Country:
District:
Starting point and access: Saint-Rémy-Lès-Chevreuse station.
- RER - Line B, terminus of the section between Paris and Saint-Rémy-Lès-Chevreuse.
Take the only exit at the front of the train.
Red and white markings (rare at the beginning)
(S) When you leave the station, turn left and walk along the bus station. At the end, turn left again. At the crossroads, take thefirst left, Avenue de la Terrasse. At the end, turn right onto a footpath. At the end, climb a flight of steps, which leads to a street (Rue Pierre Curie) and follow it to the left. At the fork that appears shortly afterwards, keep left, still on Rue Pierre Curie. Go downhill and ignore Avenue Muret on the right. Walk briefly along the railway line on your left and continue straight ahead on Rue Pierre Curie.
No markings
At the stop sign, turn onto a path between fences and garden hedges. The path turns left and joins a road opposite a small railway bridge.
Red and white markings
(1) Turn right onto a shaded tarmac lane. Turn right at the corner of a house, then walk along a pond on your left (information board). Pass an old chapel and continue on the tarmac. Go through a forest gate and follow Chemin de la Glacière. Go through a chicane and continue along a path between meadows. Return to the tarmac road and walk along the left-hand side of a secondary school and then a car park. At the corner of the car park, turn left and walk down Rue des Genêts. Continue straight ahead when the street becomes a one-way street and you will reach Courcelle-sur-Yvette station.
(2) Take the underpass on the right and follow exit 2 to cross the railway tracks. Take Rue Fernand Léger towards the town centre and cross left onto Allée du Manoir. You will come out onto a wider street. Look for the pedestrian crossing on the right to cross the road. Turn left and then take a cycle path that branches off to the right. Cross a street and continue along a tarmac path towards the Bassin de Coupières. Pass between a small building on the left and a much larger one on the right. Ignore two bridges over the Yvette and follow the river on your left. Then walk alongside a car park on your right.
(3) At the fork near a fast food restaurant, turn left and go through a small tunnel under a road. Cross a park, following the Yvette on your left and crossing a small tributary. Then cross the Yvette and continue along a fence on your right. At the end of the path, follow a road on your left for a few dozen metres until you reach a pedestrian crossing.
(4) Cross the road and take the gravel path opposite (due east) along a branch of the river. Continue along a tarmac path through the woods. This soon turns right and then left along the Yvette (on your right).
Yellow markings
(5) At the crossroads (information sign), turn left onto a gravel path. Walk along the right-hand side of a marshy area, the Bassin de Coupières, and ignore all the paths on the left. Note the several signs relating to the planets of the solar system along the way. At the end, turn right along a road.
Red and white + yellow markings
(6) At the boundary between gravel and tarmac, turn left into the small tunnel that passes under the road. Then cross a small street, pass between two granite pillars and continue along a shaded cement path. Cross the Yvette and walk along a fence on your left. Cross the river again and you will come to a crossroads.
Red and white markings
Turn right and cross the Yvette again. At the end of the bridge, turn left. Stay as close as possible to the river and turn left at each intersection. Cross the Yvette again.
(7) At the end of the bridge, turn right towards Gif station. Walk between the tennis courts on your left and the river on your right. Cross a tributary (the Mérantaise) and continue along a rugby field. Keep walking along the river on your right and ignore two successive bridges. When you reach a road, turn left (ignore a red and orange arrow). At the library, turn right into a tunnel that passes under the road and follow Chemin du Bras Mort. Then turn left between two fences. At thefirst crossroads, go straight ahead and you will immediately come to asecond crossroads.
No markings
(8) Turn right and follow an arrow for training course no. 74 (let theGR® trail go left over a small bridge). Turn left with the path and rejoin the main branch of the Yvette. Walk along the river on your right and a wetland on your left (Bassin de Gif-Bures), and stay on a path lined with poplar trees.
Red and white markings
(9) At the end of the basin, when the path turns sharply to the left, veer to the right. Go through a gate, turn right, cross the Yvette and follow Rue de la Prairie. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead into Rue des Bleuets. At the corner of No. 2, turn left into Rue des Coquelicots. Continue along this street until it becomes a dead end. At the end, turn right and follow a cement path along the Yvette. Cross a street and continue straight ahead on a path that passes at the foot of a building. Walk along the river on your left and pass the first university buildings (numbered).
(10) At the end of the path, turn left and cross the Yvette again. Immediately turn right onto a path and leave a large university building on your left. Cross a copse, come out onto a small tarmac path and follow it to the right. Cross the Yvette again via a footbridge and immediately turn left to walk along the river on your left. After about 250 m, the path leaves the river to go around a small eco-grazing park. Return to the river and you will soon reach a road.
(11) Cross the road and follow it to the right. After about 100 metres, turn left. Pass a cylindrical building on your right and walk along a fence. Return to the Yvette and walk along it on your left. Ignore a footbridge on your left and continue along the river. At the crossroads, cross the street and cross the Yvette using the footbridge parallel to the bridge.
(12) At the end of the footbridge, turn right and follow the river. Pass the municipal swimming pool on your left and turn right to cross the river again. You will come out at the edge of Lac du Mail and go around it on the right. At the end, turn left and pass in front of the artesian well building. Follow the river again and pass under the railway bridge.
(13) Shortly afterwards, at a fork at the corner of a car park, turn left onto a cement path as close as possible to the river. Pass under a road bridge and continue straight ahead. Cross a street and continue on a cycle path. At the roundabout, cross thefirst slip road to the N118. Pass under the bridge of this four-lane road, cross asecond slip road and continue along a tarmac path. After a forest barrier, the tarmac gives way to gravel. Walk between the Yvette on your left and the sports fields on your right.
No markings
(14) Just after a metal chicane, turn left and cross the Yvette river one last time. Immediately turn right and walk between Lac de Lozère on your left and the river on your right. At the end of the lake, turn left, pass under a small archway and cross Rue François Coppée on your right. You will come out onto Rue Alfred de Musset. Follow this road to the right. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead, still on Rue Alfred de Musset. Ignore two streets on the right and cross Rue Théodore de Banville on the left. Turn right onto Rue Alfred de Musset and you will immediately reach Lozère station (E).
To return home:
- RER - Line B, towards Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (direct access) or Paris (take the underground passage or footbridge).
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