The vineyards of Jouy-le-Moutier

The hike starts and ends at the Chemin des Fauveaux car park. See access details in Practical Information.
Part of the route follows the^PR® Yellow or^GRP® Red and Yellow marked trails.

No markings

Head towards Allée des Fauvettes. This street is located between the houses and is perpendicular to Chemin des Fauveaux. It is a street and not the entrance to a private residence. Take this street and continue straight ahead to enter the main entrance of the municipal park known as Raclet.

Once in the park, follow the path on the right. You will notice a wash house on your right. Walk past the Maison du Parc and exit through the gate on the right after the information board. You will come out onto a car park. Walk up Grande Rue on your left.

(1) At number 44 is the Bistrot du Théâtre. This establishment has a theatre, the Saint-Vincent, on the upper floor. It was built in 1811 and restored in 1866. On the façade of the establishment is a statue of Saint Vincent, the patron saint of winegrowers.

Yellow^PR® markings

Continue along Grande Rue and cross the street. Walk to the church.

No markings

When you reach the Church of Notre-Dame de la Nativité, go around it on the right and take the stairs to Parc Lapresté.

Yellow^PR® markings

Leave Parc Lapresté at the top and you will find the PR® markings again^. Turn left onto Chemin des Miettes and continue until you reach Boulevard d'Écancourt. Chemin des Miettes is located on the former CGB (Chemin de fer de Grande Banlieue) railway line between Poissy and Pontoise.

(2) Cross Boulevard d'Écancourt at the pedestrian crossing and continue straight ahead on Chemin des Miettes. Just after crossing, you will see a millstone building on your left with a sign saying "Le Côteau des Jouannes, vigne municipale de Jouy-le-Moutier" (Le Côteau des Jouannes, municipal vineyard of Jouy-le-Moutier): this is the former Vincourt-Neuville station on the old CGB line. Since 2011, this building has been occupied by the Le Côteau des Jouannes association.

Continue along Chemin des Miettes, cross the street (Rue du Boilé) at the pedestrian crossing. Continue along the path and after about 200 metres, you will see a path on your right that goes uphill, first tarmac then paved: do not follow this path, but take the one on your left.

No signposts

Continue along this path for about 20 metres, then turn right onto Chemin des Boisseaux.

(3) After about 50 metres, you will see one of the four vineyards of Jouy-le-Moutier on your right.

Continue along the path to reach the old railway line.

Yellow^PR® markings

Continue along the old railway line, Chemin des Miettes, which becomes Chemin des Boisseaux. Note the names of the streets, which are related to the area's former wine-growing activity: Rue des Vignes and Chemin des Vignes de Glatigny.

Continue along Chemin des Boisseaux, then turn right at a right angle onto Rue du Val de Glatigny. From No. 38 on your left, the wooded area is fenced off and there are numerous signs warning of the risk of collapse.

Further up, opposite number 66, is the entrance to an old limestone quarry. The entrance to this quarry was still accessible in 2001, when a fire followed by a collapse led to the quarries being closed to the public. The entrance is visible after the leaves have fallen.

If you have climbed up to see the entrance to the quarry, turn back.

No markings

Take the path in the grassy plot between numbers 52 and 56.

(4) As the path climbs, you will see the second vineyard on our route on your right: in 2022, this vineyard has been abandoned for several years. Go up the stairs, then turn right and follow the path to Rue des Vignes Blanches.

Cross at the pedestrian crossing, pass the small car park on your right and continue along the path. Stay on this path; do not take any paths that go up or down.

(5) Pay attention, as you will be passing alongside the Côteau des Jouannes vineyard, which covers an area of approximately 1,000 m². Shortly after the vineyard, continue along the path, which turns left and leads to a street (Rue du Boilé). Turn left and walk uphill.

When the street turns left, take the path on the right that passes between various outdoor sports facilities.
Go down the stairs after the multi-sports ground and cross at the traffic lights.

Just after crossing, take the small tarmac path on the right and you will come out onto Cour du Levant. Continue to the right and, after passing between numbers 8 and 10, stay level and turn left onto the path. Continue straight ahead.

