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Starting point and access: Réaumur-Sébastopol metro station.
- Metro - Line 3 or 4. Take exit 2 Rue Réaumur and, at the end, climb the stairs on the right.
- Bus - Lines 20, 38, 39.
The main animal representations and key points of interest are indicated in italics in the body of the description.
(S/E) When you exit the metro station, go straight ahead and cross Rue Réaumur at the pedestrian crossing (opposite the former Félix Potin headquarters, built in the Art Nouveau style). Follow Rue Réaumur to the right. At the traffic lights (clock "A Réaumur" high up on the right), turn left onto Rue Saint-Denis. Cross Passage Basfour on the left and enter the next passage on the left, Passage de la Trinité. At the end, turn right.
Cross Rue Greneta (note the feline-headed mascaron above the Rue de Palestro plaque) and continue straight ahead. Shortly before the end of the street, turn right into Passage Bourg-l'Abbé (caryatids, allegories of industry on the left and commerce on the right; beehive and bees in the centre). At the end, turn left. Continue straight ahead along Rue Saint-Denis and cross Rue de Turbigo and Rue Étienne Marcel. You will come to the junction with Rue du Cygne (sign with a swan in the top right-hand corner; church opposite on the left).
(1) Turn right onto Rue du Cygne. At the crossroads, turn left onto Rue Pierre Lescot (at no. 17, gate topped with a caduceus and cornucopias with fruit and a snake). Continue straight ahead. Cross Rue Rambuteau and note the beehive and bees on the corner. Take the next left, Rue des Précheurs. Note the earthenware façade of a former fishmonger's on the right-hand side, with a bas-relief depicting shells.
At the end, you will come to Rue Saint-Denis. Turn right and cross Rue de la Cossonnerie. Then cross Rue Berger and a square on the right to reach the Fontaine des Innocents fountain (covered due to renovation work in December 2023). Return to Rue Saint-Denis and continue to the intersection with Rue de la Reynie (at the corner, there is a former sweet shop with a façade decorated with cat heads).
(2) Follow Rue de la Reynie to the left. Cross Boulevard Sébastopol at the pedestrian crossing and continue straight ahead. At the end of the street, first turn left then right to cross Place Edmond Michelet and arrive at the esplanade of the Centre Georges Pompidou.
At the corner of the monumental building, turn right and cross Place Igor Stravinsky, keeping to the left of a pond decorated with sculptures by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint-Phalle (bird, snake, elephant, etc.). On the wall opposite the fountain, next to Dali, there is a large cat's head. At the end, turn right onto Rue du Cloître Saint-Merri and walk alongside the church (gargoyles above).
(3) At the corner, turn left and walk past the church gate (numerous sculptures, including some representing lizards, beetles, etc.). At the next corner, turn left into Rue de la Verrerie. After about 40 metres, turn right under a porch. Go down a flight of steps and continue along Rue Saint-Bon.
You will come out onto Rue de Rivoli. Turn left and follow the street (at no. 76, you will see a door decorated with figures in period costume holding falcons and dogs, with a lion's head at the bottom and birds at the top). Cross Rue du Renard on the left-hand side.
(4) Then turn right to cross Rue de Rivoli at the pedestrian crossing. Next, cross the esplanade of Paris City Hall, whose façade is decorated with statues of important figures in the history of Paris. At the end, turn left and walk along the quay.
At the entrance to the Jardin des Combattants de la Nueve, you have two options:
- If the garden is open (see days and times in the practical information section), enter and cross, passing by the equestrian statue of Étienne Marcel (1882) on the right.
- If the garden is closed, continue along the quay, passing by the equestrian statue of Étienne Marcel on the left.
At the end, turn left and you will reach an entrance to the Hôtel de Ville decorated with seated lions. Then turn right and cross Rue de Lobeau at the pedestrian crossing. Continue straight ahead until you reach the foot of the Église Saint-Gervais.
(5) Go around the church on the left, following Rue François Miron. Then turn left to cross a large square (Académie du Climat on the right). Cross Rue de Rivoli again and walk into a small square.
At the junction with Rue du Roi de Sicile, turn left to see a recent fresco depicting an apple tree, birds and fish on the corner of Rue de Moussy. Retrace your steps.
Continue along Rue du Bourg Tibourg (on the left if you are coming back from the mural, straight ahead if not). At the end, turn left onto Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie and immediately notice a modern bas-relief on the left depicting Saint George slaying the dragon. Then turn right onto Rue Aubriot.
(6) At the end, opposite the Church of Notre-Dame des Blancs Manteaux, turn right and walk along a square on your left. At the end of the street, first turn left then right to go around the market halls. At the T-junction, turn right and walk past a school on your left (two Mesopotamian-style bovine heads, created by Edme Gaulle in 1819, on the wall of what was originally the butcher's pavilion of the Blancs-Manteaux market). Come out onto Rue des Rosiers and follow it to the left.
