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Starting point and access: Paris-Montparnasse station (esplanade, Place Raoul Dautry).
- Metro - Lines 4, 6, 12 and 13, Montparnasse-Bienvenüe station, exit 1 Porte Océane.
- Transilien - Line N (terminus).
In both cases, exit the station at ground level onto the esplanade.
N.B. Between points (S) and (2), the background map shows the Montparnasse station railway tracks and the walkways on the slab covering them, superimposed on each other. The route is obviously on the slab above...
(S) Opposite the station entrance, turn left at the foot of the Porte Aquitaine, walk up Avenue du Maine (without crossing it) and leave the Chapelle Saint-Bernard on your right. At the traffic lights, turn right into Rue du Commandant Mouchotte. When you reach the station entrance on the right-hand side, head to the foot of the lift on the left-hand side with a sign saying "Jardin Atlantique".
If the lift is out of order, see the practical information section for an alternative route.
Take the lift to the first floor. At the exit, take the footbridge and continue straight ahead into a corridor. At the end, turn right towards "Dalle Jardin / Maréchal Leclerc / Jean Moulin", then immediately left. After passing a "Point de Rassemblement" on your left, go up a small staircase on the left. At the top, turn left and go under a porch with the Jean Moulin Museum on your left and the Maréchal Leclerc Memorial on your right. You will come out in the Jardin Atlantique.
(1) Continue straight ahead along the main path (Allée de la 2ème DB). After about 50 metres, at the corner of a flowerbed below, turn left towards a blue gate. Go through the gate and immediately turn left onto a concrete path that crosses a reed bed. At the end, follow a pontoon on the right and walk along various flowerbeds on your right. At a fork, leave the wooden pontoon on your left and take a concrete path on your right. Walk along a marble wall on your left and cross an area with benches. At the end, go through another blue gate. Then turn left, go under a footbridge and turn right. Return to the central path and follow it to the left.
Leave the garden (access to the station on the left) and pass under a building to reach Place des 5 Martyrs du Lycée Buffon. Turn left and cross the street leading to the station car park. Then go around Place de Catalogne on the left, crossing Rue du Commandant Mouchotte and then Rue Vercingétorix.
(2) Follow Rue Vercingétorix on the left, then take the second street on the right, Rue Jules Guesde. At the corner of Place Constantin Brancusi, turn left onto Rue de l'Ouest. Turn right at the first street, Rue Lebouis. After passing No. 7, turn left under a porch, following the sign for "Résidence du Maine," and you will come out into a small courtyard. Enter the Jardin du Moulin des Trois Cornets opposite, cross the garden keeping to the right to reach the opposite exit.
Then turn right onto Rue Raymond Losserand. Pass a crossroads with Rue Maison Dieu on your left, then cross Rue Jules Guesde on your right. Then turn left onto a cobbled alleyway, Passage des Arts. At the end, turn right onto Rue Édouard Jacques. At the next crossroads, turn right onto Rue du Château and then immediately left, passing under a porch, onto Rue du Moulin des Lapins. Walk alongside the buildings on your right and you will arrive at Place de la Garenne.
(3) Before the female-shaped statue fountain, turn right and enter the Jardin de la ZAC Didot. Pass a playground on your left and follow a paved path towards a tall white building. After a few metres, turn left and exit the garden onto Place Marcel Paul. Then follow the Allée du Château Ouvrier on your right (the château being the large building bordering Place Marcel Paul). At the end, turn right into Rue Raymond Losserand (again) and then immediately left into Rue Niepce. At the end of this street, follow Rue de l'Ouest on your right until you reach Place de l'Abbé Lebeuf (Wallace fountain).
Then turn left between Rue Guillemot and Rue du Château and enter the Jardin des Colonnes through a large metal gate. Cross the garden, also known as Place de Séoul, and exit on the other side to reach a square crossed by Rue Vercingétorix. Follow this street to the left and you will immediately reach the Church of Notre-Dame-du-Travail.
(4) Continue along Rue Vercingétorix, keeping Square du Cardinal Wyszynski on your right. At the traffic lights, cross Rue Alain and enter Jardin de l'Abbé Lemire opposite. Go around a ball game area, go down a small staircase, pass under a pergola and go back up opposite. At the top, make a zigzag right-left to take the footbridge over Rue de Gergovie. Go down a ramp and then make a series of short first turns left then right turns. Continue parallel to Rue Vercingétorix and pass at the foot of a pseudo-menhir (made of Breton granite, nonetheless). Walk along the right-hand side of a ball court and then a playground.
Before the next traffic lights (on the left), go up a ramp leaving the "Plaisance" bus station on your left. At the top, turn left onto the footbridge over Rue de Vouillé, which runs close to the Montparnasse railway tracks. Then go downhill and, before reaching the bottom, turn right at an acute angle with a small hedge on your left. When you reach a square, turn right, go around a playground on the left, then make a first turn left then right to follow Rue Vercingétorix again on your left.
(5) At the end of the garden, turn left, cross a cycle path (be careful!) and then Rue Vercingétorix at the pedestrian crossing. Continue opposite into Rue Maurice Rouvier (no sign) towards Hôpital Saint-Joseph. At the end of the street, turn right for the last section on Rue Raymond Losserand, preferably on the left-hand pavement (note the building at no. 170). Pass in front of the Church of Notre-Dame du Rosaire, cross Rue des Arbustes and then the end of Square Auguste Renoir. At the exit (red and white marker), turn left and then immediately right into Square Alain Fournier. On your left, walk past a school and then a wall decorated with cuneiform writing. Then turn left onto Rue de la Briqueterie. At the end, turn right onto Boulevard Brune and you will immediately reach Porte de Vanves (E).
To return home:
- Metro - Line 13.
- Tram - Line T3a.
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