From Paris to Bry-sur-Marne via the Bois de Vincennes and along the Marne

Departure point at the foot of the Tour Saint-Jacques, on the edge of Rue de Rivoli, in the^4th arrondissement of Paris.
Metro: Châtelet or Hôtel-de-Ville station.

(S) Head south to cross a branch of the Seine on the Pont Notre-Dame. Continue along Rue de la Cité until you reach the square in front of Notre-Dame.

(1) Continue straight ahead and take the Petit Pont to cross the second branch of the Seine. Continue straight ahead on Rue du Petit Pont. At the corner of the Church of Saint-Séverin (on the right-hand side), turn left and follow the^GRP® (red and yellow markings). At the fork that appears immediately, follow Rue Galande to the right and leave 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 to follow Rue de l'Hôtel Colbert.

Before reaching the quay along the Seine, turn right onto Rue des Grands Degrés. At the end, turn right onto Rue Maître Albert. At the end, turn left and cross Place Maubert. Cross Boulevard Saint-Germain and follow the road diagonally to the right and uphill onto Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève.

(2) Cross the square with the fountain and turn right, still on Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. At the foot of the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, turn left onto the street of the same name. Then turn right onto Rue Descartes and immediately left onto Rue Clovis (note the remains of Philippe Auguste's city wall between numbers 5 and 1).

At the end, turn right and go up Rue du Cardinal Lemoine. Then take the first left, Rue Rollin. Go down a flight of steps, cross Rue Monge and continue opposite, Rue de Navarre.

(3) Walk past the Arènes de Lutèce (open to visitors) and then turn right onto 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 east towards the iris and perennial garden, turning right onto Allée Haüy. Follow this path to the exit.

(5) Let's leave the Jardin des Plantes (Grande Mosquée de Paris opposite on the right) and follow Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire to the left. Take the^second left, Rue Poliveau. Follow it to Boulevard de l'Hôpital, which we follow to the left for about a hundred metres.

(6) Cross over to follow the^{GRP® trail}, which crosses the Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière via the Cour Saint-Louis, then Rue de l'Église and Allée Le Vau.

(7) Exit onto Rue Bruant and continue to Boulevard Vincent Auriol. Follow the boulevard to the left until you reach the Seine at Pont de Bercy.

(8) Cross the avenue before the Quai d'Austerlitz and walk up the opposite side of Boulevard Vincent Auriol for 100 metres.

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 Francois Mauriac.

(9) Take the Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir footbridge and rejoin the^GR®2trail, which you will follow to the town of Saint-Maur. At the end of the footbridge, enter Parc de Bercy.

(10) Turn right and take the central path. Pass a small canal on your left and take the footbridge over Rue Joseph Kessel. Further on, go around a pond on the right. Turn right to leave the park via the entrance on Rue de l'Ambroisie.

Take Rue de l'Aubrac opposite. Further on, turn left onto Rue Baron Le Roy. At the end, turn right onto Place de Lachambeaudie and go around the church on the right.

(11) Follow the^GR®2under the Bercy railway tracks on Rue Proudhon. Cross Rue Coriolis at the traffic lights. At the next traffic lights, turn right onto Rue de Charonne, then left onto Rue de Wattignies. Take the^first right, Rue de la Brèche aux Loups, then the first left, Rue des Meuniers.

Continue straight ahead on this street until you reach Avenue du Général Bizot. Cross this avenue, then the old Petite Ceinture railway line, and finish at Rue des Meuniers. Then turn left onto Boulevard Poniatovski.

(12) Cross the boulevard at the next traffic lights, at Porte de Reuilly. Head towards Bois de Vincennes via Place du Cardinal Lavigerie. At the crossroads, follow the^GR®2to the left along Route de la Croix Rouge. Cross Route de la Ceinture du Lac de Daumesnil and turn left towards the lake.

(13) Follow the Promenade Maurice Boitel to the right at an acute angle, still on the^GR®2, ignoring the paths branching off to the right. At the bridge leading to Île de Reuilly, turn right and continue along the lake.

At the end of the lake, take a footbridge over a river and continue along the lake for about 50 metres. Turn right at a sharp angle and cross the D158 in two stages at the traffic lights.

(14) Take a path through the woods. This leads to a wider track, which you follow to the left. After about 75 metres, turn right to follow the Ruisseau de la Gravelle stream on your right. Follow the stream to the Carrefour de la Patte d'Oie crossroads.

