The Port aux Cerises and the Château de Draveil

Car park on the right at the end of the accessible part of Rue du Port aux Cerises (sign "P" in the middle of the street, the next one being closed).

(S/E) Join Rue du Port aux Cerises and follow it to the right to reach a lake, Étang Laveyssière. Turn left and walk along the lake on your right. At the end, exit the Port aux Cerises park and turn left onto Boulevard du Général de Gaulle. After passing a courtyard surrounded by red brick buildings (on the left), you will find the entrance to the "Paris Jardin" estate on the left.

(1) Enter the estate (*) via the pedestrian crossing and walk along the wall on your right on Chemin des Écoliers. At^{the first} crossroads, take the passage on the left. When you reach the tarmac paths, follow Allée du Sud-Ouest (that's its name) on your right. Go to the roundabout in the centre of the estate, with the château on your right (*).

(2) Take the third right, Allée de la Perspective, towards the château. Go around the château on the left using the small passageway and the steps almost opposite. Walk past the château without going towards the gates (the passage to the street is now closed).
Return to the rear via the passage to the left of the château (south side), then leave the estate via the passage to the left just behind the château.
Cross Boulevard du Gal de Gaulle to the left of the police station and continue through the park to approach the beautiful white building: the Draveil Administrative Centre.

(3) Pass to the left of the building to see the front. Walk past it and cross the street leading to the car park using the pedestrian crossing that leads to the Cour Chapuis (*).
Then return to the boulevard via the gate on the left and follow it to the right (south). After the École de Villiers, you will arrive in front of the Roger Guégan foyer. Keep to the right along the foyer to reach the small Oberkirch square.

(4) Turn sharply right into Allée du Domaine de Villiers (not to be confused with Avenue de Villiers on the other side of the square). Go through the gates and, after about 50 metres, turn left into a park. Follow a path heading south-west. After passing a pond on your left, go behind the Château de Villiers. Walk along the side of the château and look for the entrance on the left at the end of the château. Enter the secondary courtyard, then turn left again to reach the main courtyard.

(5) Return to the secondary courtyard and take the corridor opposite to cross the building. Take the path on the right to reach the Donald Cardwell Theatre. Walk past the theatre, reach Avenue de Villiers and follow it, passing Maison Brand (*) on the left, which has become the Conservatoire de Musique.

Continue down the avenue (west-southwest), then follow its extension, Rue du Port aux Dames (*), westwards. Pass in front of the Écuries de l'Orme des Mazières and take a passage on the right to enter the woods behind a barrier.

(6) Take the path on the right that climbs (slightly) into the woods and arrives in front of the Fosse aux Carpes (pond). Follow the path to the left to find a small clearing on the banks of the Seine. Turn right, take a footbridge and walk along the Seine with the pond on your right. Cross Rue de Châtillon and continue along the Seine with the GR®2 (White/Red) to the bridge.

(7) Pass under the bridge with the GR®2 and cross a small car park. Continue along the Seine with the port on your right until you reach the next footbridge. Cross and follow the GR® to the right. Leave the GR® temporarily to go around the port to the right towards the south and reach the port buildings.

(8) After enjoying the view of the port, return to the GR® and follow Allée Laveyssière along the pond of the same name. Leave the^GR® when it turns right and continue straight ahead, slightly to the left (north). Return to the Seine and follow it on your left. Take a footbridge over a tributary and continue along the Seine.

(9) Climb onto the next footbridge to see the port of Vigneux, then retrace your steps.

(9) Coming down from the footbridge, turn left to walk along the basin on the opposite side of the port. When the basin turns left, continue almost in line with it until you reach a crossroads opposite some steps. Then take the path on the right (acute angle). Continue to the Menhir de la Pierre à Mousseau (*), located on the right. Take the path again to arrive in front of the Étang des Mousseaux waterway. Cross the path and follow a "off-trail" path to the left, heading south, which joins and runs alongside the waterway. Find a path overlooking the lake and follow it to the left until you reach a cabin at the end of a zip line. Cut to the right of the cabin and go down the steps to reach and walk along the lake. Continue until you find a wide staircase (double at the bottom) that goes up to the left, facing the lake, just before a footbridge that runs along the lake.

(10) You can climb the steps to see the esplanade overlooking the lake. This was the esplanade of the Château des Mousseaux (*). Return to the foot of the steps and the edge of the pond.

