The fortified farms of Brie and the Bois-Poussin stronghold

Set out from Nangis station (Line P of the Transilien train service, on the section between Paris-Est and Provins).

Red and Yellow waymarks (except for the first few metres)

(S/E) Come out of the train station at the exit for the Place de la Gare (if you have arrived on the line from Paris to Provins, take the underpass). Then with your back to the station, turn left and at the end of the road turn right along Avenue du Maréchal Foch. Carry straight on, ignoring any roads off to either side.

No waymarks

Ignore the GRP^® footpath (Grande Randonnée de Pays - Long Regional Hike) off to the right (it is the Thibaut de Champagne GRP^® footpath that you will join later on) and instead cross Avenue Victor Hugo and continue straight on down Rue Aristide Briand towards the town centre. Go past Rue Pasteur on your right and then at the next junction (chemist), turn right onto Rue du Général Leclerc. Go past the metal covered hall and the Wallace water fountain.

(1) When you reach n°36, turn left down the Passage de la Poterie. Cross a small car park, keeping the blue arcs on your right, take the small gravel lane diagonally left and continue past the Relais Paroissial (Parish Centre). You will come out onto Mail Pierre Britaud opposite the schools.

Red and yellow waymarks

Turn left, go under a porch, and then bear right down Cour Émile Zola (there is an old market hall on your right) until you come out opposite the church. Turn right and then immediately right again down the steps to the old castle moat. Go under the stone bridge and walk along the foot of the old fortified castle. Turn left at the corner of the sturdy northwest tower, and keep going until you reach the more slender southwest tower.

Red and Yellow + Green waymarks

(2) Walk south between the tennis courts (on your right hand side) and the playground (on your left hand side). At the T-junction (opposite the football stadium), turn right down a small tarmacked lane. At the following crossing, keep going straight on, bearing slightly left down a concrete lane and then walk alongside a a lawn between two housing developments. Ignore any paths off to either side between the houses and keep going until you reach a roundabout.

(3) Turn left onto Boulevard du Docteur Henri Rousselle, and continue towards the secondary school and sixth form centre (signposts). When you reach the left hand bend in the road, bear right down a road that runs alongside the Lycée Henri Becquerel sixth form centre (on your right). Cross the car park and then the red and white barrier, and then keep going down the track until you reach the D201 road (Stop sign).

Red and Yellow + Green waymarks extremely rare as there is nowhere to put them

(4) Cross the road (be careful) and take the path opposite you between the fields, which soon becomes grassy. Keep going straight on (south-southwest) until you reach a little wood and then walk past it on your right hand side. Go past a yellow sign with 2 panels on the left hand side of the path and then cross the Ru de Courtenain stream. Walk past a little wood on your right hand side and continue up the hillside. When you reach the top of the hill, ignore the path off to the right and continue south-southeast with the steeple of Fontains church in full view in the distance on the right.

(5) At the T-junction (there is a farmhouse opposite you beyond the field), turn right towards a small oil well that is visible in the distance (unmarked path). After about 400m, before you reach the oil well, follow the path round to the left. At the bottom of a slight descent, cross the Ru des Effervettes stream and carry straight on. Before the first houses (small fenced plot opposite you to the left), turn right towards the cemetary, which can be identified by its masonry enclosure.

(6) At the fork, turn left. Walk down the side of the cemetery on your right and then go straight on down the road until you reach the Place de l'Eglise (church square). At the crossroads (with the church behind you), bear left and take the C10 road towards Les Granges (signpost). Go past an information board with a footpath map on it (this walk doesn't exactly follow the one indicated on the board). Walk towards the water tower and then bear left to reach the Fief de Bois-Poussin stronghold (the red and yellow waymarks inviting you to turn right indicate a later bend).

(7) At the foot of the water tower, head south along the small dead-end road to Les Brulys (signpost).

No waymarks

(8) Just before you cross a stream, leave the marked path which heads off to the right, and instead turn left either just before the bridge (marked on the map), or just after it: you can walk along either bank of the stream. Follow the stream to the southeast, ignoring the first small bridge (thicket on your left). At the next bridge, which is larger (with green waymarks on the parapet), turn left (northeast) up a grassy track. At the top of the hill, follow the path round to the right (east) and you will come out onto a small road.

