Le Cyclop walks

A hike that alternates between villages rich in heritage (old market hall, churches, wash houses, castle) and a trail through the Forêt des Trois Pignons dotted with sandstone rocks.

The route is mainly through forest, with a few small sandstone rocks in places, starting from the centre of Milly-la-Forêt with its rich heritage (church, wash houses, castle).

A day or a weekend in the Fontainebleau Forest, without a car, starting from Maisse station (RER D). Visit the “Cyclop”, a kinetic metal sculpture partly covered in mirrors, as tall as a seven-storey building, which stands proudly in the heart of the Milly Forest. Monumental yet hidden away, it surveys its surroundings with its single golden eye.

A two-day route starting from the Maisse RER D station. Visit to Jean Tinguely’s ‘Cyclop’. Accommodation at the Coquibus Farm Lodge and return to Maisse station the following day via Milly-La-Forêt, with optional visits to Jean Cocteau’s house and the Chapelle des Simples. Easily accessible by train from Paris

A varied walk: a bit of road, some fields, and plenty of woodland. A keen sense of direction is essential. A preference for wild, off-the-beaten-track paths is advisable. A gentle start through woods and fields, then a crossing of the Forêt des Trois Pignons and a return via the Forêt de Maisse. Moderator’s notex issues on this route; see the review dated 02/08/2022

This is the twenty-eighth stage of the Grand Tour of Île-de-France via the GR®11, connecting Milly-la-Forêt to the Ballancourt-sur-Essonne train station after crossing the French Gâtinais region. It is designed to follow on fromthe previous stage coming from Fontainebleau, after a night's stay there.This stage begins in the École valley, which boasts a rich heritage: Milly-la-Forêt, Moigny-sur-École, Courances and its château, and Dannemois, dear to Claude François. It continues through the fields of the Gâtinais, then the ridges and sandstone plateaus of the Grands Avaux forest, ending at Ballancourt-sur-Essonne in the valley of the same name.The stage is very beautiful but very long, and undoubtedly the most physically demanding of all those on the GR®11, especially in its second part. However, it is possible to split it in two by staying overnight and/or shorten it in several places by simplifying it.

This marked GR® route around the Île-de-France region (with a few forays into neighbouring departments and regions) complements its "little brother", the GR®1, by forming a circular route around Paris, generally with a slightly larger radius. It follows the same overall pattern: first, a radial section starting from Paris (more precisely from the Pont d'Austerlitz, near the former confluence of the Bièvre and the Seine), going up the entire Bièvre valley, then continuing to Villiers-Saint-Frédéric, in the Yvelines. From there, it is a circular route that loops around the Île-de-France region, close to its borders with neighbouring regions. The route passes through beautiful regions, often untouched by intensive urbanisation, regional nature parks and other protected natural areas, and takes in some architectural wonders.