The Garden City of Suresnes

Starting point and access: Suresnes-Longchamp tram station.
- Tram - Line T2. Take exit 1 Boulevard Henri Sellier, on the platform in the direction of Porte de Versailles to Pont de Bezons (if arriving in the opposite direction, cross the tracks carefully at the designated crossing).
- Transilien - Line L or U. Get off at Suresnes-Mont-Valérien station. Take the Rue Worth / Hôpital Foch exit, turn right and follow the route from the point (10).

The route is marked by the^20th Century Heritage Trail poles, numbered from 1 to 21. This description refers to these poles, which provide historical information, but the route omits several of them in order to avoid areas with heavy traffic.

No markings
You will come across a few^PR® trails, which are only mentioned in the description when necessary.

(S/E) Go down the stairs next to the station building, which is exit 1. At the bottom (post no. 1), turn left onto Rue Merlin de Thionville. Ignore a street on the right and note the house at no. 21 where Henri Sellier, former mayor of Suresnes, lived (post no. 2). At the crossroads, go straight ahead and walk alongside the Foch Hospital on your left.

At the traffic lights, cross Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, follow it to the right, cross Rue Carnot and take Rue du Mont Valérien. At the corner of the Town Hall, turn left and cross the esplanade, leaving the monument in honour of Henri Sellier on your left. Go down a few steps and continue along Rue Berthelot. After about 20 metres, turn left into Square Darraq.

(1) After about 20 metres, turn right onto Cours Madeleine, decorated with colourful animal statues. At the end, turn right and cross a pedestrian square (Wallace fountain) to reach a roundabout. Go around it on the left or right and take Rue du Bac on the other side. Take the^second right, Avenue des Conférences de Suresnes, and cross the neighbourhood known as the "English Village".

At the end, make a sharp right turn (ignore a yellow arrow indicating to leave the road on the left). Follow Avenue de la Belle Gabrielle and cross Rue Diderot. At the next intersection, turn left onto Rue des Bourets. Follow this street straight ahead, ignoring the perpendicular streets.

(2) At the end, cross the wide Boulevard Henri Sellier at the traffic lights, taking several steps. Then first turn right then left to follow Rue de Saint-Cloud, preferably on the right-hand pavement. Pass a small triangular square on the left and then turn right into Rue Chevreul. Continue straight ahead uphill. At the end, cross the street at the pedestrian crossing and climb the stairs opposite. At the top, take the pedestrian bridge that crosses Boulevard Henri Sellier and leads directly to the tram station.

(S/E) At the end of the footbridge, turn left and carefully cross the tram tracks at the designated crossing. Continue a few metres straight ahead, then turn right to go up Rue Cluseret. Cross Rue de la Cesriseraie on your right, then Rue Worth, and go under the railway bridge. Immediately afterwards, turn left onto Rue des Raguidelles, continuing uphill and parallel to the railway line. Pass at the foot of a sort of square keep, then in front of the modern church of Notre-Dame de la Salette, and continue along the railway line below on your left.

When the street turns right and changes name, continue straight ahead on a tarmac path (yellow marker; on the map, this is still Rue des Raguidelles). Pass in front of the Raguidelles sports centre and continue straight ahead along the street. In a slight right-hand bend, go through a gate on the right, climb a staircase and follow Allée Beau Site (marked as private but where pedestrians are allowed to pass). At the end, turn right.

(3) At the crossroads (pole no. 9 on the right), turn left into Rue des Nouvelles. At the stop sign, go straight ahead. Cross Boulevard de Lattre de Tassigny at the traffic lights, then Rue de la Procession. At the end of Rue des Nouvelles, turn left at an acute angle. After about 20 metres, turn right into an alleyway (metal barrier) and walk along the covered market on your right. At the corner, first turn right then left to reach a roundabout. Go around the roundabout on the right, crossing Avenue Jean-Jaurès and then Avenue Édouard Vaillant (pole no. 10; statue of Jean Jaurès on the left).

(4) Then follow Avenue Édouard Vaillant to the right and walk along the brick buildings of the Vaillant-Jaurès school complex (pole no. 11) on your left. Go around Place Jean Masaryk and take Rue de Locarno opposite. Go straight ahead (pole no. 12) and take the^first right, Rue Emmanuel Kant. At the end, turn right and go around the Collège Henri Sellier, following Avenue du Président Wilson. At the end, turn left onto Boulevard Aristide Briand and pass in front of the main entrance to the college. You will arrive at Place de Stalingrad, at the entrance to the Théâtre Jean Vilar.

