Over hill and dale. From Suresnes to Puteaux via Nanterre

Start at the Suresnes Longchamp stop on the Transilien Line L.

(S/E) Turn right onto Rue Worth, then immediately left. Take Rue Desbassayns de Richemont on the left, then turn right onto Rue Melin de Thionville; the Suresnes Museum of Urban and Social History will be on your right.

(1) Return to Rue Merlin de Thionville, thenturn right and left ontoAvenue Franklin Roosevelt until you reach Rue du Mont^{Valérien/D3E}.

(2) Head down this street to the right. At the roundabout, take the third exit onto Rue Ledru Rollin, then turn right onto Rue du Port aux Vins and continue to Quai Gallieni/D7. Follow it to the left until you reach theSuresneslock and weir.

(3) Continue straight on along QuaiGallieni/D7 until you reach Rue Francis de Pressensé. Turn onto this street and you’ll find the eponymous garden on your left.

(4) Keep to the right onto Rue Voltaire, thentake the fourth left onto Rue Parmentier to reach the AtelierGaston Garino.

(5) Return to the previous junction, then turn left onto Rue Voltaire until you reach the bend. Cross Boulevard Richard Wallace and take the third left onto Rue Bourgeoise. Then keepleft onto Rue Benoît Malon to reach Rue Collin.

(6) Turnright ontoRue Collin , thenturn left ontoRue Henri Martin. Get off your bike, thenturn right to stay on Rue Henri Martin; this will take you to La Maison de Camille-Artothèque. Returning to Rue Collin, turn left and continue to the end of Rue Jean Jaurès. Turn right until you reach a square, thencontinue left onto Place Simone et AntoineVeil/D9. Turn left, then right to reach the entrance to a park.

(7) Turn left into the green space, then follow the path to the right, left and right again to go round the lake at Puteaux Town Hall. Pass between the Town Hall and the lake. Turn right towards the police station, then, with your back to it, turn right onto Rue Chantecoq until you reach Rue de la République.

(8) Cross to the opposite side,continue along Rue Monge (restricted accessroad), thenturn left to stay on Rue Monge. Pass Square des Larrys and cross over the railway line to the left onto Rue Sadi Carnot. Turn left onto Rue Fernand Pelloutier, then rejoin Rue de la République.

(9) Follow it to the right, thenturn left onto Rue Cartault. Pass Parc Offenbach on your right and take the next right (Rue Bernard Palissy). At the end, rejoin Rue de la République. Turn left, cross Avenue des Bergères, then cross to the opposite side and turn right immediately. Continue straight ahead and take the second right onto Rue Charcot until you reach Rue des Rosiers at the end.

(10) Keep to the right at the roundabout onto Avenue Pablo Picasso, take the^third exit on the right, then take the first right (Allée des Demoiselles d’Avignon). Cross the park, keeping straight ahead, and you’ll reach the Tours Aillaud (Tours Nuages).

(11) Continue left onto Allée de l’Arlequin, then keep left and right at the Jardin Partagé and enter the park. Then turn right and keep straight ahead to enter a woodland. First turn right then left, and keep straight ahead towards the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle.

(12) Head right towards the esplanade and cross it until you pass between the Palma d’Oro and Torino pizzerias. Turn left onto Rue Salvador Allende and continue straight on until you reach the end of Rue Pablo Neruda.

(13) Turn left and, before the roundabout, take a path on the left to reach the André Malraux Departmental Park. Then, at the next junction, turn right and carry on straight ahead until you can go no further.

(14) First turn left then right, following the edge of the pond, and continue alongside it until you see the recently installed signpost tower; carry on until you reach the Saint-Joseph Chapel. Then turn right and go round the chapel to exit the park and rejoin Avenue Pablo Picasso, leaving Rue Edmond Dubuis behind. Turn left towards the roundabout.

(15) Continue straight on along Rue Horace Vernet and, at the end of the street, turn right onto Rue des Écoles until you reach Rue Hennape.

(16) Turn left onto Avenue des Champs Pierreux. Turn left, then right onto Avenue Georges Clemenceau, before quickly turning left onto Avenue Félix Faure. Follow this avenue until you reach Avenue Eugène on your right.

(17) Go down the street, then turn right onto Rue de Suresnes. Turn left onto Rue des Alouettes and continue straight on along Rue Marcel Genin until you reach Rue de la Source.

(18) Turn right, then left onto Rue Daniel Becker until you reach Rue Paul Vaillant Couturier (at the end).

(19) Turn right, then turn left onto Rue Pierre Larousse until you reach Rue des Chailliers, just past the nursery school. Keep to the right until you reach Rue de Saint-Cloud, then take the hairpin bend to the left to reach the Moulin des Gibets.

