In the footsteps of Georges Brassens: Montparnasse, Plaisance and Brancion

Starting point and access: Montparnasse Station, Place Raoul Dautry.
- Metro - Lines 4, 6, 12, 13; Montparnasse-Bienvenüe station. Take exit 1 Porte Océane.
- Transilien - Line N (terminus). Take the exit at ground level onto the esplanade.
- Bus - Lines 28, 39, 58, 59, 82, 89, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96.

(S) From the esplanade, with your back to the station and facing the Montparnasse Tower, turn right. Walk past the Porte Aquitaine (list of cities served by the south-west branch of the TGV Atlantique) and cross Rue du Départ. Follow this street to the right (with your back to the Montparnasse Tower).

After about 50 metres, turn left onto Rue du Maine. After passing a square on your left, turn right onto Rue de la Gaité. Follow the street to the end and turn left onto Avenue du Maine. At the next intersection, turn left onto Rue Froidevaux. Immediately on your left, you will find the entrance to Montparnasse Cemetery (which you can visit, but is not included in the route).

(1) Cross Rue Froidevaux and follow it to the right. Take the^first right, Rue Auguste Mie, then the^first left, Rue Cels. At the end, turn right onto Rue Fermat. At the next intersection, turn left onto Rue Daguerre. At the traffic lights, turn right onto Rue Gassendi. Cross Rue Liancourt and, at the corner of the Georges Brassens Library, turn right into Passage Tenaille.

You will come out onto Avenue du Maine. Follow it to the left for a few dozen metres. At^{the first} pedestrian crossing (bus shelter), cross the avenue and follow it to the right for about a hundred metres. At the corner of a hotel, turn left onto Passage de la Tour de Vanves.

(2) At the end, turn left onto Rue Asseline and follow it to a crossroads. Then take the^second right, Rue du Château. After about 50 metres, turn left under a porch and follow Rue du Moulin des Lapins. Cross Place de la Garenne diagonally and continue along Rue Sainte-Léonie. At the end, turn left onto Rue Pernety.

At the end, turn right onto Rue Didot. Ignore Rue de Plaisance on your right and, just before a square with a large park on your left, turn right onto Rue des Thermopyles (cobbled). Walk along Square Alberto Giacometti on your left. When Rue Bauer comes up on your left, turn right and then left, still on Rue des Thermopyles.

At the end, turn left onto Rue Raymond Losserand. At number 100, turn left onto Avenue Villemain. At the end, walk along Place Stéphane Piobetta on your right and arrive at Rue d'Alésia, opposite number 173. Then turn right at an acute angle to follow Rue d'Alésia.

(3) Just after a giant photo of Georges Brassens on a wall and before a petrol station, turn into the tiny Impasse Florimont. Go to the end of the cul-de-sac (even if a barrier is closed), No. 9, where Brassens lived, is on the left-hand side (cats carved on the wall). Retrace your steps.

(3) At the end of the cul-de-sac, turn right onto Rue d'Alésia. At the traffic lights, cross Rue Raymond Losserand and follow it to the right. Take the^first left, Rue du Moulin de la Vierge. Cross Rue Decrès and Rue de l'Ouest. Then take a tarmac path that runs between tall buildings and first turns right then left.

You will come out onto Rue Vercingétorix; follow it to the right. At the traffic lights, turn left onto Rue de Gergovie. Pass under a footbridge and then under the railway bridge coming from Gare Montparnasse. Continue along Rue de la Procession until you reach Place Falguière. Go around the square on the left and continue straight ahead along Rue de la Procession.

At the corner of No. 60, turn left, go through a gate and head towards the (modern) Notre-Dame de l'Arche d'Alliance church. To visit the church, climb the stairs and then come back down on the other side; otherwise, go straight ahead and pass under the church forecourt.

At the end of the alley, cross the street and enter Square d'Alleray, which is slightly to the left. Immediately turn left to go through a cylindrical opening. Cross a small garden to the right and go under a porch. Then turn left and leave a playground on your right. Turn left again to leave the square. Walk past the foot of a building, go down some steps and through a gate.

Then follow Rue Saint-Amand to the left. At the traffic lights, turn right onto Rue Labrouste. At the next traffic lights, continue straight ahead. Take the^first right, Rue Franquet. Cross Rue Rosenwald and, at the end of Rue Franquet, follow Rue Santos-Dumont to the left.

(5) At the three-way junction, turn right into Villa Santos-Dumont, a pretty cul-de-sac with lots of greenery and beautiful houses. Retrace your steps.

