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Starting point and access: Basilica of Saint-Denis.
- Metro – Line 13, Saint-Denis Basilique station. Take Exit 1: Passage de l’Aqueduc / Hôtel de Ville / Basilique (marked on the map).
- Tram – Line T1, Basilique de Saint-Denis stop. Follow the Chemin des Poulies southwards, cross the Place du Caquet, cross Rue Jean Jaurès and continue straight on along the Place du Caquet to emerge between the town hall and the basilica.
No signposting
(S/E) As you exit the metro station, head straight ahead. Walk along Place Jean Jaurès on your right and past the town hall on your left. At the corner, turn left and you’ll emerge onto the basilica’s forecourt.
Walk round the basilica on the left and enter the Jardin Pierre de Montreuil. Walk alongside the building to its north gate (with a tympanum depicting the history of Saint-Denis), then turn left to leave the garden.
Yellow markings (rare)
Then turn right onto the Allée des Six Chapelles and continue diagonally to the left along Rue de Strasbourg. Walk past the headquarters of the newspaper *L’Humanité*, cross Rue Jean Jaurès on the left-hand side (remains of fortifications) and continue straight on along Rue de Strasbourg. After passing the tram station, cross the tracks and the road at the pedestrian crossing.
(1) Then turn right and continue along Rue de Strasbourg, running parallel to the tram tracks on your right. At the roundabout, cross Avenue Lénine at the traffic lights and follow it to the left. Carry on straight ahead (following thePR®® No. 3) and ignore all turn-offs on the right. At the end, cross Avenue Marcel Cachin in two stages and enter the park of the same name.
Turn right (east) onto a gravel path. At the T-junction, turn right. After about twenty metres, turn left and pass between the picnic tables on the left and a playground on the right. Ignore a path on the left and continue alongside the playground. Cross a road and continue straight ahead, keeping slightly to the right, on a gravel path.
(2) Carry on along a tarmac path reserved for pedestrians and cyclists, towards Parc de la Courneuve, and walk past some detached houses. Cross a road, continue straight ahead and walk alongside the Collège Henri Barbusse. The tarmac path then splits in two: take the right-hand lane, reserved for pedestrians, and go straight on.
At the end (on the right, where there is a railing overlooking Rue Jacques Vaché), turn left. Opposite a school, turn right and take the cycle path running parallel to Rue de Sevran.
Yellow + red and white markings (rare)
(3) After a few dozen metres, leave the cycle path and turn right onto a gravel path. Cross a street, pass a chicane, go slightly downhill and follow a wide gravel path at the foot of some blocks of flats. Pass under a metal footbridge and continue straight ahead.
After passing an EDF substation, turn right and climb a flight of steps to join Rue des Marnaudes, which comes from the right. Cross Rue de la Garenne, which runs perpendicular to Rue des Marnaudes, and take a narrow gravel path opposite. Join a wider path and follow it to the right.
At the end, turn right onto Rue de Falla and follow it to the left for a few metres. When the street turns right, continue straight on along a narrow tarmac path and pass between two hedges. You’ll come out onto Avenue Roger Salengro; follow it to the right and pass a bus stop. At the traffic lights, cross the avenue in two stages. On the other side, carry on straight ahead along a concrete path towards a large yellow gate.
N.B. Between points (4) and (6), inside the departmental park, severalPR®® trails intersect: stick to the route shown on the map and the description, even if, at times, this ignores a Yellow Cross or bypasses a cross of the same colour.
(4) Go through the gate and enter the Georges Valbon Departmental Park via the Marville entrance. Walk past a sign with a map and continue straight ahead along a wide concrete path. At a junction (with shelters on the right), turn left. Immediately ignore a path branching off to the left (small rock) and climb gently towards a wooded hillock.
After a sign for “Roseraie”, take thefirst path on the left (not shown on the OSM map but present on the IGN map). Wind your way uphill between the flowerbeds and ignore the steps on either side. After a flat section, head back down. At a T-junction, turn right, continuing downhill. At the next junction, turn sharply left and head a few dozen metres towards a small lake.
Before reaching a water source, take a narrower path on the left which quickly becomes gravelly. Walk between a woodland on your left and a lawn on your right. Head back down towards the small lake. When you reach the shore, turn left and walk along the lake on your right (PR®® no. 5). Ignore the boardwalks across the lake (off-limits in winter) and continue straight on to asecond lake, which is larger than thefirst.
