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Starting point and access: Porte de Pantin station.
- Metro - Line 5 (marked on the map). Take exit 2, Sente des Dorées.
- Tram - Line T3b. Follow Avenue Jean-Jaurès towards the centre of Paris and rejoin the route at the Sainte-Claire d'Assise church.
In some places, you will come across a GRP® trail. In the following description, this trail is only mentioned when necessary.
(S) When you exit the metro, follow Avenue Jean-Jaurès and cross Sente des Dorées. Just before the Sainte-Claire d'Assise church (large metal cross), turn right and take Allée Arthur Honegger (red and yellow markings). Cross Sente des Dorées and then Rue Petit. Continue along Allée Darius Milhaud (pedestrian street).
At the corner of a post office on the left, cross Rue Goubet and, at the next intersection, cross Rue d'Hautpoul. When you reach Place Francis Poulenc, turn left and climb a series of small steps. At the top, turn right to cross Rue de Crimée and then left to cross Rue Manin (traffic lights).
(1) Enter the Parc des Buttes Chaumont. At the crossroads immediately ahead (map), take the second path on the right: it is the narrowest of all, is not shown on the map and quickly gives way to a staircase. Continue until you reach a viewpoint overlooking the lake. At the fork that follows, take the path on the right. Cross a wider lane (Avenue J.C. Cave on the map) and take the path opposite that branches off to the right. Go downhill, curving to the left.
When you reach the lake, walk along its edge on your right. Cross an artificial stream and, at the next fork (isolated tree on the right), take the path on the left. At the crossroads immediately ahead (stairs opposite), turn right. Ignore a path that descends towards the lake and continue straight ahead until you enter the "cave" (dead end in January 2017 due to construction work).
Retrace your steps. At the junction you took on the way up, ignore the steps going up on the right and continue straight ahead. When you reach the edge of the artificial stream, turn right (do not cross the stream). Under a canopy of trees, climb up a path interspersed with a few steps, which ends in a staircase.
At the top (T-junction), turn right (artificial waterfall on the left). At the next fork, take the right-hand path, which is fairly flat and leads to a bridge (beautiful cedar trees on the left).
Cross the bridge and step onto Île du Belvédère. At the fork at the end of the bridge, take the path on the right and, at the fork immediately after, take the path on the left (in January 2017, the path on the right was closed for safety reasons). Ignore a path on the left (also closed) and reach the top of the hill with its kiosk (pseudo-temple).
(2) Retrace your steps. Just before the bridge you crossed on the way there, turn right at an acute angle and go downhill. Take the suspension footbridge over the lake and its circular road. At the end of the footbridge, turn left and leave the Pavillon du Lac on your right. At a junction with smaller paths, continue along the wide Avenue Alphand (incorrectly named on the map).
At the next crossroads (water fountain opposite on the left, path towards an exit on the right), turn left onto a small path and pass at the foot of an artificial waterfall on the right. At the next crossroads (redwood tree opposite on the left), continue straight ahead and climb slightly. At the top, take a few steps to the left onto the wide Avenue des Marnes.
(3) Immediately turn right onto a narrower path towards the bandstand (sign: do not take the wide Avenue Jacques de Linières on the right). Climb gently, ignore a vague path on the right and then a staircase descending on the left, and reach the top of a hill (view to the northeast over the Parc de la Villette and the Grands Moulins de Pantin).
Continue straight ahead on a narrow path downhill. At a fork after a bend on the right, turn left and descend towards a street lamp. At the bottom, turn left onto a wide alley (Avenue Darcel on the map).
Shortly before a bridge, at the foot of a lamppost with a red and yellow cross, go down a staircase on the right in the middle of fake rocks. At the bottom, go straight ahead and exit the park.
(4) Cross Rue Manin at the traffic lights and follow it to the left, passing the Institute of Ophthalmology on your right. At the corner of No. 21, turn right under a porch and climb the 80 steps leading to the Butte Bergeyre.
