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Start & Access: Place de la Bastille.
- Underground - Lines 1, 5, 8, exit 6 Boulevard Henri IV.
- Bus - Lines 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91.
(S) From the underground station, turn right and cross Boulevard Henri IV at the traffic lights. Walk past the Café Français and note the map of the former Bastille fortress on the building's wall. Turn left into Rue Saint-Antoine (street). At the traffic lights, turn right into Rue des Tournelles, walking past the statue of Beaumarchais. Turn right shortly after into Rue de la Bastille (street). Take the 1st left into Rue Jean Beausire (street). Note the bas-reliefs inspired by ancient Rome at house no. 7.
When the street becomes a dead-end, turn right into Boulevard Beaumarchais. Follow Boulevard Beaumarchais to the left and take the 1st on the left, Rue du Pas de la Mule. Go straight on until you reach the Place des Vosges.
(1) Turn left into the square and cross it at an angle until you reach Louis XIII equestrian statue. Turn left to leave the square in front of a large porch. Pass under the porch and follow Rue de Birague. At no. 10, note the plaque in honor of Joseph Lakanal, elected to the French National Convention (1792-1795).
At the traffic lights, cross Rue Saint-Antoine and turn left. Take the 1st right, Rue du Petit Musc (street). Go straight on to Quai des Célestins.
(2) Cross the quay at the zebra crossings on your left, and walk along a square on your right. Enter the square and find on the left the remains of one of the towers of the Bastille fortress, which have been moved here. Retrace your steps to the junction of Quai des Célestins and Rue du Petit Musc.
(2) Follow the quay, leaving Rue du Petit Musc on your right (note immediately a richly-decorated portal). At the next traffic light, turn right/left into Rue de l'Ave Maria. Cross Rue des Jardins Saint-Paul and note on your right a sports field bordered by the remains of Philippe Auguste's wall.
Pass in front of the Hôtel de Sens and note above a window a cannonball embedded in the wall since July 28, 1830. Carry on along Rue du Figuier. At its end, turn left into Rue Charlemagne. Cross Rue de Fourcy (note the sculpture of a knife-grinder on the corner) and continue into Rue de Jouy. At the next crossroads, turn right twice to walk along Rue Geoffroy l'Asnier.
(3) Take the 1st right, Allée des Justes parmi les Nations, and follow the Mur des Justes on your left. At the crossroads, go straight on into Rue du Grenier sur l'Eau. At the end, follow Rue des Barres (paved) downhill to the left. Cross a small square, then the Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville.
(4) Take the Louis-Philippe bridge to cross an arm of the Seine river and enter Saint-Louis island. Cross the Quai de Bourbon and follow Rue Jean du Bellay. Turn right and take the Saint-Louis bridge to reach the Cité island.
Turn right into Rue du Cloître Notre-Dame, then left along Square Jean XIII and then Cathedral Notre-Dame. In fact, since April 2019 fire, you'll have to walk along the building site (information board). Go to the end of the barrier.
(5) Cross the forecourt at an angle to the left, where it is still accessible to the public. On the other side, take the Petit Pont over the second arm of the Seine river. Cross the Quai de Montebello and follow it to the left. Take the 1st right into Rue Saint-Julien le Pauvre, and reach the church of the same name.
Turn right into Rue Galande. Cross Rue du Petit Pont and continue straight on Rue Saint-Séverin. At the corner of the church of the same name, continue straight ahead. At the crossroads, go straight ahead again, still in Rue Saint-Séverin. Cross the Boulevard Saint-Michel at the traffic lights and continue straight ahead.
Turn right around Place Saint-André des Arts. Cross Place Saint-Michel into Rue Saint-André des Arts. Go straight ahead to no. 59, ignoring all the side streets.
(6) Between houses no. 59 and no. 61, turn left into Cour du Commerce Saint-André. Cross the covered passageway and walk past Le Procope restaurant, where the Cordeliers revolutionary club used to meet. Continue straight ahead; in the courtyard at no. 9, the guillotine was tested on sheep, and at no. 8 was located Marat's printing business. Turn into Boulevard Saint-Germain, opposite the statue of Danton erected on the approximate site of his former home.
Turn right to cross the boulevard at the traffic lights. Turn left again, passing the statue of Danton. Proceed to the end of the square, turn right to cross at the zebra crossings and follow Rue de l'École de Médecine (Marat was assassinated at no. 20 in 1793). Turn right into Rue Antoine Dubois and climb stairs. At the top, go straight ahead into Rue Casimir Delavigne.
Exit Place de l'Odéon and take Rue Corneille, handrailing the theater on your right. At the next crossroads, turn left into Rue Vaugirard. Cross Rue Monsieur le Prince and carry on along Rue Vaugirard. Cross Boulevard Saint-Michel at the zebra crossing on your right, then cross Place de la Sorbonne.
Opposite the Sainte-Ursule chapel, turn left into Rue de la Sorbonne and walk alongside the university building. Cross Rue des Écoles and walk along Square Painlevé. At the next crossroads, turn left into Rue du Sommerand. Return to Boulevard Saint-Michel and turn right along the ancient Gallo-Roman baths of Cluny. At the junction with Boulevard Saint-Germain, turn right immediately for Cluny-La Sorbonne underground station (E).
Transport to return to the start :
- Underground - Line 10.
- RER train (connecting to Saint-Michel Notre-Dame station) - Lines B and C.
Walker
Moderate 