(6) Cross Rue de l'Église at the pedestrian crossing and take the path opposite. Walk past the houses on your left, then a green space with children's play equipment. Continue along the path and, after the last play equipment, turn right onto the lane. After about 20 metres, take the wide path on the left.

Follow this wide path for a good distance. You will come to four barriers. Stay on this path until you come to another path that descends with widely spaced steps made from railway sleepers.

(7) Go down the steps on the right towards the road. At the junction with the road, cross using the pedestrian crossing on the right. Continue straight ahead on Rue des Girolles, then turn right onto the street called Villa de l'Églantine. Continue along the path after the barrier; the path turns left. Continue along this path which descends.

^GRP® Red and Yellow markings

Do not take the path that goes up to the left with railway sleepers, continue downhill. The path turns right, take the wooden bridge (be careful, it can be slippery). Pay close attention and follow the red and yellow^GRP® markings: you will see two successive signs indicating "turn right".

After the bridge, the path makes its first hairpin turn to the right after a few dozen metres. Climb the staircase made of railway sleepers, then take the second hairpin turn to the right, which climbs steeply. When you reach the flat section, take the left at the Y-junction.

No signposts

Continue along the path, passing a multi-sport ground on your right, until you reach a barrier. Go through it and cross the car park. Cross the road at the stop sign.

Red and yellow^GRP® markings

Go through the gate and take the path on the right. At the next junction, the^GRP® turns right: leave it and take the path on the left.

No markings

When you reach the multi-sports ground, turn right to walk alongside it and, after passing it, continue straight ahead on the path. When the path descends, take the path on the left.

(8) After about 30 steps, look for a path on your right. Take it and you will arrive at the fallen menhir known as La Grande Pierre (Jouy-le-Moutier). Go around the menhir on the right, take the path on the right and you will come out onto a wide path.

^GRP® Red and Yellow^PR® Yellow markings

Take the path on the left. At the junction with the road going downhill, continue straight ahead and go through the turnstiles. Continue straight ahead on the Promenade des Loctaines. You are now in Vauréal in the Quartier des Toupets. A large green space opens up on your right. You will see a viewpoint on your right.

No markings

When you reach the junction with a path, take it on the right and head towards the viewpoint, where you will have a beautiful panoramic view. To the right of the viewpoint is a path with steps leading downhill: take this path, which continues downhill in a series of hairpin bends, and pass a baseball field on your left. You will come out onto Rue des Doucerons.

(9) Go down the street on the left. A little further down on your right is the "Le clos des Doucerons" vineyard. At the junction with the old railway line (Avenue Verte London-Paris), turn right down Rue des Blanchards.

At number 12 bis, you will see an old restored well on the pavement. Just after number 13, turn right onto the grassy path. When you reach the second lane on your left, look at the wall of the house on the corner, where you will see sheep bones embedded in the wall, which were used to support the climbing vines.

Take this second path (Rue des Clos) and you will come out onto a street. Follow this street to the left, passing in front of the Jouy-la-Fontaine wash house. Then turn right onto Rue des Blanchards for a few metres, then follow Grande Rue to the left for a few dozen metres.

Turn right onto Rue du Port de Jouy. When this street turns left, continue along the path and follow it to the right to walk alongside the Oise river on your left.

After about 400 metres, turn right to return to your starting point (S/E).

You can drive to the starting point and park at the Chemin des Fauveaux car park. Nearby, there is another smaller car park, Grande Rue, located at the entrance to the municipal park.

If you are using public transport, you can start the walk from one of the "Croix Saint-Jacques" bus stops served by the following lines:
- 34 Cergy-le-Haut station - Neuville-Université station (recommended),
- 48 Cergy-Préfecture station,
- 12 Cergy-Préfecture station - Vernouillet-Verneuil,
- 14 Cergy-Saint-Christophe station - Saint-Germain-en-Laye Nicot,
- 47 Jouy-le-Moutier Croix Saint-Jacques Vauréal La Bussie or Vauréal Georges Brassens.
Walk up Boulevard d'Ecancourt to take Chemin des Miettes, where you will begin the hike.

