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Departure from Champagne-sur-Seine station (Transilien line R, on the section between Melun and Montereau via Héricy). The very beginning of the route is marked and described when coming from platform 2 (towards Montereau-Melun) or from the car park. If you are coming from platform 1 (towards Melun-Montereau), take a tarmac path that starts to the left of the entrance to the underpass and join the route after the level crossing.
Yellow + red and white markings
(S/E) With your back to the station, turn left and cross the car park. At the roundabout, turn left and cross the railway line at the level crossing. Immediately turn right onto Rue de Sens, preferably on the left-hand pavement. At No. 5, climb a staircase and let the street turn right. At the top, take a steeply ascending paved path on the left. Below a road, climb another staircase on the right. When you reach the road, make a right-left zigzag to follow a path with a wall on your right.
(1) At the corner of the wall, take the path on the right towards Montereau (the one on the left goes to Melun). At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead into a narrow lane, the Chemin des Corbillards. Ignore a grassy path on the right, turn left and then right with the lane and continue on a stabilised path. Then enter the forest on a wide gravel path.
(2) At the T-junction, turn left, go through a forest gate and follow a path (the purple line on the IGN map, which is supposed to represent theGR®2, is incorrect here). Pass under a power line and, at the T-junction that follows, turn right onto a wide path in the undergrowth. Follow a wall on your right, pass a forest gate and you will arrive at the entrance to the place called Le Panorama.
Yellow markings
(3) Turn left onto a wide, stable path (theGR® continues along the street opposite). Keep a fenced-in wood (tree-top adventure park) on your left and head east. At a crossroads (elevation 109, metal gate on the left), continue straight ahead and descend. Pass an isolated house on your right, then a meadow, and continue descending into the forest. Ignore a path coming from the right, make a hairpin turn to the right and you will come out on the D40 road.
(4) Follow the road to the right, stay on the right-hand shoulder and, after a few metres, take a wide path on the right that climbs into the forest. Further on, stay on the edge of the forest on your left and the field on your right. When you reach the isolated house you saw earlier, turn left and enter the forest again. Cross the grassy bench of the underground aqueduct of the Voulzie (be careful, there is a very steep slope on the left) and continue straight ahead with a fence on your right. Shortly after the end of the fence, turn right and follow a small fallow field on your left. At the end of the path, follow a small road on the left for a few metres.
Yellow + red and white markings
(5) When the road turns left, leave it (take care when crossing) and turn right onto Chemin des Herses. Follow this wide path westwards, which offers beautiful views of the Seine. Ignore a steep path on the left and continue on the path, which narrows. At the foot of an electricity pylon, take a path that descends to the left and crosses a small deforested area. You will come to a superb viewpoint over the Seine with the commune of Saint-Mammès on the opposite bank (railway viaduct slightly to the right, church bell tower completely to the right).
(6) Then turn right and follow a pleasant path west-southwest along the edge of the Seine. At the end of this path, go through a forest gate and turn right towards some houses. Go under the power line and go around an Orthodox chapel on the right, easily recognisable by its bulbous roof.
Yellow markings
(7) At the corner of the chapel, descend to the left (let theGR®2descend to the right). At the bottom, turn right and then immediately left onto a wide street lined with small buildings on the right. At the stop sign, take the bridge over the railway line. Leave Rue Frédéric Mistral on your left and walk alongside a modern church on your right. At the traffic lights, take Rue des Vallées opposite. Continue straight ahead, ignoring the narrow streets on your right, and walk alongside the Pavillon Pablo Picasso (a kind of concrete cube on the left). At the stop sign, turn left, go through a chicane and you will come to another viewpoint over the Seine (bench). Then go down the stairs on the right and you will reach the banks of the Seine (note the confluence with the Loing on the left and the footbridge over it).
(8) Follow a path to the right and walk along the river on your left and the fenced gardens on your right. Ignore a path on the right and, at the fork that immediately appears (information sign), turn left, pass a chicane and walk along a narrow strip of land with a pond on your right. Take a footbridge and wind your way around a small island (site of the Basses Godernes). End up on a new strip of land, ignore a path coming from the right and pass through a forest gate.
(9) Pass under the Aqueduc de la Voulzie, a large canal that is no longer underground here and crosses the Seine on a dedicated bridge. Ignore a tarmac lane on the right and continue straight ahead along the Seine on varying surfaces: gravel path, stabilised path, tarmac quay. Note several permanently moored barges. Leave a square lined with numerous plane trees on your right and continue on a stabilised path along the banks of the Seine.
(10) At the entrance to the Champagne-sur-Seine lock, turn right away from the river. You will immediately come out onto the Quai de Seine. Follow it to the left. After the lock, return to the banks of the Seine and continue straight ahead on the quay, ignoring all the turnings on the right. At the foot of the road bridge, turn right at an acute angle into Rue des Fours Duroy. Walk along the church on your left and, at the T-junction with Rue du Général de Gaulle, turn left. At the roundabout, take the second left and you will find the station (S/E).
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