(5) Walk around the square and the brick building in a clockwise direction (pole no. 14). Note the arches above the streets leading off the square. Shortly before reaching Boulevard Aristide Briand, turn left, pass under a brick arch and follow Avenue de Sully. The avenue turns right twice. Shortly afterwards, turn left into the Jardins des Longs Réages. Follow the central path to cross this space, which is divided into fenced-off plots. At the exit, turn right and go straight on to the forecourt of the Notre-Dame de la Paix church.

Continue straight ahead and, at the corner of the forecourt (pole no. 15), turn right onto Avenue Gustave Stresemann. At the crossroads (pole no. 16), turn left and enter Square Léon Bourgeois.

Yellow markings

First, go straight ahead. At a roundabout, turn right (small dovecote) and walk along a small white building on your right (toilets). At the end, turn left and walk along a small fenced-in football pitch on your left. At the corner, turn left and, after about 20 metres, turn right to reach the exit.

No markings

(6) Then follow Allée des Gros Buissons to the left. Cross Avenue Léon Bourgeois on the left-hand side and you will arrive at Avenue Jean Jaurès, on the border between Suresnes and Rueil-Malmaison. Cross the avenue at the traffic lights and follow Chemin du Syndicat des Cultivateurs. Cross Rue Albert Caron, then take the^second right, Rue des Fleurs (residential area). At the end, follow Rue de la Procession on the left.

Yellow markings
At certain intersections, several^PR® trails cross, which may give the impression of conflicting instructions.

At the crossroads, take the^second right, Rue du Point Haut. Go up this pedestrian street and, at the next crossroads, continue straight on along the same street, which is now open to cars again. Cross Rue des Vignes on the left-hand side and you will come to a crossroads.

(7) Take the^first right, against the flow of traffic (Rue du Pas Saint-Maurice on the map). Then take the^first left, Impasse du Pas Saint-Maurice, for a view of the Suresnes vineyards on the right and a panorama of La Défense and Paris. Retrace your steps.

(7) Back at the crossroads, take the^first right, Avenue des Landes. At the next crossroads, leave the avenue and enter the Parc des Landes et de l'Abbé Frantz Stock opposite. Follow a cement path. Come out onto a wider cement path and follow the left-hand branch. Ignore the stairs on the right. At the T-junction, turn left and follow a wide concrete path up to a wooden barrier. Go through the barrier, turn right and you will come out onto the esplanade of the Mémorial de la France combattante, at the foot of Fort du Mont Valérien.

(8) Explore this vast space at your leisure (Resistance flame, high reliefs). Return to the previous point, at the edge of the stone steps.

(8) Facing the memorial, turn right onto a cement path that runs along the top of the steps. Follow the Promenade Jacques Baumel, walking along the moat and the fort's ramparts on your left. At the corner, turn left onto the path. When you see the entrance to the fort, turn right and walk away from it. Go down and follow the access road to the fort on your left. Go down a series of widely spaced steps. At the bottom, turn right at an acute angle and cross a car park. After a few dozen metres, take the^first pedestrian crossing on the left to cross Boulevard Washington. On the other side, continue straight ahead for a few metres.

Then turn right onto the Terrasse du Frécheray. Follow the railing on the left, ignore two staircases on the left and turn left, still following the railing. You will come to a viewpoint overlooking La Défense and Paris. Then turn right to find a staircase on the left, just before the exit from the terrace.

(9) Go down this large staircase. At the bottom, turn right onto Rue du Fécheray. Cross Rue Leroy on the right-hand side and, at the three-way junction that appears immediately, follow^PR® 3 and 8 to the right. After a few metres, leave the road (which descends towards the station) and turn right onto a path that goes uphill, Villa de la Station. Pass the Suresnes-Mont Valérien station on your left below.

Continue along a street parallel to the railway line. At the end, take the bridge on the left over the railway line (Rue du Calvaire) and then descend.

(10) Shortly before the station, turn right at an acute angle. At the next intersection, go straight ahead onto Rue Worth. At the corner of No. 6, go down Passage de la Ceriseraie on the left (stairs then path). At the bottom, turn left and take the metal bridge with green railings that crosses the tram tracks. At the end of the bridge, go down the stairs on the right (be careful to spot this exit; there is a marker on the right-hand side of the railing). Continue straight ahead and you will quickly reach the platform of the Suresnes-Longchamp tram station (S/E).

