a dead end on the left.

Red and white + green markings

At No. 4, turn right, cross the road (take care) and follow the small road towards Les Masselins. Cross the hamlet and, after the last houses, turn right into the undergrowth with the road.

Red and white markings

(9) At the forest barrier, turn left at an acute angle to the road, cross a stream and follow the^GR®14towards Tournan. At the three-way junction that follows, go right and walk along a fence on your left. Take the bridge over the TGV line.

(10) At the bottom of the bridge, turn sharply left, go through a forest barrier and follow a path along the edge of the woods. When this path meets the TGV line, it turns right. Walk southwards, along the edge of the woods or slightly inside them, and follow the TGV line on your left (which remains at a safe distance and is protected by a high fence).

(11) About 200m before a new bridge over the TGV line, turn right at the same time as a fence inside the woods. Pass two ponds on your left and, at the next crossroads, continue straight ahead (west). Walk along a large cultivated plot on your left and a fence on your right, staying slightly inside the woods. Then move away from the fence and walk along the edge of the woods. At the end of the cultivated plot, go through a forest gate.

(12) At the T-junction (small pumping station on the left), turn right onto a path that crosses through a wood. At the edge of the field (marker post on the right), turn left towards Tournan station. Walk alongside a large field on your right and a wood, then a hedge on your left (note the large farmhouse on the other side of the field).

(13) Cross a small road, continue straight ahead on a field path and walk along a stream on your left. Ignore a footbridge crossing the stream on your left and walk along a small wood on your left. Ignore a small bridge with railings over the stream, go around a pond on the right and pass under a power line.

(14) Cross a street and continue straight ahead on Rue des Prés Bataille. Cross a residential area, ignoring all the streets on the right. At the stop sign, continue straight ahead and, after a few metres, turn right onto Rue de l'Abreuvoir.

(15) After a playground on the right-hand side, cross the Marsange river. At the stop sign, cross Rue de Provins, continue straight ahead and you will come to a square (fountain, beautiful porch on the right).

(16) Turn right, leaving the fountain on your left, and go under the porch. You will arrive at Place Edmond de Rotschild. Walk along the church on your left. Then turn right onto a staircase that leads to Rue Marcel Micheau. Follow this street to the left, then left again onto Rue de la Montagne. Cross Rue du Président Poincaré and continue straight ahead onto Allée d'Armainvilliers. Turn left at the first street, Boulevard Isaac Pereire. At the end, turn left and head towards the station.

To return home:
- Transilien - Line P, towards Paris-Est or Coulommiers.
- RER - Line E, towards Paris-Haussmann.

Train timetables: consult the Transilien website.

For motorists:
The two stations are located on the same section of the same line: leave a vehicle in the car park of one of the two stations and make a return trip by train. It is also possible to organise yourself with at least two vehicles, one at each of the two stations.

Hiking boots are necessary, as several sections may be muddy in winter. No drinking water sources have been identified. Bars, restaurants and shops in Tournan, around the square (16) and Rue de Paris.

Between (10) and (11), the TGV line is not the ideal setting for a hike... However, this is the section that bypasses Paris to the east, where trains run much less frequently than on the lines serving Paris.

The signposting is generally good, but there are a few "gaps" or "oddities" in places (as of March 2017). A 1:25,000 map is therefore necessary (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on 22 March 2017.

- Old lime kiln (19th-20th century) (2).
- Beautiful forest passages between (3) and (7).
- Obelisk of Villeneuve-le-Comte (1735).
- Former Égrefins farm, with dovecote (8).
- Beautiful square with fountain and porch dating from the 12th to 16th centuries.
- Saint-Denis Church (20th century) in Tournan-en-Brie, after (16).