At the top, continue straight ahead on Rue Philippe Hecht. At the end, turn left onto Rue Georges Lardennois and continue to a viewpoint (fenced vineyard and community garden on the right).
With your back to the viewpoint, turn into Rue Rémy de Gourmont opposite. At the fork that quickly appears, turn right into Rue Edgard Poë. At the end, turn right into Rue Barrelet de Ricou. At the corner of Rue Georges Lardennois, go straight ahead and go down a steep staircase (64 steps).
At the bottom, cross Avenue Simon Blivar at the traffic lights, go down another staircase and follow Rue Lauzin (mural on the right). At the end, turn left onto Rue Rebéval. Go back and forth twice, first in Cité Jandelle (small buildings and houses) and then in Passage Gauthier (pretty house at no. 4 and private courtyard at no. 3).
Continue along Rue Rébeval and, at the crossroads, follow Rue de l'Équerre opposite (red and yellow sign). At the bottom of a staircase leading up to Avenue Bolivar, turn right at a right angle (hence the name of the street). At the next crossroads, turn left.
Cross Rue de Belleville and continue straight ahead on Rue Piat. At No. 46, turn right into Parc de Belleville. At a crossroads (on the right, stairs and view of the Eiffel Tower), take the left-hand path. Ignore the stairs on the right and return to Rue Piat. Then head right to the viewpoint on the roof of the Maison de l'Air (superb panorama).
(6) Continue parallel to Rue Piat and re-enter Belleville Park via the first entrance on the right, either via a staircase or a ramp. Then go down the series of stairs covered by a green arbour. At the end of the arbour, cross a small cement path and continue straight ahead. At the next roundabout, turn right and leave a reception kiosk on your left.
Leave the Parc de Belleville, cross Rue Julien Lacroix and enter the Jardin de Pali-Kao. Cross this garden diagonally to the right and pass the ping-pong tables. Before a playground with a slide, turn left and go down towards a pond. Go around the pond, leave the garden and go around a flower-filled area on the right to come out at the intersection of Rue de Pali-Kao and Rue Bisson.
Cross Place Alphonse Allais diagonally to the right. At the end, turn right onto Rue de Tourtille. Cross Rue Bisson and, at the next intersection, turn left onto Rue Ramponeau. Just before a traffic light, turn right onto Rue Dénoyez.
Follow this heavily graffitied street and, at the end, cross Rue de Belleville at the pedestrian crossing. Turn left and, after a few metres, turn right, cross Place du Général Ingold and go under a building porch. Turn left into a tree-lined alley, keep left along Place Jean Rostand and continue along Rue Hector Guimard and then Place Marcel Achard.
(7) At the end, turn left onto Rue Rébeval (again) and follow it to Boulevard de la Villette (traffic lights). Cross the boulevard in two stages and continue along Rue du Buisson Saint-Louis. After crossing Rue Civiale on the left, turn right into Rue du Chalet. Then take the first left, Passage Hébrard. At the end, turn left then right and follow Rue Arthur Groussier.
At the T-junction, turn right and, at the traffic lights, turn left (red and yellow arrow) to cross Avenue Parmentier. Continue along Rue Alibert and walk alongside the Saint-Louis Hospital on your right. At the next crossroads, turn right onto Rue Bichat (plaque in memory of the victims of the attacks of 13 November 2015). When you reach Place du Docteur Alfred Fournier, turn left onto Avenue Richerand and continue until you reach Quai de Jemmapes.
(8) Take the footbridge to cross the Canal Saint-Martin. Then follow Quai de Valmy on your left and walk along the canal on your left. After the second footbridge, turn left into Square Frédérick-Lemaître and walk along the Écluse du Temple. After this, leave the square on your right. Cross the Quai de Valmy and follow Rue du Faubourg du Temple (pedestrian street) to Place de la République (E).
To return home:
- Metro - Lines 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11.
- Bus - Lines 20, 56 and 65.
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