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Starting point: Sens and Sénonais Tourist Information Office (6, Rue du Général Leclerc).
(S/E) On leaving the tourist office, take the second right off the roundabout to join Boulevard Garibaldi, then turn right onto Boulevard Maupéou. At the next junction, turn left, then cross the car park on the right to reach the promenade. Walk past the bandstand, then head down towards the Yonne.
(1) At the roundabout, turn left and follow the river along the cycle path without crossing the bridge. Continue straight on to the Saint-Bond lock. Then continue along the cycle path, following the Yonne, for about fifteen kilometres, to Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. On arrival at the Sainfoins leisure centre (sign on the left), continue straight on to reach the quays of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. Pass in front of the restaurant Le Vieux Tilleul.
(2) Immediately after the restaurant, turn right at the junction to stay along the Yonne. At the end of the quay, on your left, you’ll find the restaurant La Lucarne aux Chouettes, established in the 1990s by the actress Leslie Caron. Ride past the restaurant’s terrace to pass under the Pont Saint-Nicolas, then continue straight on.
(3) After the red-brick Bonneville Tower, turn left at the statue of Émile Peynot, a local sculptor, then walk up the tree-lined avenue. Opposite the war memorial, turn left to reach the Tourist Information Office.
(4) On leaving the Villeneuve-sur-Yonne Tourist Information Office (whether you have stopped there or are starting your walk here), turn left to pass under the Porte de Joigny. Continue for a few dozen metres, then at the war memorial, turn left to reach the promenades. At the first junction, continue straight ahead along the promenade. After about a hundred metres, at the second junction, continue straight on. Walk past the Philippe Auguste Tower (also known as the “Grosse Tour” or “Tour Louis le Gros”). This tower was commissioned in 1205 by King Philippe Auguste and completed in 1212. Walk a few dozen metres past this tower.
(5) Leave the promenade via the path on the right and head towards Rue de la Cornillate. At the end of the street, turn left onto Rue de la Grosse Pierre. At the stop sign, turn right onto Rue de Dixmont (D 15). Continue for about a hundred metres until you reach the traffic lights, go under the D 606 bridge and carry on to the next junction.
(6) Turn left onto Chemin de Cochepie (marked as a dead end) and continue along this path for several hundred metres until you reach a property opposite.
(7) Take the grassy path that runs alongside the property on the right. Cross the small bridge over the Ru Saint-Ange and follow the path to its end. Continue straight on along Chemin des Cannes for a few hundred metres.
(8) At the end of Chemin des Cannes, turn left onto the road leading uphill (signposted Beaujard). Continue along this road for several kilometres until you reach the hamlet of Beaujard. About a hundred metres after entering the hamlet, at the Fork in the road, continue straight on along the main road. You will arrive at the hamlet’s central square, marked by a water point.
(9) Turn left and continue along the road. At the next junction, Route de Vaufoin, follow the signs for La Grange-au-Doyen and leave the hamlet of Beaujard. The road climbs again.
(10) At the crossroads signposting Vaufoin to the right, turn left and continue along this road, which descends steeply to the hamlet of La Grange-au-Doyen.
(11) After entering the hamlet, at the next junction, turn left towards Véron / Étigny-gare, then take the next street on the right, Rue Sous Lieutenant Pelletier (signposted Puits Bottin). Pass the sewage treatment plant on your left as you leave the hamlet. The road descends into the forest. At the next junction, turn left towards the hamlet of Puits Bottin and continue along the main road.
(12) Immediately after the bus shelter, turn right onto Route de Noé. The road climbs as it leaves the hamlet. Continue for a few kilometres to the hamlet of Val Péronne. Pass through the hamlet, staying on the main road, which climbs steeply. Continue for over a kilometre to the next crossroads.
(13) At the La Mattre / Les Fleuris junction, turn left and continue along the road which descends into the Bois de la Grande Vallée for several kilometres, until you reach the village of Malay-le-Grand. Pass the village sports ground on your left. Pass close to the circular village hall.
(14) Turn left, then take the next street on the right at the ‘Give Way’ sign, Rue Pasteur (signs indicating several shops). After the bend in the street, at the next ‘Give Way’ sign, continue straight ahead. Walk past the health centre on the left. A few dozen metres further on, you’ll reach the village square and its pretty wooden wash house. Continue left onto Rue Henri Collinet, then turn immediately right onto Rue Gambetta.
(15) Turn right onto Rue Victor Hugo.
(16) Walk past the fish pass on your left. Installed in 2013, this structure restores the ecological continuity of the River Vanne by facilitating fish migration. Walk past the nursery school and continue to the next junction.
(17) At the crossroads, turn left. At the Fork in the road, take the right-hand branch onto Rue de Sens, then continue, after a bend, along Rue de l’Industrie (one-way street, signposted towards Sens). Continue straight on for several hundred metres, passing a series of commercial buildings on your right. At the stop sign, take the cycle path on the left (signposted “Aménagement des berges de l’Yonne”) and follow it for several kilometres to the Parc de la Ballastière. Ride alongside the park on your right, staying on the cycle path, then past the higher education campus, until you reach the next junction.
(18) At the junction, cross Rue Victor Guichard with care, continue straight ahead on the cycle path to the roundabout and carry on straight on to the river.
(19) Continue along the cycle path to the left, then along Quai de Nancy, which continues as Quai du Docteur Albert Schweitzer, until you reach the roundabout. Turn left to join the promenade.
(1) Walk up Boulevards Maupéou and Garibaldi. At the traffic lights, on the corner of Place Jean Jaurès, turn left into Rue du Général Leclerc to reach the Tourist Office (S/E).
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