(5) Turn right and continue along Rue Santos-Dumont (at no. 42, the former home of Georges Brassens). At the crossroads, follow Rue de Villafranca opposite. At the end, turn right onto Rue Fizeau. At the end, cross Rue Brancion and enter Parc Georges Brassens.

(6) Go straight ahead, passing the "Guignol" on your right, then a small playground. Then turn immediately left towards the bust of Brassens, clearly visible in the middle of a lawn. At the sculpture of a donkey with a cart, you will find two staircases, one on the left and one on the right, and two paths between them: follow the left path towards the Théâtre Monfort.

Walk along the theatre on your left, then turn right onto a footbridge. At the next crossroads, take the path furthest to the left. Pass an apiary on your right and walk along a vineyard on your right (note the old Petite Ceinture railway line below on your left). After the vineyard, turn left to reach the park exit.

(7) Immediately cross Place Romain Gary to the right. First turn right then left to cross Rue de Dantzig and enter Passage de la Petite Ceinture (a paved path) opposite. Go under a painted archway. Further on, continue along a narrow tarmac path between two fences. Go slightly downhill, walk along a brick wall and go down a flight of steps.

Then first turn left then right to reach the Petite Ceinture in^{the 15th arrondissement}. Go down a series of metal stairs interspersed with wooden footbridges. At the bottom, cross the disused railway line and follow it to the left. Shortly after the disused Vaugirard station, turn right twice and then descend a large staircase on the left. You will come out onto Rue de Vaugirard. Follow it straight ahead to the left until you reach Porte de Versailles (E).

To return home:
- Metro - Line 12 (immediate access).
- Tram - Line T3a (cross Boulevard Victor) or T2 (continue past and cross the entire square).
- Bus - Line 80.

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route. The time indicated is the actual walking time and does not include breaks or any visits.

There are numerous bars, restaurants and shops along the route, offering plenty of opportunities to quench your thirst or grab a bite to eat.

The space is shared with many other users. You will encounter regulated crossings (traffic lights, pedestrian crossings) which, for your own safety, it is best to respect.

Although street names are almost always indicated on site, a map is always useful (at least the one accompanying this description).

Opening hours for public spaces:
Parc Georges Brassens:
- Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Closing time: 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Passage de la Petite Ceinture and Petite Ceinture in the 15th arrondissement:
- Opening hours: 9:00 a.m. on weekdays; 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing times: 4:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.

The large number of metro and bus stations nearby means you can shorten the walk as you wish, depending on how much time you have or how you feel.

Hike completed by the author on 19 February 2016.

In this section, there are three types of points of interest: (i) places associated with the life of Georges Brassens, (ii) places associated with his songs, whose titles are in italics, and (iii) other main heritage sites.

There are benches everywhere, which we know are there for lovers of public benches.

From Gare Montparnasse (S) to Rue Asseline (2):
- At 20 Rue de la Gaité, Bobino, a music hall where Brassens performed about fifteen times between 1953 and 1976.
- Rue Froidevaux runsalongside Montparnasse Cemetery, the very same cemetery where, in La ballade des cimetières, "four steps from (his) house", a "well-mannered young man" complained that he didn't have a single grave to visit.
- At 38 Rue Gassendi, the Municipal Library of the 14th arrondissement, which Georges Brassens frequented assiduously during the 1940s and which now bears his name.
- Passage de la Tour de Vanves.

From Rue Asseline (2) to Impasse Florimont (4):
- Rue Raymond Losserand - Le vieux Léon, which mentions the "children of Rue de Vanves", the former name of this street.
- At 14 Avenue Villemain, the front of a bougnat: bar-restaurant and wood-coal shop (the establishment appears to be closed) - Song for the Auvergnat; Brave Margot; The navels of police officers' wives; ...
- Rue des Thermopyles, very flowery (in season) and with a few old houses.
- At 173 Rue d'Alésia, Brassens' first home in Paris, in February 1940 (he was 19 years old), at his aunt's house.

From Impasse Florimont (4) to Porte de Versailles (E):
- At 9 Impasse Florimont, the house where Brassens lived from 1944 to 1958, with Jeanne and Marcel. It was also in this cul-de-sac that Pierre Nicolas, Georges Brassens's regular double bass player, was born. Two plaques at the entrance to the cul-de-sac commemorate this coincidence.
- Rue Vercingétorix and Rue de Gergovie - La ronde des jurons, evoking the "Gauls of good character" who "followed the law with frank speech".
- At 42 Rue Santos Dumont, the house where Brassens lived from 1969 onwards.
- Georges Brassens Park.
- Former Petite Ceinture railway line.