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Starting point and access: Place de l'Opéra.
- Metro - Lines 3, 7 and 8. Take exit 1 Place de l'Opéra.
- RER - Line A (Auber station, follow the connection to the metro).
- Bus - Lines 20, 21, 22, 27, 29, 32, 45, 52, 66, 68, 95.
The main animal representations and key features to observe are indicated in italics in the description.
(S) When you exit the metro station, which is in the middle of the square, turn left and cross at the pedestrian crossing. Walk along Boulevard des Capucines (lion heads at nos. 8 and 6). Take the first left, Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin (caryatids and atlas at no. 3). Cross Rue Meyerbeer on the left and continue straight ahead. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead into Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin. Note the Art Nouveau façade of a well-known shop on the left.
(1) At the next crossroads, turn right into Rue de Provence (caryatids on the left-hand side). After about 75 metres, turn right under a porch and enter the Cité d'Antin. Turn left with the street and you will come to the corner of Rue Lafayette (lion heads in mascarons and balcony corbels on the façade of the hotel). Then turn left, still in Cité d'Antin. At the end, go under a porch, find Rue de Provence and follow it to the right (lion's head at no. 54).
Take the first left, Rue Taitbout. At the crossroads, turn right into Rue de la Victoire (lion's head at no. 51). Pass in front of the Synagogue de la Victoire, then turn left into Rue Saint-Georges. Come out onto Rue de Châteaudun and follow it to the Church of Notre-Dame de Lorette (on the left-hand side).
(2) Then turn right onto Rue Laffitte (lion's head at no. 54). At the crossroads, turn left onto Rue de la Victoire, which is pedestrianised here. Cross Rue Le Pelletier and continue along Rue de la Victoire. At the end, turn right to cross Rue Lafayette and follow it to the right (lion's head at no. 43). Take the first left, Rue Chauchat (balcony consoles with lion heads at no. 24; gate with lion head handles at no. 22 and no. 20). Cross Rue de Provence and pass in front of the Temple de la Rédemption (Lutheran church).
(3) At the next intersection, turn right onto Rue Rossini, then left onto Rue Le Pelletier. At the traffic lights, cross Boulevard Haussmann and follow it to the right (lion heads on the buildings on the right-hand side). Take the first left, Rue Laffitte. Note the richly decorated building on the right-hand side : winged allegories, mascarons, colonnettes....
Shortly before the end of Rue Laffitte, note the building on the right-hand side with a richly decorated fresco of animals with no repeated motifs. Follow this fresco, which continues along Boulevard des Italiens and at the beginning of Rue Taitbout. It mainly depicts hunting scenes: dogs chasing or biting does, stags or wild boars; wild boars defending themselves and knocking dogs over. There are also wolves attacking sheep. Several types of birds, mainly birds of prey, complete the picture.
(4) Cross Boulevard des Italiens to reach the entrance to a bank branch with six balcony corbels in the shape of (large) lion heads. Turn left, cross Rue de Grammont and walk along Boulevard des Italiens. Take the next right, Rue Marivaux, and walk along the (blackened) building of the Opéra Comique (theatre masks and lion heads).
At the corner of the building, turn left onto Place Boieldieu. On the right-hand side is a large building with lion heads. On the left-hand side is the richly decorated façade of the Opéra Comique. Note the animal shapes with turtle shells just above the street lamps. Turn left onto Rue Favart, then right onto Rue d'Amboise (elephants in the window at no. 6).
(5) At the end, turn right onto Rue de Richelieu. Cross Rue Saint-Marc and take the next street on the left, Rue Feydeau. Immediately turn right onto Rue des Colonnes. The buildings on this street, with their arcades, are a rare example of architecture from the French Revolution period. Cross Rue de la Bourse and then Boulevard du Quatre Septembre. Then turn right onto Rue des Filles Saint-Thomas. At the crossroads, find Rue de Richelieu again, follow it to the left and cross Rue Colbert on the left-hand side.
(6) Shortly afterwards, turn right into Square Louvois. Walk around the central fountain, which dates from 1844: female allegories representing rivers; signs of the zodiac around the fountain, Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Pisces; at the bottom, children riding fish.
Exit on the other side and turn left onto Rue Lulli. Cross Rue Rameau, then turn right onto Rue Chérubini. At the end, turn left onto Rue Sainte-Anne. At the next intersection, turn right onto Rue des Petits Champs. Ignore Rue des Moulins on the left and continue to the intersection.
(7) Then turn right onto Rue Méhul. Walk around Salle Ventadour (a former theatre dating from 1829, now owned by the Banque de France) in either direction. The route suggests going anti-clockwise, taking Rue Dalayrac and Rue Marsollier in succession. Return to the previous crossroads.
(7) Continue straight ahead on Rue de Ventadour. Take the first left, Rue Thérèse. Go straight ahead, cross Rue Sainte-Anne and continue on Rue Thérèse. At the end, note the Fontaine Molière fountain on the right, dating from 1844, decorated with allegories, lion heads at its base and snakes at the top of the columns.
Then turn left, cross Rue Villedo on the left-hand side and follow Rue Richelieu. At the crossroads, find Rue des Petits Champs and follow it to the right. Take the first right and immediately turn left into Rue du Beaujolais, which you follow for about thirty metres.
(8) Then turn right, go under a porch and enter the garden of the Palais Royal. Turn right and then left to walk along the fenced lawns on your left. At the end of the first plot, note the 1830 statue called Le Pâtre et la chèvre(The Shepherd and the Goat) beyond the fence. Pass a pond and continue straight ahead. Leave the garden and walk into the space where Buren's columns were erected in 1986. About halfway through, turn left to leave the Palais Royal (note the animal-headed figureheads under the arcades).
Cross Rue Valois and the square of the same name (lion heads) and pass under a porch. You will come out onto Rue des Bons Enfants (allegories opposite on the left) and follow it to the left. At the end, turn right onto Rue du Colonnel Driant. At the crossroads, turn left onto Rue Croix des Petits Champs (lion's head at no. 33). Take the first left, Rue de la Vrillière, and you will arrive at the gate of the Banque de France. Turn right to reach Place des Victoires (equestrian statue of Louis XIV in the centre).
(9) Go around the square on the right (mascarons on the façades) and take the second exit, Rue Étienne Marcel (lion's head and bees at no. 49). Take the first left, Rue d'Argout. Cross Rue du Louvre and continue along Rue d'Argout.
(10) At the end, follow Rue Montmartre to the left and turn into the first street on the right, Rue Léopold Bellan (note the lion's head on the right-hand side at no. 13, the entrance to Passage Ben-Aïad and then the shared micro-gardens). At the crossroads, turn right onto Rue Montorgueil. When you reach a cheese shop decoratedwith a sculpture of a calf on the roof of its shopfront, turn right onto Rue Bachaumont (standing lions at nos. 3 and 8).
(10) At the end, rejoin Rue Montmartre and follow it to the left (lion's head at no. 57). Take the first right, Rue Jussienne. At the end, follow Rue Étienne Marcel to the left. At the traffic lights, take the second right, Rue Montmartre again (at the left-hand corner, goose as a shop sign). Continue straight ahead. Go around the back of the Church of Saint-Eustache on the left and you will find the entrance to the Metro and RER (E) on the left.
To return home:
- Metro - Lines 1, 4, 7, 11, 14.
- RER - Lines A, B, D.
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