You can also join the hike from the Vauréal viewpoint.
If travelling by car, park in one of the many car parks in the shopping area. Buses 34 and 48 pass nearby.

A bit of history

Vineyards were an important part of the village's economy. They shaped the landscape, the village and the mindset of its inhabitants until the 19th century.
The village is concentrated in a series of small hamlets, each with around a hundred inhabitants. The rural houses are clustered on the hillside, built on Lutetian limestone, while the sand outcrop is used for the road.
The walls and vineyard enclosures are made of crumbling yellow earth. Stone walls exist in the older part of the village.

In the Middle Ages, the Hautil massif was a favourable site for vine cultivation. The slopes exposed to the rising sun ensured good sunshine.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the former departments of Seine and Seine-et-Oise still had no less than 27,000 hectares of vineyards. Vines were everywhere.

This past and these traditions are still very much present in the names of places: "Rue des vignes" (Vineyard Street), "Rue du pressoir" (Wine Press Street), "Rue des côteaux" (Hill Street), and the statues of Saint Vincent, patron saint of winegrowers, are there to remind us of this. Not to mention the coppices and chestnut forests that are so widespread in the region, whose presence was justified by the high consumption of stakes used to support the vines.

Five hundred Baco Noir vines climb the Rue des Vignes Blanches hillside in Jouy-le-Moutier. This vineyard, planted in 1905, belongs to the municipality and is managed by the association "Le coteau des Jouannes". Twenty families share the maintenance of the rows and participate in the winemaking process.

No treatment, grass-covered rows to protect the soil: this is a very natural vineyard. One of the rows is reserved for the children of Jouy's schools: twenty classes, welcomed by the association's volunteers, come five or six times a year to observe, learn and experiment with vineyard management, from spring pruning to harvesting.

Every year, on the second Saturday in December, mulled wine is prepared and offered to passers-by. Baco wine is said to work wonders in the recipe for "Christmas ginglet". On this day, the children enjoy slices of bread spread with grape jam.

In 2012, Baco "Coteau des Jouannes" wine won first prize in the grand ginglet competition at the Saint-Martin fair in Pontoise, much to the pride of the people of Jouannes.

The Baco Noir grape variety was obtained in 1902 by hybridisation with a very vigorous American wild vine, Vitis riparia. It is not one of the grape varieties authorised by the European Union. It is therefore not possible to plant new Baco vines.

Identification/Origin: it is the only vinifera-riparia that has been marketed. It is the result of a cross between Folle Blanche and Riparia Grand Glabre, created in 1902 by François Baco.
Depending on the region, it is still possible to find a few small plots of Baco Noir vines, often mixed with other varieties. You may also come across trellises or arbours that have been in place for a long time in front of old houses and are still in remarkably good condition thanks to the vigour of this grape variety.
It should be noted that there is also a Baco Blanc variety, created by crossing Folle Blanche with Noah, which is very similar to the latter.

Municipal Park Municipal park opening hours:
Winter, from 1 October to 31 March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Summer from 1 April to 30 September: 8.30am to 8pm

If the park is closed, go up Chemin des Fauveaux, turn left onto Grande Rue, and follow the directions from the restaurant "Le Bistrot du Théâtre".

Lapresté Park
Located between the Church of Notre-Dame de la Nativité and the old CGB railway line, it covers an area of 2,500 m².
If the park is closed, take the path that goes up to the right just after the church.

The Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Grande Banlieue (CGB), created at the beginning of the 20th century, operated
operated a network of standard gauge secondary lines to the west and south of Paris in what
corresponds today to the departments of Yvelines, Val d'Oise and Essonne. Opened
between 1911 and 1913, all of these lines were gradually closed and disappeared between 1937 and 1953.
The CGB narrow-gauge railway line between Poissy and Pontoise closed in 1948 and has been largely converted into a greenway. The old stations, built to the same design, are still standing, most of them now used as private buildings.

Quartier des Toupets in Vauréal
This is the centre of Vauréal with many shops (bakery, halal butcher, exotic products, LIDL, etc.). A market is held on Thursdays from 3pm to 6pm on the Place des Marchands. To get there, instead of turning right to reach the viewpoint, turn left and then continue on the walk.