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Departure from Bièvres station (Transilien line V, between Massy-Palaiseau and Versailles-Chantiers).
Signposts are present at major intersections.
No markings
(S/E) Upon exiting the station and its car park, take the street on the left until you reach a roundabout (level crossing on the left). Turn right and then immediately left onto Rue des Prés. Immediately take the first right, Rue des Ponts, and continue up to Rue de la Terrasse.
Then first turn right then left to climb the stairs at the foot of the town hall (Château Silvy). Go around the building on the left and turn right towards the war memorial. Then go to the roundabout at the car park exit and follow Rue Léon Mignotte on the left (preferably on the right-hand pavement).
Red and white markings
Between numbers 12 and 14 (restaurant), turn right under a porch. Climb Chemin du Cimetière, a steeply sloping lane. Pass the cemetery on your right. Then turn left onto Rue Odilon Redon. After the sign for "Escalier du Pinson" (on the right-hand side), you will come to the bottom of a staircase on the left. Take this staircase and you will come out onto a forest path in the Bois de Bel-Air.
(1) Turn left onto the path that climbs slightly. After a bench on the right, ignore a path that branches off to the left. Follow the main path, which is flat and faces west, for about 750 metres, ignoring the paths that branch off to the sides. Walk along the path with a slope on your left leading to the Bièvre valley and, after a few dozen metres, the fence of the Domaine de Bel-Air on your right. After passing between two rows of fir trees, note a statue of the Virgin and Child on your left.
At a fork, turn right and continue following the fence. Ignore a path on the left and continue to a forest barrier, then to a crossroads near Villacoublay aerodrome.
(2) Do not cross the small road; instead, walk along the larger road (D53) for a few metres on the left so that you can cross it at the pedestrian crossing (central reservation). On the other side of the D53, take a path downhill towards a footbridge. At the footbridge (which you should not use), turn right. After a few metres, take a wide path on the left (west) and walk along a low wall on your right.
When the low wall ends, take the path on the right towards Jouy-en-Josas. After turning left and climbing slightly, you will come to a crossroads with a signpost.
(3) Take the first path on the left, towards Bièvres and Vauboyen. Stay on the main path, which starts due south, curves to the right and then winds gently downhill. At an information sign, cross a path that climbs up from Vauboyen and continue straight ahead. The path turns left, leaving the forest for an area of coppiced woodland.
No markings
(4) At a sharp right-hand bend, just before you reach a small road, turn left onto a small gravel path. Follow this path (which is not shown on the map), running roughly parallel to the road. After a short climb, you will come to a small car park (with a forest barrier on the left). Then descend to the right and find a cobbled street just before an intersection.
Red and white markings
(5) At the intersection, continue straight ahead downhill. At the bottom (sign for "Vauboyen"), follow the road to the left. At the crossroads immediately ahead, turn right down Rue de Vauboyen (caution, narrow road). Pass a wash house on the right and reach the Bièvre and the Moulin de Vauboyen.
(6) Retrace your steps. At the crossroads, turn left and, at the "Vauboyen" sign, turn right up Chemin de Montéclin (cobbled street).
(5) At the intersection, follow the Sentier de Bel Air to the right, a cobbled street that quickly becomes cemented. Pass a forest barrier and follow a slightly uphill path with a low wall on your left. You will come to an X-shaped crossroads with an opening in the low wall.
No markings
(7) Take the wide path on the right and below, which starts parallel to the GR® and in roughly the same direction (do not take the path that descends sharply to the right). The path curves to the right as it descends, crosses a river via a footbridge (there are still many tree trunks on the ground around it) and leads to a small street behind a forest barrier.
Yellow markings (rare)
(8) Take the street on the left going uphill. At the top of the hill, with a signpost marked "CR7" and "CR8", turn right onto Chemin de la Butte du Diable. Descend between the houses to a larger road, Rue de Vauboyen. Then turn left towards "Maison Victor Hugo". When the street makes a left-hand turn, you will see this (large) house through the gate on the right (plaque "Les Roches"). A little further on is the main entrance (plaque "Maison Littéraire Victor Hugo").
No signposts (path not shown on the map)
Immediately after the main entrance to the Maison Victor Hugo, take a path that descends to the right (signposted "CR12 Les Gelinets"). Walk along the property walls, cross one branch of the Bièvre river, then a second, and you will come out onto a wide perpendicular path.
Red and white markings
(9) Turn left onto the path along the Bièvre (signposted "CR13 Gare de Bièvres"). Walk for about 800 metres parallel to the river (eastbound). At a crossroads, the path gives way to tarmac. Cross Rue des Petits Ponts on the left, then Rue des Ponts, and continue straight on into Rue des Prés.
No markings
At the end of this street, leave the GR® trail on your left, cross the roundabout and take Rue de la Gare opposite. Walk about 150 m along this street to reach the station (S/E).
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Easy 
Association / Club / Walk leader
