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Access: the start of the walk, at the Austerlitz Bridge, is situated next to Austerlitz station and is therefore very easily accessible from there.
Red and white markings (GR®11)
(S) From the Austerlitz Bridge, cross the quayside in several stages, leaving the Jardin des Plantes on your right, and take the Boulevard de l’Hôpital.
(1) Shortly after the hospital, turn right into Rue Poliveau. At the traffic lights, turn right into Rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Take the first left, into Rue Censier. When the street splits into two, with one branch veering to the right, take the steps on the left and continue along the left-hand branch.
(2) You’ll come out onto Rue Monge (with the Church of Saint-Médard opposite) and follow it to the left until you reach a junction (with a central fountain). Go round the junction on the right and take the second exit, Rue Claude Bernard.
(3) At the traffic lights, turn left into Rue Pascal. Carry straight on and pass under Boulevard de Port-Royal. Join Boulevard Arago, cross it at the traffic lights and follow it to the left for about fifty metres.
(4) Take the first right, Rue Berbier-du-Mets. Continue straight on, passing the former Manufacture des Gobelins on your left, then the Mobilier National on your right. Carry on along Rue Croulebarbe until you reach the junction with Rue des Reculettes, on the left-hand side
(5) Enter Square René Le Gall, situated below on the right. Turn left to continue in the same direction as before. At the end, leave the square and emerge onto Rue Corvisart; follow it to the right. Then take the first left, Rue Paul Gervais.
(6) At the end, cross Boulevard Auguste Blanqui in two stages, passing under the elevated metro viaduct. On the other side, follow the boulevard to the left for about fifty metres. Turn right onto Rue Barrault to climb the Butte aux Cailles. Take the second right, Rue Daviel, and head back down, passing in front of Petite Alsace. At the bottom, take the second left onto Rue Wurtz.
(7) At the traffic lights, turn left into Rue de Tolbiac, then right into Rue Vergniaud. Immediately turn left into Rue de la Colonie. Join Rue Barrault again and follow it to the right as far as Place de Rungis.
(8) Go round the square on the left and take the second exit, Rue de la Fontaine à Mulard. At the end, rejoin Rue de la Colonie and follow it to the right until you reach Place de l’Abbé Georges Hénocque.
(9) Go round the square on the left and take the third exit, Rue Henri Pape. Take the second right, Rue du Moulin des Prés. Then turn right twice to take Rue du Docteur Leray and arrive at Place Jean Delay.
(10) Go round the square on the left and take the second exit, Rue de l’Interne Loeb. Then turn left into Rue du Docteur Tuffier, then right into Rue Damesme.
(11) You’ll emerge onto Boulevard Kellermann (with Parc de la Petite Ceinture below on the right) and make a first turn right then left to cross it at the traffic lights, as well as the tram tracks. On the other side, continue along Rue du Professeur Louis Renault until you reach Rue Max Jacob and the entrance to Parc Kellermann.
(12) Enter the park and begin your walk around it in an anti-clockwise direction. Walk past the indoor tennis courts on your left, then a football pitch. Shortly afterwards, near a small artificial lake, turn right and leave the park.
(13) Then turn left onto Rue de la Poterne des Peupliers, passing under the Boulevard Périphérique, and enter Gentilly. Follow Rue Gallieni, then turn right onto Rue Charles Frérot. You will arrive at the foot of Saint-Saturnin Church.
(14) Walk round the church on the left, cross Avenue de la République and take the small path opposite which crosses a green space (the River Bièvre flows beneath it). At the end of the path, follow Avenue Jean Jaurès to the right. At the junction, turn left onto Rue Charles Frérot.
(15) After No. 83, at the corner of the Robert-Doisneau House of Photography, veer left and pass under the adjoining library. You’ll come out onto Avenue Raspail; follow it to the right. Take the first right onto Rue Nicolas Debray.
(16) Shortly afterwards, turn left into the Jardin Pablo Picasso. Continue until you’ve passed the public toilets (on the left), then turn right, followed by a left at the pond. Leave the garden, rejoin Avenue Raspail and follow it to the right.
(17) At the second set of traffic lights, first turn left then right onto Rue du Moulin de la Roche. After number 18, turn right onto Rue Gandilhon and walk alongside a public garden on your left (you can see the Bièvre river in its natural state here). Return to Avenue Raspail, follow it to the left and enter Arcueil. Pass under the A6a viaduct whilst following the Bièvre on your left.
(18) At the corner by a sports centre, turn left onto Rue de la Division Leclerc, still following the Bièvre. Turn left onto this street and pass a cemetery. You’ll come out onto Avenue Paul Doumer; follow it to the right as far as Arcueil Town Hall.
(19) Go round the town hall on the right and join the path that starts behind the building, the Mail Gaston Doiselet. Walk past a secondary school on your left, then the media library on your right. You’ll come out onto Rue Louis Frébault and follow it as it continues. At the junction, take the second left, Rue Marius Sidobre. Carry on straight ahead, passing the post office. Then turn right into Rue Berthollet.
(20) At the next junction, turn left into Parc Paul Vaillant-Couturier. Cross the park diagonally downwards, keeping the play areas on your right. Take the steps leading to Place de la République. Cross Rue Émile Raspail and follow it to the right until you reach the church.
(21) Walk past the church on your left and cross Place de la République. Cross Rue Cauchy and first turn right then left to cross Place des Musiciens, passing a parent-run nursery on your left. Then turn right onto Rue Aspasie Jules Caron. Walk back to the right until you reach Rue Émile Raspail and follow it to the left. At the foot of the aqueduct, turn left into Rue Besson.