(5) Ignore a yellow arrow sign indicating a sharp left turn and walk alongside the Grand Lac on your right, towards the Pont Iris. At the junction at the exit of a left-hand bend, ignore the sign for the Pont Iris on the right; continue straight on and climb gently, walking alongside an area with table tennis tables on your left.
At the junction, turn right uphill. Pass two benches under the pine trees and carry on through the woodland along a narrow gravel path. At the end, at a crossroads, rejoin the tarmac and turn sharply right (ignore a Yellow Cross). Soon after, take thefirst path on the left, which curves to the left. Cross the Iris Bridge, decorated with colourful metal sculptures, and thus cross over the railway tracks.
Yellow + Red and Yellow signposting
As you come off the bridge, turn right at a right angle to follow the Ceinture Verte (let theGR®® head off to the left). Descend steeply. At the bottom, at a Fork in the road, go right. Walk alongside the Étang des Brouillards on your left and arrive at a crossroads (old railway tracks are visible between the cobblestones).
No signposting
(6) Take the path on the right, pass through a forest gate and you’ll soon reach the end of a long, narrow stretch of water (not shown on the OSM map but visible on the IGN map) fringed with reeds (information boards). Retrace your steps.
(6) On returning from the stretch of water, turn right (go straight on if you have avoided the detour to the stretch of water). Take thefirst gravel path on the left, which curves to the right towards some houses. As you approach them, at a junction, turn left. Pass a chicane and leave the park via entrance no. 15.
Carry on straight ahead along a road. When you reach the ODHLM (Departmental Social Housing Office) workshop, turn left. Then walk past the Jean-Baptiste Clément secondary school on your left. At the Stop sign, turn right.
Cross the D114 at the traffic lights and carry on straight ahead between the Jean Jaurès school complex and the Robert Schuman Sixth Form College. Then walk alongside the François Rabelais Hotel School and then the gates of a public park. At the Stop sign, turn right.
(7) Immediately turn right (zigzag) into Georges Valbon Park once again. Follow a tarmac path and, at a Fork in the road, veer left. At the next junction, turn left (with an artificial escarpment on your right).
At the fork in the road that appears straight away, take the tarmac path on the left. When this turns right, leave it and take a very wide gravel path on the left (not shown on the map).
Continue along a very wide tarmac lane, heading due south, with the name of the company ‘Chimirec’ clearly visible ahead. Note the Le Bourget Exhibition Centre on the left, along with some parts of the Museum of Aeronautics. Pass a chicane and leave the park via the Comète entrance.
Red and yellow markings
(8) Go round the roundabout on the left and cross a wide avenue in two stages (Avenue John Fitzgerald Kennedy on the map). Then follow the avenue to the left, ignoring the turn-offs on the right. At two successive traffic lights, go straight on towards Le Blanc-Mesnil.
Cross a former slip road to the A1 motorway (now closed) and continue behind a crash barrier. Take the bridge over the motorway, leave Duigny and enter Le Bourget. Go straight on, following the cemetery wall.
At the next set of traffic lights, cross Rue de l’Égalité and continue for a few metres further along Avenue John Fitzgerald Kennedy to the left. Note on the right a monument honouring the soldiers who died during the fighting in the First Battle of Le Bourget (28–30 October 1870).
No signposting
(9) Before thefirst house, turn right onto a tarmac path. At the end, turn left. Take thefirst right, Rue Marcel Sembat, then thefirst left, Rue Marcelin Berthelot.
After a left-hand bend, turn right onto Rue Pierre Curie (not signposted here). At the end, cross Place du 11 novembre 1918 (on the right, war memorials for 1870–1871). Cross Avenue de la Division Leclerc (N2, not signposted here) and follow it to the right for about thirty metres.
Then turn left into Square Charles de Gaulle (bust and memorial stone). First turn left then right, and follow a tarmac path. When this turns left, carry on straight ahead along a gravel path. Walk past a playground on your right and leave the square.
(10) Then turn right into Rue Daniel Dohet. At the end, turn left into Rue Edgar Quinet (not signposted here). Then turn right onto Rue Jean Monnet. Pass Rue Camille Dramart on your right, then cross Rue du Commandant Rolland and continue straight on towards the ‘Les Petits Coucous’ nursery.
Walk past a park on your right. At the roundabout, go straight on and climb a flight of steps (not shown on the map). Pass under a footbridge connecting the blocks of flats. Cross an avenue at the traffic lights (Avenue Marceau on the map) then turn right towards the RER station. Go straight on and you’ll soon see Le Bourget station (E) on your left.
To get back home:
- RER – Line B, towards Paris, or towards Charles de Gaulle Airport or Mitry-Claye.
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