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Starting point and access: Boulevard Kellermann at the Porte d'Italie.
- Metro - Line 7, Porte d'Italie station, exit 3 Avenue d'Italie. At the top of the metro exit, turn left.
- Tram - Line T3a, Porte d'Italie station. Cross Boulevard Masséna on the Paris side (north) then turn left and cross Avenue d'Italie.
No signage (except for a few isolated signs)
(S) Follow Boulevard Kellermann westwards. Very soon after the brasserie on the corner, turn right into Rue du Colonel Dominé (chains). This is a pedestrian street that soon turns left. At number 20, turn right under the building and enter the Jardin du Moulin de la Pointe. Just after the gate, take the ramp down to the left. At the end, turn right and walk past the (very tall) Tour Chambord on your left. At the end of the lane, turn left to leave the park. Cross the street and then, slightly diagonally to the left, cross the Place des 44 Enfants d'Izieu (red and yellow sign). Continue along Rue André Pieyre de Mandiargues with the old Petite Ceinture railway line below on your left. At the crossroads, turn left into Rue Dasmesme.
(1) When the street bends to the left, leave it and turn right at an acute angle to enter (red and white sign) the Jardin de la Petite Ceinture (marked "Jardin de la Poterne des Peupliers" on the map; this former garden was enlarged with the "Petite Ceinture" space and renamed in January 2016). Go down the stairs and, at the bottom, turn right to cross the old railway line (on the right, there is an old tunnel that is closed off and covered in graffiti). Turn left immediately and follow the old railway line westwards. At the park exit, continue straight ahead into Rue Madeleine Brès, a cobbled pedestrian street that goes uphill. At the end of the street, turn right at an acute angle and enter the Jardin Charles Trénet (red and yellow sign). Walk along a playground on your right, then turn left onto the wooden footbridge that crosses the garden. At the exit of the garden, go around the Place de Rungis on the right.
Red and white signs
(2) Head north on Rue Barrault. Keep the Lycée Professionnel Lazare Ponticelli (named after the last known French veteran of the First World War, who died in 2008) on your left. At the crossroads, take the second left, Rue de la Colonie. At the end of the street, turn right into Rue Vergniaud. Cross Rue de Tolbiac and follow it on the left. At the traffic lights, turn right onto Rue Wurtz. At the end of the street, cross Rue Vergniaud on the right and continue uphill onto Rue Daviel. Pass Villa Daviel and, at the top of the hill, turn left onto Rue Barrault.
No signposts
Take the first street on the right, Rue de la Butte aux Cailles. At the small square (with a Wallace fountain in the centre), turn left onto the same street.
Red and yellow signposts
(3) At the crossroads, turn left onto Rue des Cinq Diamants. Take the second left, Rue Jonas, at the corner of a restaurant. Walk along the Jardin Brassaï on your left. Turn right at an acute angle, go down some steps, pass under a building and you will come out onto Boulevard Auguste Blanqui. Cross the boulevard in two stages (using the pedestrian crossings) and, between the two, pass under the elevated metro line. Continue along Rue Corvisart. Cross Place de la Bergère d'Ivry and then Rue de Croulebarbe.
Red and yellow + red and white signs
Enter Square René Le Gall. Go down the stairs and walk along a playground on your left. Stay in the central path, ignoring the markings that invite you to zigzag. At the end of the path, go around a square with a small obelisk in the middle on your right. Go up the stairs on the right and follow the signs. When you leave the square, turn left onto Rue Berbier du Mets. Walk along the Manufacture des Gobelins on your right.
Red and yellow signposts
At the first crossroads, leave theGR®11straight ahead and follow theGRP® which turns right into Rue Gustave Geoffroy. Walk alongside the Château de la Reine Blanche on your left. At the next crossroads, turn left into Rue des Gobelins. At the end of this street, rejoin Rue Berbier du Mets and follow it to the right. Cross Boulevard Arago.
Red and white markings
(4) Follow Boulevard Arago on the left. At the traffic lights, turn right onto Rue Pascal. Pass under Boulevard de Port-Royal and continue straight ahead until you reach the traffic lights. Cross Rue Claude Bernard (there is a plaque on the pavement opposite indicating the location of the former bed of the Bièvre river).
No signposts
There are a few signs, red and yellow at the very beginning and in the Jardin des Plantes, and red and white at the very end.
Continue straight ahead on Rue Pascal until you reach a roundabout (with a pond in the middle). Go around the roundabout on the left, turn north onto Rue Mouffetard and pass the entrance to the Saint-Médard Church on your right. Take the first right, Rue Daubenton. Pass the Gymnase des Patriarches (on your left) and continue along Rue Daubenton, keeping to the left-hand pavement. Then follow Rue Monge on the left, pass a metro station and, at the traffic lights, cross Rue de Mirbel. Turn right immediately to cross Rue Monge, go around a bakery on the right and continue on the left into Rue Daubenton. At the next intersection, continue along Rue Daubenton until you reach the Grande Mosquée de Paris.
(5) Continue straight ahead. Then cross Rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and, following a zigzag pattern, enter the Jardin des Plantes (map). Pass the entrance to the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution (on your left) and then the Galerie de Minéralogie (on your right). Then turn left and cross the esplanade (statue of Buffon on the right). Head towards the greenhouses, which are clearly visible, go up a tarmac path and pass between the cactus greenhouse (on the left) and the large greenhouse (on the right). At a crossroads just after the greenhouses, take the right-hand path. At the next fork (red and yellow sign), turn right and stay on the higher ground. Curve to the right, go downhill to arrive opposite the Alpine Garden and turn right (map).
(6) At the entrance to the large greenhouse (on your right), turn left and enter the Botanical School Garden. Go straight ahead to the exit on the opposite side (you can of course take detours inside the garden). At the exit, turn right at a right angle. Take the first left, a wide avenue lined with plane trees. At the end of the avenue, turn right onto the esplanade and leave the Jardin des Plantes through the gate opposite the statue of Lamarck.
Continue straight ahead and cross the successive pedestrian crossings. Before the last crossing that leads to the Pont d'Austerlitz on the left (downstream), turn right and cross two more pedestrian crossings. Then turn left and take the Pont d'Austerlitz on its right side (upstream). The "Buffon" storm surge barrier (formerly used to divert floodwaters from the Bièvre river) can be seen on the right at the base of the quay, behind a moored barge. Continuing along the bridge, there is a beautiful view of the Bercy district on the right and Notre-Dame Cathedral on the left.
(7) Retrace your steps and, at the end of the bridge, turn left. At the traffic lights, cross Place Valhubert (red and white markers) using several pedestrian crossings. Continue straight ahead on Boulevard de l'Hopital until you reach the entrance courtyard of Paris-Austerlitz Station (E).
To return home:
- By Metro: lines 5 and 10.
- By RER: line C, either towards Etampes/Dourdan or towards Versailles/Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
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