To return home:
- Tram - Line T2, towards La Défense and Pont de Bezons (immediate access) or Porte de Versailles (cross the tracks carefully at the designated crossing).
- Transilien - Line L or U. After the point (9), after Rue Leroy and the three-way junction, stay on the road that goes down to the station (do not take the Villa de la Station).

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route.

Public toilets are available in Square Léon Bourgeois (6). Bars, restaurants and shops can be found at the tram station (S/E), in the Town Hall area, between (1) and (2), around Place Jean Jaurès (4) and Notre-Dame de la Paix church.

Useful detailed map (at least the one accompanying this description).

Opening hours for public spaces:
Square Léon Bourgeois and Terrasse du Fécheray:
- November-February: 8.30am-6pm.
- March-April and September-October: 8.30am-7pm.
- May-August: 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Parc des Landes and Promenade Jacques Baumel: 24 hours a day.

Variations:
The hike includes two circular loops starting from the same point, the tram station (S/E). It is of course possible to do them in the order described here or in reverse order, or to do only one of them. The first circular loop is about 1.9 km long, the second circular loop is about 7.3 km.

Hike completed by the author on 18 December 2019.

Source:
The walk is inspired bythe"^20th Century Heritage Trail" designed and created by the municipality of Suresnes. Download the booklet for detailed historical information.

Key landmarks:
The Garden City of Suresnes was built mainly between 1921 and 1939, on the initiative of the mayor at the time, Henri Sellier (1883-1943). The aim was to provide a large number of affordable homes with sufficient space and sanitary facilities for the working class employed in the neighbouring factories. Three architects were commissioned: Alexandre Maistrasse, Julien Quoniam and Félix Dumail. The estate comprises 3,300 homes and communal facilities: schools, baths, a retirement home, a leisure centre (later converted into a theatre), shared gardens, places of worship, etc. For more details, see the Wikipedia entry, from which the above paragraph is taken.

Things to see along the way:

In the town centre around the town hall (^1st circular):
- Suresnes-Longchamp railway station (1889).
- Henri Sellier's house, at 21 Rue Merlin de Thionville.
- Cours Madeleine, named after the code name of Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944), an Indian princess who lived in Suresnes in the 1920s and 1930s and was a British secret agent during the Second World War. In France, she worked for the Prosper network as a radio operator. Her clandestine activities took place mainly at the Grignon agricultural college, whose director at the time, Eugène Vandervynckt (1888-1945), ran a branch of the network. Arrested after being denounced on 13 October 1943, she was deported to Dachau, where she was executed on 13 September 1944. On the Grignon campus of AgroParisTech, a lecture hall bears her name and a plaque pays tribute to her.
- Monument in honour of Henri Sellier opposite the town hall.
- The "English Village" neighbourhood (1923).

From the tram station (S/E) to the Cité-Jardin (4) (^2nd circular):
- Notre-Dame de la Salette Church (1924, restored in 1994).
- Beautiful houses on Allée Beau Site and Avenue de la Criolla.

In the Cité-Jardin, between (4) and (6):
- Statue of Jean Jaurès at the edge of the square that bears his name (1933).
- School complex on Avenue Édouard Vaillant (1920s).
- Locarno Residence, for the elderly, on the street of the same name.
- Théâtre Jean Vilar (1938), which was initially a leisure centre before temporarily hosting, in 1951, the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP) directed by Jean Vilar, who was also the creator of the Avignon Festival.
- Shared gardens.
- Notre-Dame de la Paix Church (1934).

From the Cité-Jardin (6) to the Fort du Mont Valérien (8):
- Suresnes vineyards. Covering an area of 1 hectare, this is undoubtedly the largest vineyard in the inner suburbs of Paris.

From Fort Mont Valérien (8) to the tram station (S/E):
- Fort du Mont Valérien, built between 1840 and 1846. It is one of 16 forts built during this period, forming the first ring of military forts around Paris. The fort played an important role in the defence of Paris during the siege of 1870-1871. During the Second World War, it was the site of the execution of more than a thousand resistance fighters and hostages.
- Memorial to Fighting France.
- Fécheray Terrace: extensive panoramic view of Paris and the La Défense district.
- American Military Cemetery. Off the route: at the point (9), leave the terrace, first turn left then right to cross the boulevard and find the entrance to the cemetery.