The painted walls of Ivry and the Rive Gauche neighbourhood of the 13th arrondissement

Starting point and access: Place de la République, in Ivry-sur-Seine.
- Metro - Line 7, Mairie d'Ivry station (terminus). Take exit 1 Place de la République and, on the last landing before the street, take the stairs on the right.
- Bus - Lines 125, 132, 182, 323.

To avoid going back and forth between sections, the painted walls are indicated directly in the description, simply designated by their motif written in italics. When a photo of the wall in question has been taken, a link has been created.

(S) When you exit the underground station, go straight ahead and take the^first left, Rue Louis Rousseau. At the fork, take Rue Voltaire on the right. Cross Rue Gabriel Péri, which leads to Place Voltaire, and note on the left a kind of tower decorated with sculptures, with a portrait of Jacques Prévert at its base.

In the centre of the square, turn right and walk along the left-hand side of the municipal media library auditorium. At the crossroads (spherical sculpture), cross Avenue Georges Gosnat to the right, follow Rue Raspail opposite and leave the town hall on your left. Cross Rue Jean-Baptiste Clément on the right-hand side and note the mural of a concert hall, Le Hangar, on the right-hand side.

(1) At the next intersection (Art Deco building on the corner), turn right onto Rue Auguste Blanqui. At the end, continue right onto Rue Simon Dereure and pass in front of the Ivry theatre. At the corner of No. 3, turn left onto Chemin du Théâtre, pass under a porch, climb a flight of steps and continue on a paved path at the foot of the buildings.

At the end, cross Rue Marat and climb the stairs opposite, which start at the metro entrance. At the top, turn right. Note the heavily graffitied walls under a building on the right-hand side. At the traffic lights, cross Avenue Georges Gosnat in two stages and return to Place de la République.

(S) Then turn left, cross Avenue Maurice Thorez and climb the stairs leading to the church. Opposite the red side door, take the paved path on the right that runs alongside the church. At the corner, turn left and head for the church entrance.

Then cross Place de l'Église and continue along Rue Bernard Palissy, following the wall of the old municipal cemetery on your left. When the street turns right, go through the gate to enter the cemetery (see alternative route in the practical information section). Go straight ahead to cross the cemetery. Exit on the other side and turn right.

(2) At the crossroads, follow Avenue Henri Barbusse to the left. Take the^first right, Rue Georgette Rostaing, and note the wall decorated with coloured circles on the corner. At the corner of a school, turn left into Rue Eugène Duchauffour. At the end, follow Rue Alex Chaussinand to the right. At the T-junction, turn right onto Rue Gaston Picard (not signposted here), which winds slightly between the houses.

At the end, turn left onto Rue Hoche. Note the brightly coloured façade of the Makarenko school complex on the right-hand side and continue straight ahead. Note the small painted wall on the left-hand side in tribute to Olympe de Gouges, at the corner of the street that bears her name.

(3) When Rue Hoche turns left, turn around to see a mural in tribute to Thomas Sankara. Turn left with the street and immediately turn right onto Place Charles de Gaulle. Cross this square lined with modern buildings on stilts.

At the end, follow Rue Pierre et Marie Curie to the right, preferably on the left-hand pavement. At the bus centre and the Emaüs centre, note the mural with abstract motifs on the right-hand side. Cross Impasse Chanvin on the left-hand side and take the next left, Rue Jules Ferry. Go straight ahead and note the old workers' houses on the left-hand side, each divided into two dwellings.

At the end, turn right onto Rue Barbès. Cross Place du 8 mai 1945 and walk past an old windmill. Then cross Place Jean Ferrat.

(4) Then follow Avenue Maurcie Thorez to the right. Take the^first left, Rue Louis Bertrand. When the street turns right, turn left into Rue René Villars (dead end). After about 50 metres, go down a series of metal steps on the right, between brick and wooden houses.

At the bottom, turn left onto a street that soon becomes pedestrianised. Cross a small square and continue along a path that starts between numbers 51 and 46. After a right-hand bend, you will come to a T-junction. Turn left and then immediately right onto Rue Mohamed Boumaceur.