(20) Carry on straight ahead until you reach Rue de Buzenval. Follow it to the left, then continue to the right along Rue des Chailliers until you reach Rue Jean Moulin.

(21) Carry on to the left to reach Rue de Garches. Turn left, then right, and head down Rue du Calvaire, keeping to the right by the garden, until you reach Chemin des Cendres.

(22) Turn right, then carry on straight ahead until you reach Rue des Talus. Continue straight across to the end of the street, onto Rue des Rosiers.

(23) Turn left onto Rue des Landes and continue to the Esplanade du Mont-Valérien, a major site of national remembrance.

(24) Head down Avenue du Professeur Léon Bernard and join Boulevard Washington.

(25) Turn right onto Boulevard Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny to reach Les Vignes de Suresnes

(26) Follow the road to Chemin des Hocquettes, turn left onto it, then right onto Rue des Raguidelles and walk along the railway line until you reach the junction with Rue des Nouvelles on the right. Take this street and continue straight on until you reach the junction with Boulevard Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny.

(27) Turn left, continue straight on along Avenue Edouard Vaillant until the second roundabout, then turn right onto Allée des Gros Buissons. Turn left onto Avenue Léon Bourgeois, then take the second left to join Avenue Gustave Stresemann. Continue to the end of Boulevard Aristide Briand.

(28) Turn right and follow the boulevard. Go round the Théâtre Jean Vilar on the right to reach Rue Kellogg on the right. Then turn right onto Rue Grotius, then left onto Avenue de la Fouilleuse until you reach Rue Emmanuel Kant.

(29) Continue along this street, turn right onto Rue de Lacarno and follow it to the roundabout. Take the second exit on the right and follow Avenue Edouard Vailland to the roundabout. Take the first exit on the right onto Avenue Jean Jaurès, then turn left onto Rue de la Tuilerie to reach Boulevard Henri Sellier.

(30) Cross the boulevard, go under the railway line and turn right onto Rue Garibaldi. Turn left onto Rue Henri Regnault, then keep left onto Rue des Couvaloux. Then turn right onto Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau until you reach the roundabout at Place Eugène Sue (the second roundabout).

(31) Go round the roundabout on the right and continue straight on to cross Boulevard Henri Sellier and join Rue des Bourets until you reach Place du Général Leclerc.

(32) Take Rue Desbassayns de Richemont on the left and cross Avenue du Général Charles de Gaulle. Then turn right onto Rue Merlin de Thionville to reach Avenue Franklin Roosevelt and turn left towards the Suresnes Mont-Valérien RER station (S/E).

The starting point is located near the MUS, the Suresnes Museum of Urban and Social History, which is an ideal introduction to the urban landscapes you will encounter throughout this tour. From Puteaux in the 1930s to Mont Valérien,

1 - Housed in the former Suresnes-Longchamp railway station, the MUS traces the history of Suresnes, its urban landscape and its economic and social development. An original layout, punctuated by films and slideshows, models and objects, highlights the social urban planning of the 1920s and 1940s and the decisive role played by Henri Sellier, former mayor of the town and Minister of Public Health under the Popular Front.

Open Wednesday to Sunday, 2pm to 6pm - +33 (0)1 41 18 37 37
A few metres away is the Suresnes Tourist Office, which will welcome you and provide you with all the information you need on the town's tourist attractions. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. - +33 (0)1 42 04 41 47

2 - In order to ensure a minimum draught (depth) of 2 metres in the Seine between Paris and Belgium on the one hand, and Paris and Le Havre on the other, and to simplify navigability, Baron Haussmann decided in 1861 to build a lock dam at Suresnes on the left arm of the river. It did not become operational until 1869. In 1880, the lock was redesigned and extended by 57 m. This new work often led to expropriations and topographical changes. However, it was overwhelmed by the floods of 1910 that inundated Paris, and the first dam and lock were replaced in 1933 by the current structure, making Suresnes the only river entrance to Paris. The third arm of the Seine, which ran alongside the Bois de Boulogne, disappeared. The dam-lock is located along the Quai Gallieni. It consists of three locks and two dams. It is 185 m long, 18 m wide and 5 m deep. The lock now has four passages, each closed by two metal gates.

Some figures: 23 million tonnes of goods and 7 million passengers per year: traffic is heavier than on the roads. 80 boats per day in both directions

3 - Near Rue Voltaire is the Atelier Gaston Garino. The town of Puteaux immerses you in its glorious industrial past with the history of the famous car manufacturer De Dion-Bouton, presented in the Atelier Gaston Garino. Housed in a former garage, it contains vintage vehicles as well as posters, promotional documents and other items produced by the company, just a stone's throw from the factory where they were first built.

