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Starting point and access: Épinay-sur-Seine station.
- RER - Line C, on the section between Paris and Pontoise. Take the "Place de la nouvelle Gare" exit.
- Tram - Line 11 (terminus).
Yellow markings
(S) With your back to the main station building, turn right, pass a pharmacy on your left and follow Rue des Alliés. This street turns left and descends to a wide avenue (Avenue du 18 juin 1940 on the map).
(1) Turn right without crossing the avenue, cross Rue du Port and take the Pont d'Épinay bridge over the Seine. Step onto Île Saint-Denis and continue along the avenue until you reach a bus stop. Cross the avenue at the pedestrian crossing (be careful, the avenue is busy and there are no traffic lights). Turn left and then immediately right towards Parc de l'Île Saint-Denis (signposted). Walk along a fence on your right and pass a kiosk located beyond it.
Yellow markings + red and yellow metal posts "Promenade des Impressionnistes"
(2) Leave the street and enter the park via entrance no. 2 (chicane). Pass an information sign on your right and, at the fork immediately ahead, take the flat tarmac path on the right (the one on the left goes downhill). Walk past a playground on your right and, at the signpost, turn left towards the Promenade des Impressionnistes. Walk past a large lawn on your left. At a fork (not shown on the map; sculpture in the shape of a large wooden frame), turn right. Ignore a path on the left and go around a small hill on the left.
(3) At the next fork, leave the tarmac path and turn right onto a stabilised path (signposted "Promenade des Impressionnistes"). After a cluster of trees (picnic tables), ignore a path on the left and follow a path along the banks of the Seine with a railing on the right-hand side. Follow this path, ignoring the paths on the left. At the information sign, rejoin the tarmac road and continue along the Seine, still with a railing on your right.
Yellow markings
(4) Leave the park via entrance no. 6 and continue in the same direction along the Alfred Sisley College on your left. After this building, when you reach a bench, go down the steps on the right and take the towpath (not shown on the map; in case of flooding due to high water levels in the Seine, continue on the tarmac road). Follow the towpath, which alternates between cement and metal mesh. Ignore the metal steps on the left and continue on the cement towpath. At the end (shipyard on the opposite bank), climb a small staircase. On the first landing, turn right and follow a stabilised path along the Seine. At the end, you will find the tarmac road running parallel on the left. Pass under a high-voltage line and go through a gate.
(5) Then turn left and move away from the river. Turn right immediately and walk alongside a cemetery on your left. Before reaching a building, turn right but stay above the Seine (the towpath is blocked by an uprooted tree - situation as of January 2017). Turn left and continue straight ahead with the towpath below on your right and buildings on your left.
At the end of the path, continue along the quay above. After a one-way street on the left, turn left onto Rue Armand et Paul Fumouze. Ignore the street on the right and, at the next crossroads, turn right and cross Place de la Libération. Cross Rue du 19 Mars 1962 and continue along Rue de Verdun. At the next crossroads, cross Rue Méchin and the tram tracks (take care) and follow the street to the left. Pass in front of the Île Saint-Denis town hall, cross the quay (traffic lights) and take the bridge over the Seine. Continue with the tram tracks on your left and pass under the railway bridge.
(6) Leave the Saint-Denis train station on your right and cross the Canal Saint-Denis (on the right-hand side of the railing, there is a plaque in memory of the Algerian demonstrators massacred in Paris on 17 October 1961). Cross the tram tracks (take care) and continue along the street that branches off to the left (Rue Auguste Delaune). You will arrive at the side of the Church of Saint-Denis-de-l'Estrée. Walk around the church on the right-hand side. Turn left to walk along the front of the church, then cross Rue Suger.
At the traffic lights, turn right and cross the boulevard and tram tracks in two stages. First turn right then left, cross Place des Tilleuls and continue along Rue de la République.
No signposts
The signs disappear, but just continue straight ahead along this pedestrian street until you reach the large Place Jean Jaurès (or market square) with the basilica in sight.
(7) In front of the basilica, turn left then right to enter the Jardin Pierre de Montreuil. Take a short detour to admire the tympanum of the north portal and turn left to leave the garden at this point. Then follow the Allée des 6 Chapelles to the left, then the covered passageway of the 2 Pichets. Turn right into Place du Caquet, then left under a porch to reach a metro station at the edge of the Passage de l'Aqueduc (E).
To return home:
- Metro - Line 13.
- Tram - Line T1. Place du Caquet, turn right, cross Rue Jean Jaurès, pass the metro exit and follow Chemin des Poulies northwards.
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