(15) Turn right at the crossroads and take the^first path on the left to follow the river on your left. Cross the river, turn right and cross the river again. Cross a tarmac road and you will arrive at Route du Pesage, near the Vincennes racecourse.

(16) Follow the road to the left and, at the fork, go up to the left 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 over the A4 motorway. At the bottom, turn left and then right to take the Passerelle de Charentonneau footbridge over the Marne.

(17) Take the Promenade Paul Cézanne or the^GR®2on your left along Avenue Joffre. Pass under several motorway bridges and continue along the Marne to the Maison-Alfort bridge. Take the bridge, preferably on the left-hand pavement, and cross the Marne. At the end of the bridge, continue along Avenue Pierre Mendès-France to the black building of the river police.

(18) Turn left and make a U-turn 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 towpath (tarmac) with the Marne on your right. Continue along Quai Schaken. Turn into the^{third street} on the left, Boulevard du Général Ferrié.

(19) At the kiosk, turn left onto Boulevard des Bagaudes. After crossing Rue Jules Joffrin, go around a small triangular square on the left and continue along Boulevard des Bagaudes.

At the next intersection, first turn right then left onto 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 the^first right, Rue Pasteur, which becomes Avenue Pasteur. At the crossroads, take the^first left, Rue de la Tournelle, to arrive opposite the magnificent Saint-Nicolas Church.

Go around the church on the right and follow Rue du Four. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead.

(21) Enter Square de l'Abbaye on the right (Tour Rabelais on the left). Climb the stairs immediately on the left. Walk past a playground, pass a sculpture (characters with a donkey) and further on, on the left, you will find an opening in a hedge. Descend the winding path.

At the bottom, continue straight ahead, passing a gate on your right and an avenue lined with yew trees on your left. Turn left to leave the square.

(22) Take Rue de l'Abbaye northwards and follow it to the banks of the Marne. Keep right along Quai Beaubourg. At the traffic lights, turn left onto Pont du Petit Parc.

(23) Once you have crossed the Marne, take the stairs on the left to reach the riverbank (left). Walk along the river on your left, first on Quai Gabriel Péri and then, after passing under a road bridge, on 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 right onto Quai de Béthune. Walk along the river on your right, then turn left onto Avenue de Calais.

At the end, back at the Marne, follow Quai Polongis 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 to Pont de Nogent.

(25) Use the steps to climb up to the bridge and cross the Marne. Descend on the other side, pass under the bridge and follow the^GR®14A(red and white markings) with the Marne on your right. Take Quai du Port, pass under a railway bridge and continue along Promenade Roger Loison.

(26) Take the Pont de Bry bridge to cross the Marne for the last time on this stage. Go around Place Daguerre on the left and follow the D120 to the left. At the foot of a church, turn left onto Grande Rue Charles de Gaulle to reach the Bry-sur-Marne Tourist Office (E).

The first part of this route is urban, and there are plenty of places to eat and drink along the way.
Supermarkets, restaurants, and pubs.
There are numerous RER and SNCF stations along the route, allowing you to plan your itinerary as you wish.

The Bry-sur-Marne Tourist Office (E) can suggest accommodation options.

Tourist Offices:
https://www.parisinfo.com/
Marne Valley Tourist Office. Contact: 01 48 73 73 97
Joinville Le Pont: contact: 01 49 76 60 15
Champigny-sur-Marne: http://www.champignysurmarne-tourisme.fr contact: 01 48 82 03 52
Bry sur Marne: http://www.officetourisme-bry94.fr contact: +33 (0)1 48 82 30 30
Accommodation websites:
https://www.chambres-hotes.fr/; https://www.gites-de-france.com/fr; https://www.cybevasion.fr/
https://www.airbnb.fr; https://www.chambresdhotes.org/
https://www.campingfrance.com; https://www.camping.fr

The most famous churches and monuments in Paris. Île de la Cité; Jardin des Plantes, Bois de Vincennes.
The banks of the Seine and Marne rivers; the locks on the canals and their boating life.
Remains of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre-du-Fossé, whose first abbot was Babolein, a disciple of Saint Columbanus, and the Church of Saint Nicolas.
Bry-sur-Marne: Daguerre, born in 1787, came to live in Bry in 1839. He had previously made a name for himself in Paris as a set designer at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu, then at the Opera. He joined forces with Niepce and discovered the "daguerreotype" process, the starting point for photography. Daguerre died in Bry in 1851 and is buried there.
The André Mentienne Museum in the town has various works by Daguerre as well as a collection of old and contemporary daguerreotypes and cameras.