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Departure from the church in Briarres-sur-Essonne. Parking is available in designated spaces either at the foot of the church or across the street, near the town hall.
In addition to the markings, there are walking signposts at various points.
Yellow + red and white markings
(S/E) Head north, leaving the church on your left and the town hall on your right. Follow theGR®32and the main street (Rue de la Gare on the map) and cross the disused railway line.
(1) Immediately after, turn right down Chemin des Parès (dead end). At the bottom, the paved lane gives way to a path closed to motor vehicles. Follow the Essonne River on your right and cross two footbridges over spillways. After the second footbridge, walk between two branches of the river. At the end of the path, turn right and cross another footbridge. You will come out into a gravel courtyard. Reach a road and follow it to the left for a few metres (nice view of the river, information board).
(2) Turn right (east) and follow the small road uphill towards Orville (sign). Cross the hamlet of Buisseau and, before the exit sign, turn left onto a grassy path that descends. Leave a pond on your right, walk along the edge of a wood on your left and then enter the wood. Walk through the woods with a wetland area on your left, then a reed bed. Continue in the same direction through more open terrain with a few pine trees on your right. At the end of the path, walk along a public garden on your right (bench, water fountain). Continue along a paved lane until you reach a junction with the D831 road.
Yellow signposting
(3) Follow the road to the left. Cross a main branch of the Essonne, leave Orville and then cross a second branch of the river. Turn left with the road and, before a right-hand bend, at a place called La Traverse, leave the road and take a grassy path on the left. Head south between the fields with the small church of Dimancheville clearly visible. At the first house, the path gives way to tarmac. At the end of the lane, turn left and walk downhill with the church on your left. At the bottom, cross the mill courtyard (private property, pedestrians allowed; please respect the premises).
(4) Cross the Essonne again and turn right to follow it on your right. Take a footbridge over a weir (wash house on the opposite bank) and follow the Essonne to the Moulin de Buisseau.
(2) Continue on the small road opposite which climbs towards Châtillon (sign). Note the beautiful view of Briarres church on the right and leave the hamlet of Buisseau. Pass under the railway bridge (be careful, narrow passage) and, on the other side, ignore the two paths on either side. Continue along the road and enter Le Pont. At the stop sign, cross the D27 and follow the Rue du Moulin de Charreau (dead end) opposite, set back on the left. Follow the street to the end at the mill (no. 380), ignoring all the side roads.
(5) Then turn left and go up a grassy path along the edge of the field on your left. At the top, continue east-southeast between the fields. At the first crossroads, turn right (south) towards a strip of woodland on the right (no signpost here). Follow the woodland on your right. Continue south, descending slightly, and pass some bushes on your left and then a copse on your right.
(6) At the crossroads by a solitary tree, turn right (south-south-west) towards a wood. Go through the wood uphill. At the crossroads just as you leave the wood, turn right (ignore the "PR® de Châtillon" sign which tells you to go left). Walk along the edge of the wood on your right, then between the fields towards a village. At the T-junction (farm building on the right), turn left. At the next junction, turn right. Note the hiking map on the left and leave the track leading to Moulin de Châtillon (information sign) on your right. Continue along Rue du Marais de Châtillon, which turns left to cross the hamlet.
Yellow + red and white markings
(7) At a gate on the left (no. 25bis), turn right towards Francorville and rejoin theGR®32. Pass between two reed beds and cross a branch of the river. Turn right (information sign) and cross the Essonne at the Moulin de Francorville. Go back up the road and walk alongside an orchard on your left and the Francorville farm on your right.
(8) Before the top of the hill, at the corner of the farm, turn right onto a grassy path that starts at the foot of the building (be careful to spot this start). Then follow a hedge on your right (through a gap at the start of the hedge, note the farm's dovecote on your right). Further on, descend with a copse on your left. At the bottom (reed bed on the right), turn left and follow the path through the undergrowth. Then climb up on the left, leave the woods and stay on a grassy path with a field on your left and woods on your right.
(9) At the corner of the field, turn left at a right angle and go up, keeping a plantation of conifers on your right (not shown on the map). Before the top of the hill (signpost without a sign in December 2016), turn right. At the end, the grassy path gives way to a trail. Walk through the undergrowth with views of the reed beds below on the right and the bell tower of Briarres church opposite.
(10) At a fork, take the grassy path on the right with a bank on your left and a fence on your right. At the end, follow the road to the right. At the stop sign, turn left and then immediately right into Rue des Coquereaux (no entry). At the next stop sign, turn left and you will immediately see Briarres church (S/E).
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