The towers of the 13th arrondissement and the village of Bercy

Starting point and access: Porte d'Italie.
- Metro - Line 7. Take exit 2 Boulevard Masséna. When you exit the metro station, turn left towards Avenue d'Italie.
- Tram - Line T3a. Cross Boulevard Masséna towards the centre of Paris and join Avenue d'Italie on its right-hand side.

On this route, you will cross a^GR® or GRP^® trail in some places^. In the following description, the corresponding trail markings are only mentioned when necessary.

(S/E) Follow Avenue d'Italie on the odd-numbered side, in descending order (at no. 159, note the sculptures of ram's heads on the façade). Immediately afterwards, turn right, go under a porch and follow Allée Marc Chagall.

When the alley turns right, enter the Jardin Juan Miro. Immediately turn left, climb a flight of steps, cross a small lawn and descend towards a small bridge. Cross the bridge, follow a red-paved path, cross another small bridge and climb more steps. Then turn right and follow a footbridge with blue railings to the end.

Exit the garden, cross Rue Gandon, continue straight ahead and enter the garden of the same name (red and white + red and yellow markings). At the fork immediately ahead, take the gravel path on the left. Pass under the metal arches and leave the garden. First turn left then right and walk past the foot of the Verdi Tower on your left. At the corner, turn left, go down a flight of steps and you will come out onto Avenue de Choisy.

(1) Cross the avenue at the pedestrian crossing and follow it to the left. Note the Saint-Hyppolyte Church on the left side of the avenue, then the Notre-Dame de Chine Chapel. Just before Rue de la Pointe d'Ivry, turn right to enter the Jardin de la Dalle d'Ivry (note the façade decorated with fish on the right). Go straight ahead east-northeast, pass through a gate, continue in the same direction and walk along a shared garden on your left. Pass at the foot of the Abeille Tower on your left and leave the slab.

Cross Avenue d'Ivry at the pedestrian crossing, first turn right then left to follow Rue Regnault (not signposted here). Walk along Square Ulysse Trélat on your left. At the traffic lights, turn left onto Rue Nationale. Cross Passage National on the right-hand side, then turn right into Passage Bourgoin (admire the little houses and plant-covered arches). At the end, turn left onto Rue du Château des Rentiers.

(2) After about 50 metres, turn right onto Rue Jean Fautrier (a cobbled street lined with small brick buildings). Cross Rue Albert, go under a porch and follow Rue Trolley de Prévaux. Go down a flight of steps and, on the landing, take either the left or right staircase and continue along the street. At the end, turn right onto Rue de Patay.

At the traffic lights, take the second left, Rue Eugène Oudiné, and walk along a square on your left. Cross Rue Cantagrel on your left, then Rue du Chevaleret. Cross Place Paul et Augustine Fiket and enter the tunnel that Rue Watt takes under the railway tracks of Gare d'Austerlitz. Follow the street, preferably on the right-hand pavement, and at the tunnel exit, after No. 21, climb the large staircase leading to Place Aurélie Nemours.

(3) Then turn left at the hairpin bend, turn left (bus stop) and cross Rue Watt via a bridge. Cross at the traffic lights and follow Rue Marie-Andrée Lagroua Weill-Hallé. Take the^first right, Rue Hélène Brion, then the^first left, Rue Marie-Louise Dubreil-Jacobin (at the corner, there is a building with foliage-inspired decoration). Cross Rue Françoise Dolto, walk along the left-hand side of Jardin Grands Moulins-Abbé Pierre and note the old Grands Moulins de Paris buildings on the right.

Just after an urban lift, take the footbridge on the left that crosses the garden. At the end of the footbridge, turn right and go through a gate to enter the garden. Follow a gravel path that curves to the right, pass the reception area and toilets on your left, and turn left to leave the garden. Cross the street and enter the continuation of the garden opposite. Pass a water feature on your left and walk between the green trellises.

(4) Leave the garden and turn left onto the street. Note the quotes from Le Petit Nicolas on the wall of a school on the right-hand pavement: we are on Rue René Goscinny! At the crossroads, note the street sign on the right-hand side with the ritual introduction to the Asterix albums: "We are in 50 BC. All of Gaul is occupied..."). Then turn right onto Rue Olivier Messiaen. Cross Rue Primo Levi and then Rue Neuve Tolbiac, and continue along Rue Paul Casals. At the end, cross a street and climb the steps leading to the esplanade of the François Mitterand Library, at the foot of the South-West Tower (Tour des Nombres).

(5) Turn right onto the wooden-covered esplanade (be careful in wet weather). After about 100 metres, turn left under the metal bridge at the east entrance to the library. Then turn right and, at the foot of the south-east tower (Tour des Lois), turn left and walk along the central garden below on your left.