You will come out onto Rue Mirabeau; follow it to the left. The street turns right and runs alongside the elevated Boulevard Périphérique. At the end, cross a wide avenue at the pedestrian crossing, follow it to the left and pass under the Boulevard Périphérique. Go straight ahead and, at the traffic lights, cross Boulevard du Général Jean Simon and the tram tracks in several stages. Then pass under the bridge of the old Petite Ceinture railway line.

(5) Turn right onto Rue Régnault, along the old Petite Ceinture railway line, located above on the right. Note the façade decorated with a multicoloured figure and cross Rue du Chevaleret on the left. At the next intersection, note the two children with their heads in a rainbow. Then turn left onto Rue du Loiret. Turn left at the intersection with Rue du Chevaleret to see David's Bonaparte revisited above.

Follow Rue du Chevaleret to the right and, at the crossroads immediately ahead, cross Rue Watt and turn right to cross Place Paul et Augustine Fiket. Then climb the stairs that start to the left of the entrance to the Rue Watt underpass. At the top, take the^{second street} on the left, Rue Julie Daubié. After a few dozen metres, turn left onto Rue Jeanne Chauvin.

Then turn left onto a wide pedestrian street, Rue Jacques Lacan. At the end, go down the stairs on the right. At the bottom, follow Rue du Chevaleret to the right and go under a road bridge. Opposite No. 69, climb the stairs on the right, which are painted with portraits of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali.

At the top, after a few metres, turn right into Square Cyprian Norwid. Immediately take a gravel path that runs diagonally to the right and walk alongside some reeds on your left. At a crossroads, take a paved path on the left. Pass a metal sculpture and then a playground, and leave the square.

(6) Then take Rue des Grands Moulins diagonally opposite. At the traffic lights, cross Avenue de France in two stages and follow it to the right. Cross Rue Françoise Dolto and note the musicians and dancers on your left. Turn left at the next street, Rue Hélène Brion.

At the next intersection (wall painted with a squirrel on the left), follow Rue Marie-Andrée Lagroua Weill-Hallé to the right, on the left-hand pavement. Cross Rue Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet. You will then be overlooking a parallel street on the left. Turn around to see a predominantly blue mural on Rue Watt below.

At the corner of Place Paul Ricoeur, turn left and go down a large staircase. At the bottom, turn right and follow Rue Jean-Antoine de Baïf. At the next intersection (old industrial building on the right), enter the Biopark Garden on the left. Go straight ahead to cross the garden and come out onto Rue Watt.

(7) Follow the street to the left to see a lemur and get a closer look at the predominantly blue mural you saw earlier from above. Retrace your steps.

(7) Cross Rue Watt, then Rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet again, and continue straight ahead. At the next intersection, turn left onto Rue Hélène Brion. At the corner of a building with a foliage-inspired façade, turn right onto Rue Marie-Louise Dubreil-Jacotin. At the next intersection, note a girl combing her chest. Then turn left onto Rue Françoise Dolto. Note on the left-hand side, one after the other, a female portrait, a colourful child's face, and finally black and white and coloured patterns.

When you reach these motifs, cross the street and enter the Jardin des Grands Moulins - Abbé Pierre. Walk along the edge of the garden, pass under a footbridge and find the exit on the right at the foot of the footbridge. Notice the animal skeleton painted on the lift cage going up to the footbridge.

Then turn left and follow Rue Marguerite Duras between the garden and an old building of the Grands Moulins de Paris. At the corner of the garden, turn left onto Rue Thomas Mann. Note the bas-relief portraits of people who have given their names to streets in the neighbourhood, including Françoise Dolto, Marguerite Duras, Pablo Casals and René Goscinny (non-exhaustive list), hanging on the garden gates.

At the pedestrian crossing, turn right into the second part of the Grands Moulins - Abbé Pierre garden. Wind your way through the garden.

(8) You will come out onto Rue Goscinny. Turn left and follow the street. On the right-hand side, on the wall of a school, you will see excerpts from Le Petit Nicolas. At the next intersection, you will see characters from the Asterix comic book and a child wearing a helmet. Turn right.

