République - Nation

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

(S) When you exit the metro station, turn right to walk past the foot of the République monument. Then cross the square diagonally to the right. At the end, cross at the pedestrian crossing and take the^second right, Rue de Beaurepaire. At^{the first} crossroads, go straight ahead. At the next crossroads, take the^second right, Rue Dieu. Go straight ahead and, at the end of the street, take the bridge over the Canal Saint-Martin.

(1) At the end of the bridge, turn right and walk along the canal on your right. 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 attacks of 13 November 2015).

Then turn left to cross Boulevard Jules Ferry and take the^second right, Rue de la Fontaine au Roi, which slopes slightly upwards. Then turn into the^first right, Rue de la Pierre Levée. Note the façade decorated with an old earthenware factory at No. 4. At the end, take the^second left, Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud.

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

At the end, turn left onto Rue du Marché Popincourt, which immediately turns right. At the end, follow Rue Pinet to the left, then Passage Beslay to the right. You will come out onto Rue de la Folie Méricourt; follow it to the left. At No. 14, you can make a round trip to Cité Popincourt (former workshops). Continue along Rue de la Folie Méricourt until you reach a crossroads (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, Rue du Général Renault. Enter Square Maurice Gardette and go straight ahead to the central kiosk. Then turn left and walk past the foot of a statue of a sheaf binder. Continue straight ahead to leave the square.

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

(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 50 metres, turn right into Square Marcel Rajman.

Then turn left, go through a chicane, take a footbridge and go down a slight slope. Go through another chicane, turn immediately left and then immediately right to follow a cement path that makes an almost complete circular loop. Then turn right. Go around 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 the five granite slabs on the ground at the very beginning, which were used to erect a guillotine for public executions). Cross Rue Maillard and, at the end, turn left into Rue de la Folie Regnault. Take the^first right, Passage Courtois. At the T-junction, turn right, still on Passage Courtois. You will come out onto Rue Léon Frot; turn left and follow the street.

Take the^second left, Passage Gustave Lepeu, which is lined with 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. Go straight ahead, slightly uphill, ignoring all the side streets on the right and crossing Avenue Philippe Auguste. After about 75 metres, turn right under a porch and take Passage du Bureau. Turn left under another porch, then turn right twice to walk along Square Damia on your left.

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

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

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

(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 foot of the column bearing a statue of Saint Louis and cross Avenue du Trône in two stages. You will arrive at Place de l'Ile de la Réunion. Turn right at the foot of the column bearing a statue of Philippe Auguste.

At the edge of the square, cross at the pedestrian crossing. Then turn left and walk past a metro entrance. Turn right to cross at the pedestrian crossing and reach the centre of Place de la Nation, where the allegory of the Triumph of the Republic (E) stands.

To return home:
- Metro - Lines 1, 2, 6, 9. With your back to the front of the monument, there is a metro entrance on 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 - Lines 26, 56, 57, 71, 86, 215, 351.

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route.

Numerous bars, restaurants and shops along the route. Public toilets in some squares.

Public garden opening hours:
- Opening times (valid for all gardens): 8 a.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing times:
Square Frédéric Lemaître: 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Square Maurice Gardette: 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Square Marcel Rajman: 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Square de la Roquette: from 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed opening hours).
Jardin de l'Impasse des Jardiniers: from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season (detailed schedule).

Useful detailed map (at least the one accompanying this description).

Hike completed 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 de la République (1883) in its centre.
- Canal Saint-Martin.
- Former pottery factory at 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 prison for minors that operated from 1929 to 1936. The gate through which you exit the square (5) is the former prison gate.
- At the beginning of Rue de la Croix Faubin, five granite slabs are embedded in the pavement. These slabs were used to erect the guillotine for the public execution of prisoners sentenced to death in the neighbouring prison.
- Picturesque Gustave Lepeu and Alexandrine passages.*

From Rue de Charonne (6) to Place de la Nation (E):
- Off the route, near (6), the Charonne metro station was the scene, on 8 February 1962, of the repression of 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.
- Colonnes du Trône, erected in 1787 on the site of a toll gate. In 1845, statues were added to the tops of the columns, with the north column (Place des Antilles) bearing a statue of Saint Louis and the south column (Place de la Réunion) bearing a statue of Philippe Auguste.
- Place de la Nation with, in its centre, the monument Le triomphe de la République (1879).