The Forest of the Four Pillars and the Plain of Garancières

Starting point and access: Garancières-La Queue station.
- Transilien - Line N, on the section between Paris-Montparnasse and Dreux.
Take the Place de la Gare exit on the side of track 2 (Dreux to Paris direction). If arriving in the opposite direction, track 1, take the underground passage.

Yellow markings (sparingly used)

(S/E) With your back to the station, go around the car park on the left, come out onto a road and follow it to the left. At the roundabout, follow the D197 to the left towards Millemont ( n narrow shoulder). Go straight ahead, ignore the turnings on the right and follow the railway line on your left.

(1) At the level crossing, turn right onto Chemin de Romangis. After about 50 metres, take the^first left, a wide track lined with a hedge on the right-hand side. Continue straight ahead, ignoring a path on the right, until you reach a small road at the entrance to Garancières.

(2) Cross the road, turn left and follow a path parallel to the road (the road is on your left). Take the bridge over the railway line and, immediately afterwards, turn right onto Route de Millemont.

(3) At the entrance to Millemont, take a path on the right and pass in front of an old wash house, now overgrown with grass. Descend gently, find the railway line above and follow it on your right.

(4) At the tunnel under the railway line, turn left and walk along a field on your right. Enter the forest, stay on the main path and ignore the side paths.

(5) At a crossroads, turn right and walk between young birch trees. At the next roundabout (high stone cross), continue straight ahead. You will come to a crossroads at the corner of the Étang de la Pimardière.

(6) Take the^second path on the right (north). Walk along a fence on your left, ignore a path on your right, then walk along a fence on your right. Go through a metal gate and turn left. At the first houses, you will rejoin the tarmac road. After a left-hand bend, turn right to cross the bridge over the railway line.

(7) At the crossroads (EDF power station), turn left onto Rue de la Tuilerie (no signposting here). Follow the road through the hamlet. When it turns right at No. 33, leave the road and continue straight ahead along a grassy path bordered by a hedge on the left. You will reach a road at the entrance to Le Moutier.

(8) First turn left then right to take a path that leads into the fields. Note the bell tower of Orgerus church in the distance on the left. Cross the embankment of the underground aqueduct of the Avre (small masonry structures) and continue straight ahead towards the houses.

Red and white + yellow markings

(9) At the crossroads (marker post), turn right. Walk along the left-hand side of a stream and garden fences. Cross the D42 ( busy road) and continue straight ahead on Chemin du Moutier. Ignore a path on the right and cross a stream. Walk alongside a water treatment plant on your right and, at the crossroads on the corner, go straight ahead on a grassy path between the fields.

(10) Cross the D45 (, a busy road) and follow the path opposite, slightly to the right. Walk north-northeast between the fields and ignore a path on the right and then one on the left. The path then descends between two hedges. Cross a stream on a wooden footbridge and then climb slightly uphill through the undergrowth. At a fork (not shown on the map), turn right (ignore the red and white marker clearly visible on the left on a forest barrier; two^{GR® trails} separate here).

Red and white markings

(11) You will come out onto a small road. Follow it to the right with the^GR®11. After a water treatment plant, the tarmac gives way to a track. Cross a small wood briefly, then walk along the edge of a wood on your right. Shortly afterwards, take a path on the left towards another wood.

(12) At the corner of the woods, turn right and walk along the woods on your left (there is no arrow here, but there is a marker further on on an oak tree). Walk briefly through the woods, continue along the edge and then between the fields towards the buildings of an equestrian centre. Ignore the private access roads on the left.

(13) At the end of the path, at the entrance to Flexanville, follow the D45 to the left (beautiful gate on the right-hand side). At the fork (Place Roger Darain), turn right and pass in front of the church and then the war memorial.

(14) Then turn right into Rue du Pont, towards the cemetery. At the crossroads about 50 metres further on, turn left into the same street, which becomes a dead end. Continue straight on to the cemetery. Continue along a slightly downhill path and walk along the cemetery wall on your left. Cross a stream, either by wading or using a small concrete bridge on the right-hand side. Go up opposite through the undergrowth. At a three-way junction, turn left (no arrow here). Leave the woods and continue between the fields or along the edge. At a T-junction, turn right.

Yellow markings (rare)

(15) At the fork that appears immediately, go right. Immediately, at a T-junction, turn right between the fields. Ignore a path on the right leading to a wood. Shortly afterwards, cross the Arve underground aqueduct embankment again and continue south between the fields. Walk along a wood on your left.

(16) Ignore a path on the right leading to Ferme de Fresnay and continue south-east between the fields, parallel to a power line. Ignore a path on the right, cross a stream and continue south-east.

(17) Cross a road ( busy road), continue straight ahead on a path and note the beautiful La Vieuvigne farmhouse on your right. Go straight ahead, parallel to the power line, and ignore all the paths branching off to the sides.

(18) At a crossroads, go straight ahead and downhill. Cross a stream, then go uphill, keeping to the left of the pastures and buildings of a riding centre.

(19) Cross the D42 at the entrance to the hamlet of Le Breuil and continue straight ahead on Chemin de Breuil à Galluis (tarmac). Further on, the tarmac gives way to a downhill farm track.

(20) At the next crossroads (no arrow or signpost here), turn right onto a grassy path towards the prominent bell tower of La Queue-lès-Yvelines church. Join a wide track and continue straight ahead (west-south-west then south-west). Ignore a path on the left, then turn right with the track and follow the railway line on your left. At the end, turn right, enter Garancières and you will soon come to Garancières-La Queue station on your left (S/E).

Train timetables: consult the Transilien website.

For motorists: park in the station car park, on the main building side, along the D155.

Hiking boots required. In wet weather, many of the paths between the fields are likely to be muddy.

Water point at Flexanville cemetery. Restaurant and pizzeria opposite Garancières-La Queue station (S/E).

A 1:25,000 map is required (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed by the author on¹ February 2020.

- Dovecote shortly before (2).
- Pleasant walk through the Forêt des Quatre Piliers, between (4) and (7).
- White Cross, shortly after (5).
- Primardière Pond (6).
- Flexanville Church (17th century) (13).
- The route through cultivated plains between (9) and (S/E) offers some beautiful, sweeping views. However, it must be said that to appreciate them, it is best not to be put off by the monotony of the country lanes...