(9) Cross the road (ignore the green waymark to the left) and continue straight on (east) down a grassy track. At the fork at the corner of the small wood on your right, turn left (northeast) along a farm track.

Green waymarks

(10) At the crossing where the power line is, turn right down a grassy track (there is a waymark on the power line). Cross the D201 road (''be careful'') and keep going down the small road opposite you towards Rogenvilliers. Keep going straight on, staying parallel with the power lines. Walk past a wood on your right and then you will reach a farmhouse.

Red and yellow waymarks extremely rare outside of the inhabited areas as there is nowhere to put them

(11) At the bend in the road, turn down the farm track to the northeast (don't go down the first path on the right alongside the farmhouse). Cross a path at the corner of the woods, and then bear north, ignoring a path off to the left. You will come out onto a small road, which you then walk down to the left to reach La Boulloye and, at n° 4 you will see a lovely farmhouse.

(12) At the crossing, turn right towards Nangis (signpost), and then immediately afterwards ignore a PR^® trail (Petite Randonnée - Short Hike) off to the right and instead continue on the road which bears left (yellow cross and green cross; there are no GRP^® waymarks here). After heading northwest, the road bears north for about 750m, with a wood on the right beyond a field.

(13) Shortly before the end of the wood on the right, turn left onto another small road (there are 2 red and yellow arrows at ground level on the left hand side of the road).

(14) Just before the entrance to Courtenain farm, turn right and then immediately left again between two barns (the purple line on the IGN map isn't entirely accurate). Just before the pond, turn right so that you have a barn on the right hand side and walk towards an electricity pylon with a waymark on it. Cross a stream and head northwest along the farm track. Before you reach the first houses, the track bears slightly right and heads northwards. Continue past a thicket on the left hand side and some fenced gardens. At the end of the track, turn left onto Rue du Faubourg Notaire.

No waymarks

(15) Straight afterwards, at the roundabout, leave the GRP^® path which continues straight on, and instead turn right down Rue des Castors. At the end of the road, cross the D419 (Avenue de Verdun) at the pedestrian crossing, and then turn left down Avenue du Général du Taillis. When you reach the "one way/no entry" sign, turn right down Rue René Barthélémy. At the end turn right.

(16) After a few metres, turn left onto Chemin de la Gare. After the houses on the left, the wide track gives way to a path. Walk alongside the railway track on your right (which is well fenced off from the path), then at the end of the path, cross Avenue du Maréchal Foch and continue straight on to reach Nangis station (S/E).

If you are driving, you can park in the car park at Nangis station, which you can reach via the D619 between Brie-Comte-Robert and Provins, or the A5 motorway, exit 16.

This walk is best done in dry conditions (avoid the day after rain) as the grassy paths and river banks can become very water-logged in wet weather.

The walk takes you through farming plains where there is almost no shade. In the summer time, avoid periods of high heat and bring appropriate sun protection. No water source has been identified along the route.

The farms that are found along this walk are private property and are agriculture holdings: please respect the sites. Similarly, please respect the crops along the route.

A 1/25000 map is essential (at least the one that accompanies this description). A compass can also be useful...

In Nangis:
- Old timbered houses (16th century), Rue du Général Leclerc (on the side of the odd-numbered buildings).
- Market hall (19th century), Rue du Général Leclerc (on the side of the even-numbered buildings).
- Market hall, Cour Emile Zola.
- The church of Saint-Martin-et-Saint-Magne (13th to 17th century).
- Motte-Beauvoir castle (12th to 17th century), which now houses the Town Hall.

Fortified or remarkable farms:
- Fief de Bois-Poisson stronghold (16th century) (7).
- Le Mesnil (10).
- La Boulloye (11).
- Courtenain (13).

Other cultural heritage:
- Saint-Jacques le Majeur church (13th to 19th century) in Fontains, shortly before (7).