République - Nation

Starting point and access: Place de la République.
- Metro – Lines 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11. Take Exit 1 at Place de la République.
- Bus – Lines 20, 56, 75, 91.

(S) As you exit the metro station, turn right to walk past the base of the Monument to the Republic. Then cross the square diagonally to the right. At the end, cross at the pedestrian crossing, then take the^second right onto Rue de Beaurepaire. At^{the first} junction, go straight on. At the next junction, take the^second right onto Rue Dieu. Continue straight on and, at the end of the street, cross the bridge over the Canal Saint-Martin.

(1) As you come off the bridge, turn right and walk along the canal on your right-hand side. Just after a footbridge, enter Square Frédéric Lemaître to stay as close as possible to the canal and the Temple lock. Exit at the other end and cross Rue du Faubourg du Temple (plaque in memory of the victims of the 13 November 2015 attacks).

Then turn left to cross Boulevard Jules Ferry and take the^second on the right, Rue de la Fontaine au Roi, which slopes slightly upwards. Next, take the^first on the right, Rue de la Pierre Levée. Note the façade at No. 4, decorated with a former pottery workshop. At the end of the street, take the^second on the left, Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud.

(2) At the^first junction, turn right into Rue de Nemours. Cross Avenue de la République and continue along Rue de Nemours. Cross Rue Oberkampf and carry on along Rue Jacquard. At the end of the street, turn left into Rue de Terneaux, and immediately ignore a street on the right. At the T-junction, turn right, then take the^first right into Passage de la Petite Voirie.

At the end, turn left into Rue du Marché Popincourt, which immediately bends to the right. At the end, turn left onto Rue Pinet, then right into Passage Beslay. You’ll come out onto Rue de la Folie Méricourt; follow it to the left. At number 14, you can take a detour into the Cité Popincourt (former workshops). Continue along Rue de la Folie Méricourt until you reach a junction (Saint-Ambroise Church on the left).

(3) Walk past the church entrance and turn left onto Rue Laccarière. Then cross Avenue Parmentier and follow it to the right. Take the^first left into Rue du Général Renault. Enter Square Maurice Gardette and go straight on to the central bandstand. Then turn left and walk past the foot of a statue of a sheaf-binder. Continue straight on to leave the square.

Then turn right into Rue du Général Guilhem. Take the^first left, into Passage Guilhem, then immediately right into Passage Rochebrune, which is lined with greenery. At the end, first turn right then left to rejoin Rue du Général Guilhem. At the end, turn right onto Rue du Chemin Vert.

(4) Take the^first left, Rue Pétion, then the^first left again, Rue du Morvan. Cross Rue Saint-Maur and continue along Rue Duranti. Cross Rue Servan and continue along Rue Duranti. Then turn right into Rue Merlin. After about fifty metres, turn right into Square Marcel Rajman.

Then veer left, pass a chicane, cross a footbridge and head slightly downhill. Pass another chicane, turn immediately left and then immediately right to follow a concrete path that forms an almost complete circular loop. Then turn right. Go round a pond on the right and leave the square by going under a gate.

(5) Cross Rue de la Roquette and follow Rue de la Croix Faubin (note, right at the start, the five granite slabs on the ground which were used to set up a guillotine for public executions). Cross Rue Maillard and, at the end, turn left into Rue de la Folie Regnault. Take the^first right, into Passage Courtois. At the T-junction, turn right, staying on Passage Courtois. You’ll come out onto Rue Léon Frot; follow it to the left.

Take the^second left, into Passage Gustave Lepeu, which is lined with lush greenery on both sides. At the end, turn right twice to follow Passage Alexandrine. Return to Rue Léon Frot and follow it to the left until you reach the traffic lights.

(6) Then follow Rue de Charonne to the left. Continue straight ahead, slightly uphill, ignoring all the side streets on the right, and cross Avenue Philippe Auguste. After about 75 metres, turn right under an archway and take Passage du Bureau. Turn left under another archway, then turn right twice to walk alongside Square Damia on your left.

Continue along the Passage du Bureau, winding your way past the Lycée Dorian (on your right). Go under an archway, emerge onto Rue Alexandre Dumas and follow it to the right. At the junction, cross Avenue Philippe Auguste and follow it to the left.