Take the^first right, Rue Primo Lévi. Note the graffiti on the walls on the left in the courtyard of the Les Frigos art centre (former cold storage warehouses). At the next intersection, turn left onto Rue des Frigos and walk past the entrance to the art centre, noting more graffiti on the walls. At the corner, turn left and note the decorated window frames and then a water tower.

At the traffic lights, turn right to cross Rue Neuve Tolbiac and go straight ahead into a pedestrian street (Wallace fountain). At the end, cross Rue Émile Durkheim and climb the wooden steps leading to the François Mitterrand Library. Go through a large metal gate and reach the library esplanade.

(9) Immediately turn left towards the Tour des Nombres, then turn right at its base. Continue for about 50 metres along the esplanade, then turn left towards a cinema and along a metal wall, in the opposite direction to the arrow indicating the entrance.

At the end of this wall, turn left and walk along the Tour des Nombres on your left. You will come to a large square in front of the cinema entrance. Cross it diagonally to the right. At the traffic lights, cross Avenue de France and Promenade Jules Isaac in several stages. Continue straight ahead and cross Place Jean-Michel Basquiat. At the end, note the faded fresco with geometric patterns opposite.

Then follow Promenade Claude Lévi-Strauss to the left and look down on Rue du Chevaleret on your right. Note the mural on this street depicting the three ages (also faded). At the end, turn right onto Rue de Tolbiac and take the bridge over Rue du Chevaleret.

At the end of the bridge, go down the stairs on the right and note the fresco with circular motifs above you. At the bottom of the stairs, follow Rue du Chevaleret and pass under the bridge on Rue Tolbiac. You will soon find the entrance to the underground station and RER station (E) on your left.

To return home:
- Metro - Line 14.
- RER - Line C, towards Paris-Austerlitz / Versailles / Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines or Massy / Dourdan / Etampes.

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route.

Water points and public toilets are available in some gardens, marked on the OSM map. There are numerous bars, restaurants and shops along the route.

A detailed map is required (at least the one accompanying this description).

Opening hours of public spaces:
Former Ivry municipal cemetery:
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays; 9:00 a.m. on Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing time: 5 p.m. from November to March; 6 p.m. from April to October.
Cyprian Norwid Square:
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays; 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing time: 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Biopark Garden: 24 hours a day.
Jardin des Grands Moulins - Abbé Pierre:
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays; 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing time: 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.

Alternative route:
If you do not wish to cross the old municipal cemetery of Ivry, continue along Rue Bernard Palissy. At the end, turn left. At the crossroads (2), continue straight ahead along Avenue Henri Barbusse and rejoin the main route.

Hike completed by the author on 18 January 2020.

A / Painted or tagged walls and murals

These works, most of which date from the 2010s, are the main focus of this urban tour. Their density is average in Ivry-sur-Seine. It is high in the 13th arrondissement, due to the determined action of the Town Hall, notably Jérôme Coumet, mayor since 2007, and the Gallerie Itinerrance, established in the arrondissement since 2004. Not to mention the inventiveness of the artists...

It is obviously impossible to be exhaustive! In the description, the works visited are systematically indicated and the corresponding information (author, year, etc.) appears in the captions of the photos that have been taken and published on the website, to which a link refers.

For more details, please visit the "Trompe l'oeil" website:
- List of works in Ivry-sur-Seine.
- Interactive map of the 13th arrondissement of Paris. By clicking on a marker on the map, you will find a summary of the work in question, which includes a link to a detailed description.

Many thanks to the managers of the "Trompe l'oeil" website: the pages mentioned above were very helpful in designing this itinerary, and most of the information in the photo captions comes from them.

B / Other heritage elements

1) In Ivry-sur-Seine:
- Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul Church (12th-16th centuries), between (S) and (2).
- Old workers' houses on Rue Jules Feery, between (3) and (4).
- Moulin de la Tour mill (17th century), just before (4).
- Stairs and paths, after (4).

2) In the Rive Gauche neighbourhood of the 13th arrondissement:
- This neighbourhood is home to numerous reconstruction projects, and features modern and highly diverse architecture.
- Former buildings of the Grands Moulins de Paris (1917-1921).
- Les Frigos, an artistic creation centre located in the former warehouses of the Paris-Ivry refrigerated railway station (1919-1921).
- François Mitterrand Library (1996).