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The tour starts at the foot of the Tour Saint-Jacques, on Rue de Rivoli, in Paris’s4th arrondissement.
Metro: Châtelet or Hôtel-de-Ville stations.
(S) Head south to cross a branch of the Seine via the Pont Notre-Dame. Continue along Rue de la Cité until you reach the forecourt of Notre-Dame.
(1) Carry on straight ahead and take the Petit Pont to cross the second branch of the Seine. Continue straight on along Rue du Petit Pont. At the corner by the Church of Saint-Séverin (on the right-hand side), turn left, following theGRP®® (red and yellow markings). At the fork in the road immediately ahead, turn right onto Rue Galande, leaving the Church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre on your left. Cross Rue du Fouarre and, at the end of a small triangular square, turn left onto Rue de l’Hôtel Colbert.
Before reaching the quay on the banks of the Seine, turn right onto Rue des Grands Degrés. At the end, turn right into Rue Maître Albert. At the end, turn left and cross Place Maubert. Cross Boulevard Saint-Germain and follow Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève diagonally to the right and uphill.
(2) Pass the square with a fountain and head diagonally to the right, still on Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. At the foot of the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, turn left into the street of the same name. Then turn right into Rue Descartes and immediately left into Rue Clovis (note the remains of Philippe Auguste’s city wall between numbers 5 and 1).
At the end, turn right and head uphill along Rue du Cardinal Lemoine. Then take the first left, Rue Rollin. Go down a flight of steps, cross Rue Monge and continue straight ahead along Rue de Navarre.
(3) Walk past the Arènes de Lutèce (open to visitors) and then turn right into Rue des Arènes. At the end, turn left onto Rue Lacépède.
(4) Cross Rue Linné and enter the Jardin des Plantes via Allée Chevreul at the corner of Rue Cuvier. Follow this path to the rotunda of the Ménagerie. Then head due east towards the iris and perennial garden, and turn right onto Allée Haüy. Follow this path to the exit.
(5) Let’s leave the Jardin des Plantes (with the Grand Mosque of Paris opposite on the right) and turn left onto Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire. Take thesecond street on the left, Rue Poliveau. Follow it to Boulevard de l’Hôpital, which we’ll walk along on the left for about a hundred metres.
(6) Cross the road to follow theGRP®® trail, which passes through the Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpètrière via the Cour Saint-Louis, then along Rue de l’Église and Allée Le Vau.
(7) Head out onto Rue Bruant until you reach Boulevard Vincent Auriol. Follow the boulevard to the left until you reach the Seine at the Pont de Bercy.
(8) Cross the avenue before the Quai d’Austerlitz and walk up Boulevard Vincent Auriol on the opposite side for 100 metres.
First turn left onto Rue Jean Arp, then opposite onto Rue Valery Larbaud. First turn left then right onto Rue Jean Giono. At the end, turn left onto Rue Raymond Aron, then immediately right onto Quai François Mauriac.
(9) Let’s cross the Simone de Beauvoir Footbridge and rejoin theGR®®2, which we’ll follow as far as the town of Saint-Maur. As we leave the footbridge, let’s head into Bercy Park.
(10) Turn right and take the central path. Pass a small canal on your left and cross the footbridge over Rue Joseph Kessel. Further on, go round a pond on the right. Turn right to leave the park via the entrance on Rue de l’Ambroisie.
Across the road, take Rue de l’Aubrac. A little further on, turn left into Rue Baron Le Roy. At the end of the street, turn right onto Place de Lachambeaudie and walk round the church on the right.
(11) Follow theGR®®2under the Bercy railway lines on Rue Proudhon. Cross Rue Coriolis at the traffic lights. At the next set of traffic lights, turn right onto Rue de Charonne, then left onto Rue de Wattignies. Take thefirst right onto Rue de la Brèche aux Loups, then the first left onto Rue des Meuniers.
Carry on straight along this street until you reach Avenue du Général Bizot. Cross this avenue, then the former Petite Ceinture railway line, and continue to the end of Rue des Meuniers. Then turn left onto Boulevard Poniatovski.
(12) Cross the boulevard at the next set of traffic lights, at the Porte de Reuilly. Head towards the Bois de Vincennes via the Place du Cardinal Lavigerie. At the junction, follow theGR®®2to the left by taking the Route de la Red Cross. Cross the Route de la Ceinture du Lac de Daumesnil and turn left towards the lake.
