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Starting point and access: Boulogne-Jean Jaurès underground station.
- Metro - Line 10. Take the Rue du Château exit (at the back of the train when coming from Paris, at the front of the train when coming from the Boulogne-Pont de Saint-Cloud terminus).
- Bus - Lines 52, 123.
Most of the hike follows aGRP® (red and yellow) orGR® (red and white) marked trail. The markings are very dense, but a minimum of attention is required in some places due to the many intersecting paths.
Without signposts
(S/E) When you exit the metro station, turn right onto Rue du Château, then immediately right onto Rue Fessart. At Place des Écoles, turn right, cross Rue Escudier and continue along Rue Gambetta. Keep following this street, crossing Rue des Tilleuls, Rue Vauthier, Rue de La Rochefoucaud and Rue Claude Monet.
When you reach Carrefour des Anciens Combattants, go around it on the left, crossing Avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément and Boulevard Anatole France. Then turn left, heading north, onto Allée de la Reine Marguerite (a wide avenue that enters the woods).
Red and yellow signposts
(1) Shortly after the roundabout, at a pedestrian crossing, turn left onto a path markedGRP®, which starts just before a tarmac lane that is a cycle path. After about 250m, cross the tarmac lane (large lawn in front on the left, kiosk on the right) and take a path that starts between two trees with GRP® signs.
Walk through the woods to the north, with the cycle path a short distance to your left. Note the Longchamp racecourse stands on your left and, on your right, an old cistern and then the Gravilliers barracks. Cross the Route du Point du Jour in Suresnes at an angle and continue north-west along a path.
Red and white markings (+ red and yellow + yellow at the very beginning)
(2) At the end of the Longchamp racecourse, cross Avenue de l'Hippodrome (ignore the red and yellow arrow indicating a left turn) and continue straight ahead on a path. You will reach the Longchamp crossroads, with the Grande Cascade in front of you and a restaurant with a glass roof on your right. Head towards the edge of the pond where the waterfall flows into (there is a magnificent Lebanese cedar tree).
(3) Go around the pond on the right. Turn left very quickly to go under the artificial rocks that make up the waterfall and pass behind it. Then climb a staircase that starts under the rocks and ends in the open air. At the top, take the second path on the left and immediately turn left. When a path arrives from the left, turn right onto a path that descends and then runs alongside the waterfall lake on your right.
At the next crossroads, follow the path that leaves between Route de Suresnes on your left and Route de la Grande Cascade on your right. At the next crossroads, turn left and stay parallel to Route de Suresnes. At the bench, turn left, cross Route de Suresnes and take a path that starts at the foot of a sign marked "Réserve d'oiseaux" (bird sanctuary). At the next crossroads, turn left and cross the stream called "La Serpentine" (Ruisseau de Longchamp on the IGN map).
(4) Turn immediately right to follow La Serpentine on your right. After passing a small waterfall, turn right to cross a paved road. Turn left (signposted "Piste cyclable") to cross La Serpentine again and follow it on your right.
Cross a bridge over the Serpentine, then turn left to follow it on your left. Cross a tributary stream over a bridge and turn left to continue along the Serpentine. Cross a road, continue straight ahead between two large plane trees and continue along the Serpentine on your left.
At a fork, take the left (stone bridge on the left). At the next fork, turn right. Cross a paved road and continue straight ahead on a path. Before reaching an area with large pine trees, turn left and you will reach Route de Suresnes again.
Yellow markings
(5) Leave theGR® straight ahead, turn right, follow the road and reach the crossroads at the northern tip of the Lower Lake.
Red and yellow markings (+ yellow at the start)
(6) Turn right to reach the lake shore and pass the boat landing stage. Walk for about 2 km, keeping as close to the shore as possible (ignore a yellow arrow that tells you to turn away), alternating between dirt, gravel and cement paths.
Pass the jetty for the islands and, at the end of the second island, go down the steps (note the Kiosque de l'Empereur opposite). Further on, climb the wooden steps, turn right towards a small waterfall (southern end of the Lower Lake) and turn left to reach the Carrefour des Cascades.
(7) Turn left then right to follow Avenue de l'Hippodrome (on your left). At a fork, take the left path and leave a yellow-marked path on your right. At a traffic light, turn left to cross the road then continue straight ahead until you reach a stream. Turn right to follow the stream on your left. At the next intersection, turn left and cross the stream. You will come to a wide road, which you follow to the right.
(8) At the sign for the start of a fitness trail, turn left onto a path. Follow this path around a bend to the right and, at the next three-way fork, take the path on the right. Here, theGRP® route on the map is incorrect (but the fitness trail is correct): at the first intersection, turn left; at the next one, turn right; at a beam on the fitness trail, turn left. At a fixed bar, leave the fitness trail and turn right onto a paved lane. Continue to a large intersection (map of the Bois de Boulogne).
(9) Turn left at an acute angle, at the corner of a fountain, leaving a cycle lane on your right. Go straight ahead, ignoring a path perpendicular to the road. Just before a tarmac road and a sign with a map, turn right at a right angle. Cross a tarmac lane and continue along a path (theGRP® route on the map is inaccurate; it follows a cycle path). Go straight ahead (south-west), ignoring the paths on either side. At the bottom of a slight descent, turn left and join the tarmac track. Turn right and cross another road, then turn left to join Allée de la Reine Marguerite.
(1) Turn left, go around the roundabout on the right and continue straight ahead on Rue Gambetta. Follow this road to Place des Écoles, then continue along Rue Fessart. At the traffic lights, turn left and head for the metro station (S/E).
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