École (rivière) walks

A hike that alternates between villages rich in heritage (old market hall, churches, wash houses, castle) and a trail through the Forêt des Trois Pignons dotted with sandstone rocks.

Visit a village in the Gâtinais Français Regional Nature Park and its surroundings: vernacular heritage, wash houses, the École river,

An original way to get to the Château de Courances: on foot! This short hike goes around the outside of the park, with the first half rich in heritage (churches, mill, wash house, etc.) and the second half more bucolic, ending on an educational trail dedicated to fruit trees.

A varied walk through woods that will then take you along ponds and the banks of the Seine.

The route is mainly through forest, with a few small sandstone rocks in places, starting from the centre of Milly-la-Forêt with its rich heritage (church, wash houses, castle).

Enjoy a country walk in the valley and on the slopes of L'École, with its mills, wash houses, castles and the town park. Be careful of muddy conditions during rainy periods.

A varied country walk, passing by the Moulin de Dannemois and the Verrerie d'Art de Soisy-sur-École. Duration: Allow extra time if you want to see the master glassmakers at work (free of charge). Avoid during hunting season.

In addition to fields and woods, this hike passes through three villages: Dannemois, where Claude François had his second home (Le Moulin), Courances and its château, and Moigny-sur-École.

A walk from station to station showcasing the full diversity of southern Île-de-France! For the first two-thirds of the route, the path crosses back and forth over the River École, with its old mills and countless wash houses. You then wander across a plateau with its typical heathland landscape. The walk concludes with a route that is mainly through woodland. A castle and a few Romanesque or Gothic churches add to the rich heritage of this walk.

This is the twenty-eighth stage of the Grand Tour of Île-de-France via the GR®11, connecting Milly-la-Forêt to the Ballancourt-sur-Essonne train station after crossing the French Gâtinais region. It is designed to follow on fromthe previous stage coming from Fontainebleau, after a night's stay there.This stage begins in the École valley, which boasts a rich heritage: Milly-la-Forêt, Moigny-sur-École, Courances and its château, and Dannemois, dear to Claude François. It continues through the fields of the Gâtinais, then the ridges and sandstone plateaus of the Grands Avaux forest, ending at Ballancourt-sur-Essonne in the valley of the same name.The stage is very beautiful but very long, and undoubtedly the most physically demanding of all those on the GR®11, especially in its second part. However, it is possible to split it in two by staying overnight and/or shorten it in several places by simplifying it.

This marked GR® route around the Île-de-France region (with a few forays into neighbouring departments and regions) complements its "little brother", the GR®1, by forming a circular route around Paris, generally with a slightly larger radius. It follows the same overall pattern: first, a radial section starting from Paris (more precisely from the Pont d'Austerlitz, near the former confluence of the Bièvre and the Seine), going up the entire Bièvre valley, then continuing to Villiers-Saint-Frédéric, in the Yvelines. From there, it is a circular route that loops around the Île-de-France region, close to its borders with neighbouring regions. The route passes through beautiful regions, often untouched by intensive urbanisation, regional nature parks and other protected natural areas, and takes in some architectural wonders.