(13) Turn sharply right onto Promenade Maurice Boitel, still following theGR®®2, ignoring any paths branching off to the right. At the bridge leading to Île de Reuilly, turn right and continue along the lakeside.
At the far end of the lake, take a footbridge over a river and continue along the lake for about fifty metres. Turn sharply right and cross the D158 in two stages at the traffic lights.
(14) Take a path through the woodland. You’ll emerge onto a wider track; follow it to the left. After about 75 metres, veer right to walk alongside the Ruisseau de la Gravelle on your right-hand side. Follow the stream to the three-way junction.
(15) Turn right at the junction and take thefirst path on the left, now keeping the river on your left. Cross the river, veer right and cross the river again. Cross a tarmac road and you’ll come out onto Route du Pesage, near the Vincennes Racecourse.
(16) Follow the road to the left and, at the Fork in the road, head up the left-hand path to the Kiosque de Gravelle (viewpoint). Turn right onto a downhill path. Cross the avenue at the pedestrian crossing and continue downhill.
At the bottom, turn left and immediately take the footbridge on the right which spans the A4 motorway. At the bottom, turn left then right to take the Passerelle de Charentonneau over the Marne.
(17) Take the Promenade Paul Cézanne or theGR®®2on your left, running alongside Avenue Joffre. Pass under several motorway bridges and carry on along the Marne as far as the Maison-Alfort Bridge. Take the bridge, preferably using the left-hand footpath, and cross the Marne. Once off the bridge, carry on along Avenue Pierre Mendès-France as far as the black building housing the river police.
(18) Turn left and turn round to take the towpath along the Canal de Saint-Maur. Ignore a small bridge over the canal and pass under the Maisons-Alfort Bridge. Continue along the (tarmac) towpath with the Marne on your right. Carry on along Quai Schaken. Take thethird left onto Boulevard du Général Ferrié.
(19) When you reach a kiosk, head diagonally left onto Boulevard des Bagaudes. After crossing Rue Jules Joffrin, go round a small triangular square on the left and continue along Boulevard des Bagaudes.
At the next junction, first turn right then left to join Rue du Viaduc. At the end, turn right and go under the railway bridge.
(20) Cross Boulevard Maurice Berteaux, then Boulevard du Maréchal Leclerc, and turn left. Take thefirst right, Rue Pasteur, which becomes Avenue Pasteur. At the junction, take thefirst left, Rue de la Tournelle, to come out opposite the magnificent Saint-Nicolas Church.
Walk round the church on the right and follow Rue du Four. At the junction, carry on straight ahead.
(21) Turn right into Square de l’Abbaye (with the Tour Rabelais on your left). Climb the steps immediately on your left. Walk past a children’s playground, past a sculpture (figures with a donkey), and further on, on your left, you’ll find an opening in a hedge. Then walk down a winding path.
At the bottom, carry on straight ahead, passing a gate on your right and a path lined with yews on your left. Curve to the left to leave the square.
(22) Take Rue de l’Abbaye northwards and follow it to the banks of the Marne. Turn right onto Quai Beaubourg. At the traffic lights, turn left onto the Pont du Petit Parc.
(23) Once we have crossed the Marne, let’s head down to its left bank via a flight of steps on the left. Let’s walk along the river on the left-hand side, first along the Quai Gabriel Péri and then, after passing under a road bridge, along the Quai de Polangis.
(24) After crossing a small branch of the Marne, turn right onto Avenue Courtin. At the bridge, turn left and then immediately turn right onto Quai de Béthune. Walk along the river on your right-hand side, then turn left onto Avenue de Calais.
At the end, back on the banks of the Marne, follow Quai Polangis to the right and pass under the A4 motorway viaduct. Cross the small branch of the Marne again, continue along Quai de Polangis and then Promenade de Polangis as far as the Pont de Nogent.
(25) Take the steps up to the level of the bridge and cross the Marne. Head back down on the other side, pass under the bridge and follow theGR®®14A(red and white markings) with the Marne on your right. Take the Quai du Port, pass under a railway bridge and continue along the Promenade Roger Loison.
(26) Take the Pont de Bry to cross the Marne for the last time on this stage. Go round Place Daguerre on the left and follow the D120 to the left. At the foot of a church, turn left onto the Grande Rue Charles de Gaulle to reach the Bry-sur-Marne Tourist Office (E).
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