At the sign for metro line 6, turn right then left to reach the start of a footbridge. Take the three footbridges that cross the left bank quay, the Seine and the right bank quay in succession: there are two levels, always stay on the highest level. You will come out in Bercy Park.

(6) Go down the stairs alongside an artificial waterfall. At the bottom, follow the gravel path to the right. Pass the sports facilities on your right, go down a flight of steps on the left and enter the Jardin Yitzhak Rabin (still called Parc de Bercy on the map) on the right.

Take the second path (paved) after the entrance and walk along the rose bushes on your right. At the next intersection, go straight ahead and walk along a vineyard on your right. At the corner, turn right and walk along a trellis on your left (paved path with old rails). At the intersection, continue straight ahead and walk along the gardeners' house on your right.

At the corner of the house, turn right, then take the first left. Pass between a small mound topped with a large vase on your left and a grid-patterned garden on your right. Continue straight ahead, with a pond and arcades on your left. Climb a staircase, take the footbridge over Rue Joseph Kessel and descend another staircase.

At the bottom, continue straight ahead. At the edge of a reed bed, turn right and follow a circular path that borders a pond on the left. Pass a pond with an imposing sculpture on your right, then a footbridge on your left. At the intersection immediately ahead, turn right.

(7) Then climb the stairs on the left, which lead up to a hillock offering a lovely view. Descend the stairs.

(7) At the bottom, turn left to leave the garden via Rue François Truffaut. First turn right then left to enter Passage Saint-Vivant. At the end of the passage, turn left into Cour Saint-Émilion (former Bercy wine warehouses converted into bars and restaurants). After about 50 metres, turn right into Passage Saint-Émilion. At the end, turn left onto Rue des Pirogues de Bercy. Walk along the right-hand side of the Musée des Arts Forains and note the small sculptures of human faces on the window sills.

At the corner of No. 51, turn left onto Rue Gabriel Lamé. Cross Rue François Truffaut again and continue straight ahead, still on Rue Lamé. At the end, turn right onto Rue de l'Aubrac, then take the first left onto Rue de la Nativité. At the traffic lights, turn right, cross Place Lachambeaudie and leave the Notre Dame de Bercy church on your left. Pass under a porch (red and white marker), enter the Tunnel Proudhon and pass under the railway tracks of the Gare de Lyon.

At the tunnel exit, turn left and walk up Rue Coriolis alongside the railway line. After about 200 metres, turn right onto Boulevard de Bercy and walk alongside Square Jean Morin on your left. Cross Rue de Charenton and continue along Boulevard de Reuilly, which veers to the right (note the statue of Saint Christopher at no. 16).

At the corner of No. 22, climb a flight of steps on the right and enter the narrow Rue de la Durance. At the end, go down a staircase and cross at the pedestrian crossing. Walk up Rue Taine on the left. At the top, turn right to reach Place Félix Éboué (E).

To return home:
- Metro: lines 6 and 8. Daumesnil station, immediate access.

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route.

Toilets and water points in public gardens (shown on the map). Bars, restaurants and shops along the route.

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

Opening hours of public spaces:
Juan Miro and Rue Gandon Gardens:
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays; 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing times: 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Dalle d'Ivry Garden:
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays; 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing time: 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Grands Moulins-Abbé Pierre Garden:
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays; 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing time: 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Parc de Bercy and Jardin Yitzhak Rabin
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays; 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing times: 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
N.B. Depending on events at the Palais Omnisports, certain areas of the park may be temporarily closed. Please follow the signs and adapt to the situation on site.

Variation:
The Parc de Bercy and the Jardin Yitzhak Rabin are vast... They are ideal for strolling and various route variations, provided you have a map. In any case, head for the Rue François Truffaut exit (just after (7)).
It is also possible to interrupt the walk at this point and quickly return to the Cour Saint-Émilion metro station (line 14) on the left immediately after exiting the garden.

Hike completed by the author on 18 April 2018.

- Towers in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, between (S) and (2).
- Between (1) and (2), the triangle formed by the Avenues de Choisy and d'Ivry and Boulevard Masséna is home to a large Asian community (China, Vietnam, etc.). Several signs attest to this: the density of Asian restaurants and caterers, certain murals, certain cultural events, the Chapelle Notre Dame de Chine, etc.
- Passage Bourgoin, with its abundant greenery.
- Rue Watt underground passage and its lighting system, shortly before (3).
- Former buildings of the Grands Moulins de Paris (1919), between (3) and (4).
- François Mitterrand Library (1996) (5).
- Yitzhak Rabin Garden, front (7). The garden was named in memory of Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), general and Prime Minister of the State of Israel (1992-1995). He played a major role in the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords in 1993, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, along with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat. It was also for this reason that he was assassinated by an extremist in 1995.
- Village of Bercy, after (7). Former wine cellars and warehouses.
- Château d'Eau Fountain (1874), or Lion Fountain, Place Félix Éboué (E).