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Starting point and access: Porte de Clignancourt.
- Metro - Line 4 (terminus). Take Exit 2 onto Boulevard Ney.
- Tram - Line T3b. It is also possible to alight at Diane Arbus station: in this case, head east along Boulevard Ney, turn immediately right onto Rue des Poissonniers and follow the main route from (1).
- Bus - Lines 56, 85, 137, 166, 255, 341.
The main animal depictions and key features to look out for are indicated in italics within the description.
(S) Upon exiting the metro station, follow Boulevard Ney to the right (due east) and walk alongside the tram line on your left. Pass the Diane Arbus tram stop.
(1) At the junction, turn right into Rue des Poissonniers. At the next junction, take the second right, Rue Boinod (with the Montmartre Basilica in sight). Take the first right, Rue des Amiraux (at no. 13, an Art Deco-style building).
(2) Take the first left, Rue Hermann-Lachapelle, and walk past the entrance to the Piscine des Amiraux (part of the Art Deco building). Then turn left as the street bends. At the junction, rejoin Rue Boinod and follow it to the right.
At the first junction, turn right onto Rue du Simplon and walk past the Church of Saint-Sava. At the next junction, turn left into Rue de Clignancourt. Take the first left, Rue du Nord (small steel-framed buildings). At the junction, make the first turn right then left to take Rue Émile Chaine (small buildings with wooden cladding).
(3) You will come out onto Rue des Poissonniers; follow it to the right. Continue straight ahead, cross Rue Ordener at the traffic lights and carry on straight. At the junction (Virgin and Child on the left), continue along Rue des Poissonniers. Then turn left onto Rue Pierre Budin. At the end, turn right onto Rue Léon. Cross Rue d’Oran and, at the next junction, turn right onto Rue Doudeauville (on the corner, a bakery with paintings on the façade, one of which depicts a ploughman and his oxen; view of the bell tower of the Basilica of Montmartre).
At the crossroads, rejoin Rue des Poissonniers and follow it to the left. Take the first right, Rue Dejean (a busy shopping street). At the end, follow Rue Poulet to the left and you will immediately come out onto Place du Château Rouge (at the end of the street, a large octopus on the wall above a butcher’s shop).
(4) Cross Boulevard Barbès and take Rue Poulet, diagonally to the left. Walk up the street and, at the top, turn left onto Rue de Clignancourt. At No. 26, note a large building with a richly decorated pediment (a former department store, undergoing renovation in autumn 2023). Continue straight ahead and walk gently downhill.
At the traffic lights, cross Boulevard Marguerite de Rochechouart in two stages, go round a small square on the left and take the first left, Rue de Rochechouart. Turn into the first left, Rue du Delta. At the end, note on the left, at No. 168, two animal-themed mascots (wolves, dragons, etc.) and follow Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière to the right.
(5) At No. 134 (a fine building), turn right into Rue Petrelle. Take the first left, Rue Lentonnet (lion’s head above a window on the corner). Go straight on and, at the end of the street, turn left onto Rue Condorcet. At the traffic lights, cross Rue de Maubeuge and take the first left, Rue d’Abbeville.
At the junction, note the Art Nouveau buildings opposite on the left, at numbers 16 and 14, featuring caryatids and, higher up, lion-headed mascarons. Turn right onto Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière. At the traffic lights, turn right into Rue Marie-Éléonore de Bellefond. Then go down a flight of steps on the left to reach Rue Pierre Semard. At the fork (with a square opposite), turn right into Rue Rochambeau. Note the lion-headed mascarons: a large one at no. 8 and two small ones at nos. 10 and 12.
(6) Turn left and enter Square Montholon. Pass a playground on the right and a table tennis table on the left, then go down a flight of steps. Head left, pass a sculpted group flanked by two plane trees (Sainte-Catherine, in homage to the women workers of the sewing workshops) and exit on the other side, leaving a playground on your left.
Then turn right and cross Rue Lafayette at the traffic lights. Turn right, cross Place Missakian and turn left into Rue Papillon. You will come out onto Rue Bleue; follow it to the left and you will immediately reach a junction.
(7) Return to Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière and follow it to the right. At No. 58, note a gate adorned with lion heads, two at the top and two at the bottom. Shortly afterwards, turn right into Rue Ambroise Thomas and pass under a porch. You will emerge into a small courtyard and turn left. At No. 1, note the mascarons featuring alternating human faces and lion heads. First turn right then left onto Rue du Conservatoire (large mascarons at No. 9).
(8) Take the first left, Rue Sainte-Cécile, and walk past the entrance to the church of the same name. At the end, turn right onto Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière. Continue straight ahead and note, at No. 17, a 24-hour clock on a brick wall, decorated with various animals and the signs of the zodiac (a former telephone exchange built in the 1910s). At the traffic lights, cross Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle (on the left) or Boulevard Poissonnière (on the right). Walk past the Grand Rex (an Art Deco cinema and theatre) and continue along Rue Poissonnière.
(9) Take the first left, Rue de la Lune (on the corner, a restaurant with a façade depicting famous works set against a moonlit backdrop, including Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass and Rodin’s The Kiss). Then take the second right, Rue de la Ville Neuve. At the end, turn right onto Rue Beauregard. This leads onto Rue Poissonnière; follow it to the left.
Cross Rue de Cléry (on the right-hand corner, a statue of Saint Catherine with her palm of martyrdom) and continue along Rue des Petits Carreaux. Then cross Rue d’Aboukir and continue straight ahead. At the traffic lights, cross Rue Réaumur and continue straight ahead along Rue des Petits Carreaux.
(10) Turn left into Rue Saint-Sauveur (at no. 24, there is a gate with two birds). At the junction, turn right into Rue Dussoubs. Cross Rue Greneta then Place Goldoni (wall mural with birds on the right-hand side). Then turn right into Rue Marie Stuart. At the end, turn left into Rue Montorgueil. Take the first left, Rue Tiquetonne.
(11) Then turn right into Rue Française. Cross Rue Étienne Marcel and immediately turn right into Rue Mauconseil. Return to Rue Montorgueil and follow it to the left. At the end, turn right, pass the apse of Saint-Eustache Church and find the entrance to the Metro and RER on the left (E).
To get back home:
- Metro - Lines 1, 4, 7, 11, 14.
- RER - Lines A, B, D.
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