Take the first right, Rue des Écouffes (name derived from the Breton skouvl, which refers to a bird, the kite). At the next intersection, find Rue du Roi de Sicile and follow it to the left. Take the second right, Rue Pavée. At the traffic lights, cross Rue de Rivoli and then an esplanade (on the right, balcony consoles in the shape of chimeras). Then turn left and go straight on to the entrance of the Church of Saint-Paul and Saint-Louis.
(7) Then turn left to cross Rue de Rivoli again. Follow this street to the right and take the first left, Rue Caron. Then cross Place du Marché Sainte-Catherine. On the other side, follow Rue de Jarente to the right.
At the first intersection, turn left to see an old fountain decorated with foliage and fish. Retrace your steps and continue straight ahead on Rue Necker. At the end, turn left, cross Rue de Turenne and follow it to the right (at No. 1, there is an octopus above a fishmonger's shop). At the end, turn left onto Rue Saint-Antoine.
(8) After about 50 metres, turn left under a porch and you will arrive in the first courtyard of the Hôtel de Sully, whose façades are decorated with numerous mascarons and statues of figures with various animals at their feet (dogs, lions, snakes, etc.). Pass under a porch framed by two sphinxes and arrive in the second courtyard of the Hôtel de Sully (other sculptures, numerous mascarons). Cross the courtyard, pass under a third porch and emerge at Place des Vosges.
Turn right and enter Square Louis XIII. Cross the square straight ahead: go around a first fountain decorated with small lion heads, pass by the equestrian statue of Louis XIII and go around a second fountain. Leave the square and turn right into Rue du Pas de la Mule.
(9) Take the first left, Rue des Tournelles. Shortly afterwards, turn left, cross a small square (three mascarons at no. 12) and continue along Rue Roger Verlomme. Cross Rue du Béarn on the left and continue along Rue du Foin. At the end, turn right into Rue de Turenne.
At the traffic lights, turn left onto Rue du Parc Royal. Walk along a square on your left and the Hôtel de Vigny on your right. At the corner of the square, turn left onto Rue Payenne, lined with mansions with beautiful gates, notably the Hôtel de Chatillon at No. 13, the Hôtel de Marie at No. 11 and the Hôtel Cognacq-Jay at No. 9 (Jardin Lazare Rachline). You can take a quick look around Square Georges Cain, where there are a few sculptures.
(10) At the end of the street, turn right onto Rue des Francs Bourgeois (note the three lion heads on the gate at No. 31), then right again onto Rue Elzévir. At the end, turn left onto Place de Thorigny and, at the fork, follow Rue de Thorigny to the right.
Pass in front of the Picasso Museum (sphinx on a wall and pediment with dogs). Take the first left, Rue des Coutures Saint-Gervais. Cross Rue Vieille du Temple, continue along Rue du Perche and arrive at the Armenian Cathedral of Sainte-Croix (lamb on the right side of the gate).
(11) Then turn right onto Rue Charlot (two lion heads on the gate at no. 12) and then left onto Rue Pastourelle (two lion heads on the gate at no. 6). At the next intersection, turn right onto Rue de Beauce, which is very narrow at first but widens as you go. Shortly before the end of the street, turn right onto Rue des Oiseaux. Go through a gate and cross straight ahead through the Marché des Enfants Rouges (at the entrance, there is a fresco of a fishmonger's stall with fish and crabs). At the end (fresco with birds and a dog), turn left. You will come out onto Rue de Bretagne. Cross at the pedestrian crossing and follow the street to the left.
Cross Rue Eugène Spuller on the right-hand side and enter Square du Temple Elie Wiesel on the right. Pass between a playground on the left and a pond on the right. Then first turn right then left and walk along the lawn on your left. Pass the statue of Pierre-Jean de Béranger and exit the square shortly afterwards on the right. Return to Rue du Temple and follow it to the right. Shortly afterwards, cross the street at the pedestrian crossing and continue to the right.
(12) Take the first left, Rue des Fontaines du Temple. Continue straight ahead. Cross Rue de Turbigo, pass Rue Volta on your right and continue along Rue Borda. At the end (front of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers - CNAM), turn left onto Rue Montgolfier. At the next intersection, turn right onto Rue Conté and walk past the war memorial for students of the École Centrale. At the end, facing a pediment with two birds, first turn left then right onto Rue Réaumur. Walk past an old church on your right that is now part of the CNAM and note the smiling caryatids at No. 39.
At the traffic lights, turn right onto Rue Saint-Martin, keeping the gate of the same name in your sights. At the main entrance to the CNAM, turn left into Square Émile Chautemps. Cross the square and note the two fountains with sculpted groups and lion heads on the left and right. On the other side, turn left and, at the next intersection, turn right onto Rue du Caire. Take the first left, Rue de Palestro. Continue straight ahead and you will soon reach the Réaumur-Sébastopol metro station (S/E).
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