(7) Take the^first right, into Rue Voltaire, then turn left into Passage Dumas. Turn right, pass a chicane and continue along the passage. After about a hundred metres, turn left into the Jardin de l’Impasse des Jardiniers. Cross the garden from one end to the other and exit on the other side. Then follow a street to the left, then turn right onto Rue Guénot. At the end, turn left onto Boulevard Voltaire, then left again onto Rue de Montreuil.

Immediately turn left into the Passage Turquetil. Then take the^first right, the Passage Philippe Auguste. Cross the avenue of the same name at the pedestrian crossing and follow it to the right. At the next junction, turn left into Rue de Montreuil. At number 113, you can take a detour into Impasse Marlet and back. Continue along Rue de Montreuil until the next junction.

(8) Then follow Avenue de Bouvines to the right, preferably on the left-hand pavement. At the end, turn left into Place de la Nation. Cross Avenue de Taillebourg, then turn left onto Avenue du Trône. When you reach Place des Antilles, turn right at the base of the column bearing a statue of Saint Louis and cross Avenue du Trône in two stages. You will come to Place de l’Île de la Réunion; turn right at the base of the column bearing a statue of Philip Augustus.

At the edge of the square, cross at the pedestrian crossing. Then head slightly to the left and pass a metro station entrance. Turn right to cross at the pedestrian crossing and reach the centre of Place de la Nation, where the allegorical statue of the Triumph of the Republic (E) stands.

To get back home:
- Metro – Lines 1, 2, 6, 9. With your back to the front of the monument, a metro entrance is to the left, between Rue Fabre d’Églantine and Boulevard Diderot.
- RER – Line A. With your back to the front of the monument, there is an entrance opposite, between Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine and Boulevard Voltaire.
- Bus – Routes 26, 56, 57, 71, 86, 215, 351.

A good pair of trainers is sufficient for this urban route.

There are numerous bars, restaurants and shops along the route. Public toilets are available in some parks.

Opening times for public gardens:
- Opening times (applicable to all parks): 8.00 am on weekdays, 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing times:
Frédéric Lemaître Square: from 5.00 pm until 8.30 pm depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Square Maurice Gardette: from 5.45 pm until 9.30 pm depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Marcel Rajman Square: from 5.45 pm to 9.30 pm depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Square de la Roquette: from 5.45 pm to 9.30 pm depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Jardin de l’Impasse des Jardiniers: from 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm depending on the season (detailed opening hours).

A useful detailed map (at the very least, the one accompanying this description).

Walk undertaken by the author on 14 November 2021.

From Place de la République (S) to Saint-Ambroise Church (3):
- Place de la République, with the Monument to the Republic (1883) at its centre.
- Canal Saint-Martin.
- Former earthenware factory at No. 4 Rue de la Pierre Levée.
- Passages, former workshops.

From Saint-Ambroise Church (3) to Rue de Charonne (6):
- Saint-Ambroise Church (19th century).
- Square de la Roquette, built on the site of the Petite Roquette prison, a juvenile detention centre which operated from 1929 to 1936. The gate leading out of the square (5) is the former prison gate.
- At the start of Rue de la Croix Faubin, five granite slabs are set into the road surface. These slabs were used to erect the guillotine for the public execution of prisoners sentenced to death who were held in the neighbouring prison.
- The picturesque Gustave Lepeu and Alexandrine passages.*

From Rue de Charonne (6) to Place de la Nation (E):
- Off the itinerary, near (6), Charonne metro station was the scene, on 8 February 1962, of the crackdown on a demonstration against the OAS, in which nine demonstrators who had taken refuge in the metro were killed. A plaque in the station commemorates this event.
- Passages and former workshops.
- The Colonnes du Trône, erected in 1787 on the site of a tollgate. In 1845, statues were added to the tops of the columns: the northern column (Place des Antilles) bears a statue of Saint Louis, whilst the southern column (Place de la Réunion) bears a statue of Philip Augustus.
- Place de la Nation, with, at its centre, the monument *Le Triomphe de la République* (1879).