(10) Continue to the left (south-west) along the pond, crossing the wooden footbridge. At the end, turn 45° to the left and climb the hill. Cross the path that descends to the left, join the next one and take it to the left. At the crossroads, turn right to return to the car park (S/E).

(S/E) The origin of the name Draveil dates back to Roman times, Dravernum, a name derived from the Gallic name Dracvern, which means "the spirit of the alders"
Draveil Castle: It dates from the first quarter of the 18th century. It was built by a very wealthy farmer, Marin de La Haye. It overlooked a long esplanade that stretched down to the banks of the Seine.
It was owned by Lord William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon. He had his coat of arms installed on the entrance gate. Between two trained boars, it reads: "Ubi lapsus, Quid feci" (Where is the fault, what have I done?). It should be noted that he had to flee England because of his homosexuality. The château was then sold to Désiré Dalloz, a famous lawyer.
The name Paris-Jardins comes from the renovation of Paris by Baron Hausmann, who gentrified Paris, gradually driving out the workers and craftsmen. In 1911, the Paris-Jardins cooperative, founded by a group of commercial employees and workers with the aim of creating a "garden city" inspired by the English model, acquired the Draveil estate and divided it into 320 lots according to a master plan drawn up by architect Jean Walter, a member of the French society for low-cost housing (HBM). The estate thus became a workers' housing estate. But Paris-Jardins was not a simple co-ownership. Members had to be approved by the estate's board of directors and could not own more than one plot. In theory, this meant no speculation!
It is clear that the estate has become gentrified, but the co-owners refused to allow the château, which is very expensive to maintain, to become the town hall of Draveil.
Social life is still quite intense within the estate: two associations organise meetings, outings, conferences, shows and exhibitions.

(3) The Administrative Centre. In 1735, Jean Monglas, minister to Louis XV, purchased two fiefdoms called "Genippa" and "Tessonville", where he had a bourgeois house built. Mr and Mrs Chapuis purchased the property on 11 May 1891. Louis Chapuis was a wine merchant and president of the Seine Commercial Court. Mrs Chapuis died on 4 May 1897 in the fire at the Bazar de la Charité. The heirs sold the estate to the municipality in 1943. The house became the Town Hall until 2008, then became the Administrative Centre.
Do not return to the boulevard, but cross the street to enter the courtyard opposite - La Cour Chapuis: Named after the merchant who bought the neighbouring estate. In 1906, he had a group of neo-Norman style outbuildings built around a courtyard. We are therefore now in the outbuildings of the neighbouring estate. Following its purchase by the municipality, the town installed its municipal services here and transformed the 4-hectare park into a sports ground.

(5) The Château de Villiers was built in 1782 by the Duke of Bombelles in the Louis XVI style. It was later bought by the Caisse des Dépôts for its 39-hectare park, which was used to build 440 homes. The château itself was sold to the municipality and became a media library. In 2012, it was used for a world exhibition on meteorites following the discovery of two meteorites in the surrounding area.

At the exit of the estate, at 1 Avenue de Villiers: The Donald Cardwell Theatre, built in 1989 in the style of the Château's Orangery.
Opposite, at No. 2: The Brand house, i.e. the bourgeois residence + the half-timbered house next door, which has become the Conservatory of Music and Dance. It was transferred to the urban area.
Continuing along Avenue de Villiers: Rue du Port aux Dames. No, don't look for the "Dames du Port" (Ladies of the Port). These were the nuns of the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève, then the Royal Abbey of Saint-Louis de Poissy, who owned part of the town, whose port supplied the abbey with food.

(8) Port aux Cerises. Its origin is the large commercial port and landing stage for fruit (cherries from Mainville) and vegetables (asparagus from the Plaine des Sables) supplying Paris. Draveil, together with Champrosay, had seven landing stages.

(9) Menhir de la Pierre à Mousseau. It marked a burial site that has since been destroyed. Menhirs, which were used to mark the boundaries of estates, were common along the Yerres and Seine rivers.

(10) The steps leading down from what was once the esplanade of the Château des Mousseaux. The château still existed in 1975. It belonged to the descendants of Sully, Henri IV's minister. The esplanade is at the end of Allée Sully. The old buildings near the car park are outbuildings of the château, which has been destroyed.