For more information: Archives Department, Town Hall - 2nd floor, 131 Rue de la République, 92800 Puteaux Tel.: 01 46 92 93 53

4 - La Maison de Camille recreates the atmosphere of the café owned by Camille Renault, restaurateur but above all patron and collector, from 1925 to 1967. His restaurant quickly became the meeting place for post-Cubist artists who formed the "Puteaux group", including Jacques Villon, Marcel Duchamp, Kupka and many others. This place invites you to discover who Camille Renault was through numerous paintings. La Maison de Camille houses the Artothèque. Just like in a library, you can rent original works of art.
Tel: +33 (0)1 46 92 96 40

5 - Built between 1973 and 1981 to a design by French architect Émile Aillaud, the 18 undulating residential towers are covered with mosaics by Fabio Reiti evoking clouds. In 2010, they were listed as historic monuments under the category of "housing complexes in the Île-de-France region", along with their gardens, which wind their way between the towers. A renovation project for the Aillaud Towers is planned, involving partial demolition, in order to add offices, shops and hotels to the housing.

6 - A veritable green lung in the heart of Nanterre, the André Malraux departmental park is ideally located close to administrative and cultural facilities (Paris La Défense Arena, as well as the Aillaud towers and the La Défense business district). Its valleys and hills (created using rubble from the La Défense construction site!) frame a pretty lake where numerous birds nest among the reeds. It has numerous facilities (picnic tables, games and water games (in summer) for children, street workout and pétanque areas, and an open-air exhibition, making it a popular place for families, walkers and sports enthusiasts. It is unique in that it is open at all hours of the day and night. Nearby is the Théâtre Dramatique National Nanterre Amandiers. This theatre is a real hub for artistic productions that are exported throughout France and around the world. It is currently undergoing major renovation work. However, during the renovation period, performances are continuing in its "temporary theatre".

Picnic tables: There are two between the water play area and the rose garden. Four tables are set up near the playground and benches surround the trees. Toilets and water points.

7 - Dating from^{the 18th} century, the Moulin des Gibets has been listed as a historic monument since 1990. It is one of four windmills that once stood in Nanterre. It was used for many years to grind flour. Badly damaged during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, it was later converted into a holiday resort before being abandoned. Restored by the town hall in 1970, it is now part of a nursery school playground. A little further along the route, the landscaped cemetery offers a beautiful view of Nanterre. Listen out for the songs of the many birds that live there all year round.

8 - Mont-Valérien, the main place of execution by the German army of resistance fighters sentenced to death and hostages in France during the Second World War, is now a major site of national remembrance. The "Parcours du Souvenir" (Memorial Trail) takes visitors along the path taken by those who were to be shot, passing by the chapel, its graffiti, the last remaining witnesses to history, and the clearing. The monument in honour of those who were shot and the Mémorial de la France Combattante, chosen and inaugurated by General de Gaulle on 18 June 1960, pay tribute to all those who died for France between 1939 and 1945. Below is the American cemetery. Covering more than 3 hectares, it contains the graves of 1,541 American soldiers who died during the First World War and 24 unknown soldiers who died during the Second World War.

Open Tuesday to Sunday. Tel: +33 (0)1 47 28 46 35
La Terrasse du Fécheray (opposite the American Cemetery) has a few picnic tables, fountains, mist sprayers and games for children, and above all a panoramic view of the whole of Paris! Around Mont-Valérien, there are also a few picnic tables on the Jacques Baumel promenade.

9 - From the 9th century onwards, the slopes of Mont Valérien were covered with vineyards. Suresnes wine made the town famous until the^18th century. Today, the largest vineyard in the Île-de-France region is planted with two grape varieties: 85% Chardonnay and 15% Sauvignon, covering a total area of one hectare. You can visit the vineyard and cellar by appointment on +33 (0)1 47 98 90 18. The vineyard produces a white wine with a yield of around 2,500 bottles per year. Every autumn, the Fête de la Vigne (vine festival) and grape harvest take place.
Three wines: the classic, the oak barrel and the Terrasses are on sale at the Tourist Office. Tel: 01 42 04 41 47

10 - Henri Sellier, mayor of Suresnes from 1919 to 1941 and managing director of the OPHBM de la Seine, decided in 1915 to build a garden city in Suresnes. This architectural complex is one of the finest examples of social urban planning between the two world wars and is characterised by its social diversity and numerous public facilities, including a wash house and baths, a child hygiene centre, a cultural centre, green spaces, shops and places of worship. Its construction was entrusted to architect Alexandre Maistrasse, who was assisted by Julien Quoniam from 1927 onwards. The first stone was laid in 1921 and construction was completed in 1956. Today, the garden city has 3,300 homes, including 170 detached houses. The Suresnes Museum of Urban and Social History offers tours of a model apartment in conjunction with the garden city.