(22) At the end, turn right onto Avenue de la Convention (D127) and pass under the Vanne aqueduct. Continue along Avenue Cousin de Méricourt (still the D127). At the first set of traffic lights, go straight on. At the second set of traffic lights, turn left into Rue Guichard (pedestrian street). Then turn right onto Place Jacques Carat. Go round the square on the left-hand side and turn right onto Avenue Louis Georgeon.
(23) Turn left onto the Rives de la Bièvre footpath. Walk alongside the river on your left, cross Rue Victor Schoelcher, then walk alongside the river on your right. You’ll reach the Loing and Lunain aqueduct, which is less imposing than the Vanne aqueduct; turn left and walk alongside it on your right. Cross Avenue Dumotel and Rue du Parc de Cachan in turn, then climb a flight of steps.
(24) Cross the D157, then Rue des Vignes, and head straight up the aqueduct’s siphon. At the top, turn right and follow the path that runs alongside the aqueduct (underground). Continue along Boulevard de la Vanne and cross Rue des Saussaies, then Avenue Léon Blum. At the entrance to L’Haÿ-les-Roses, continue straight on along the Voie des Saussaies (let the aqueduct branch off to the left). You’ll come out onto Avenue Aristide Briand; follow it to the left. Continue along Rue Jean Jaurès and pass the entrance to Saint-Léonard Church.
(25) Then turn left into Rue Watel, then immediately right into the Parc départemental de la Roseraie. Cross the park, heading straight ahead (south-west, then west-south-west). Leave the park and cross Avenue du Général Leclerc in several stages. Continue along Avenue Larroumès (D148). At the junction, cross the D127 and carry on straight ahead.
(26) Just before the Ronsard Gymnasium, turn left into Parc de la Bièvre. Walk between two play areas and carry on straight ahead. Leave the park and cross Impasse Pierre de Ronsard. Continue straight ahead into Parc de la Bièvre and walk between the D127 (Avenue Flouquet) on your left and the River Bièvre on your right. Further on, cross the river and walk alongside it on your left.
(27) Cross Avenue Victor Hugo on the right-hand side, then head straight on into Avenue de la Liberté and walk alongside Fresnes Prison. At the first set of traffic lights, turn right towards Parc des Prés de la Bièvre. Enter the park and turn left immediately. Cross the Bièvre and wind your way through the park, heading generally south-west. Leave the park, emerge onto Avenue Saint-Exupéry and follow it to the left. Turn left again straight away onto Rue du Docteur Schweitzer. Follow this street as it winds through a residential neighbourhood with a series of right-left-right bends.
(28) Join Avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier and follow it to the left, running parallel to the A86. Shortly afterwards, take the footbridge over the motorway. On the other side, go round the Parc du Moulin de Berny on the right and follow Allée de la Grenouillère to Boulevard Pasteur (D127). Follow the boulevard to the right and, further on, just after Rue des Jacinthes (on the left-hand side), turn right onto Rue Yvon. Turn left immediately onto Rue Louis. At the end, turn left.
(29) Join Boulevard Jean Jaurès (D267), which immediately becomes Rue Jean Moulin (D67) as you enter Antony. Shortly afterwards, turn right into Parc Marc Sangnier and cross it, making a wide circular loop to the left. Exit onto Rue Arthur Blanchet and follow it to the right. At the T-junction that appears straight away, turn left into Rue René Barthélémy. Cross Rue Jean Moulin and continue along Rue des Iris. At the end, turn right onto Avenue du 11 novembre 1918. Cross Avenue de la Division Leclerc (N20) at the traffic lights.
(30) Shortly afterwards, turn left into Rue Madeleine. At the end, turn left into Rue Céline and immediately right into Passage de la Bièvre, a short cul-de-sac. At the end, first turn left then right to go under the railway bridge. On the other side, continue straight on along Rue de l’Abreuvoir. Further on, when this street bends to the left, turn right. Cross Rue Prosper Legoûté and arrive at the entrance to Parc Heller.
(31) Enter the park on the right. Walk round the château on the right (pond and fountains). Then turn left and walk alongside the sports pitches on your right. Next, walk alongside a pond and then the Stade Georges Suant. You’ll come out onto the street of the same name; follow it to the right (do not take the footbridge that crosses it).
(32) Shortly afterwards, turn left onto a path that crosses the Bassin de la Bièvre Nature Reserve. Walk past a reservoir on your right, then alongside the river. Further on, pass Rue Marius Hue on your right and cross the green corridor.
(33) Turn left, cross Rue du Pont de Pierre and follow the green corridor towards Massy as far as the 19 March 1962 roundabout.
No signposting
(34) Go round the roundabout on the left (let the GR®11 head off to the right towards Verrières). Continue along the green corridor beside Avenue des Martyrs de Soweto (D156E).
(35) At the junction (with access to the left for Massy-Verrières station), cross the footbridge over Avenue du Général De Gaulle. Continue along the green corridor to the end, following the railway line. Cross over Avenue Victor Basch, which leads to the Salvador Allende roundabout on the right below, and join the avenue of the same name after a short descent down the embankment. At the next roundabout, turn left onto Avenue Raymond Aron. Continue straight on until you reach Massy-Palaiseau station on your left (E).
Return: Massy-Palaiseau station. Take the stairs leading to the station. The Transilien V and RER C platforms are directly accessible. The RER B platforms are at the other end of the footbridge.
Visorando Member
Easy 
Moderate 
