Wednesday 1 July from St Germain en Laye to Maisons Lafitte

This week's walk, on Wednesday 1 July, will be led by Daniel Perot. Daniel has provided the following information.

The walk will be in the Forest of Saint Germain en Laye. The walk will start in Saint Germain, admiring the château of François I and walking along the château terrace with its panoramic view towards Paris. Then we will zigzag quietly through the forest to our destination at Maisons Lafitte, a lovely residential town known for its horse racing.

To get to the start of the walk at Saint-Germain-en Laye, take the RER A, direction Saint-Germain-en-Laye, arriving Saint-Germain-en-Laye at 10:04.

Buy a single ticket as we will return from the station "Maisons Laffitte", on another branch of the RER A. Saint-Germain en Laye and Maisons Laffitte are in zone 4.

The train leaves Châtelet Les Halles at 9:36, Etoile Charles de Gaulle at 9:42. At St Germain, take the exit "église". The meeting point is in front of the church.

The walk will last approximately 3½ hours with an optional visit of Maisons Lafitte. Bring your picnic lunch, water, sun glasses, sun cream, sun hat, and rain gear (you never know).

If you'd like to join us, please RSVP to Daniel
at daniel.perot@free.fr

Wednesday 24 June on the Canal de l'Ourcq

This week, June 24, Daniel will lead us along a portion of the Canal de L'Ourcq. The canal was built to bring badly-needed water to Paris as well as to provide a waterway for the transport of building materials from the Foret de Retz. It took water from the River Ourcq which flows into the Marne. Its construction dates to the beginning of the 19th century under Napoleon I, but talk of bringing water to Paris went back to the time of Louis XIV. Wikipedia gives a detailed history of the canal.

Much of the section that we will walk through is lined with poplar trees. We will also visit the Parc de Sevran where we will see traces of the ruins of the National Gunpowder Factory which operated from 1873 to 1973

• Le canal file entre deux pelouses couronnées de peupliers et borde le parc de Sevran. The canal winds through grassy banks shaded by poplars and passes the park at Sevran.
  
  
• Le parc forestier de Sevran : Un site industriel (ancienne poudrerie) se transforme en espace vert ! The forest park at Sevran is a former gunpowder factory now made over into a woodland park.
  

Départ - Gare d'Hausmann-Saint-Lazare (RER E) train CISI, 9h57 direction Chelles-Gournay. Arrivée - Gare de Bondy (zone 3) 10h13. Ce même train est accessible depuis la gare de Magenta à 10h02.

Departure from the gare Hausmann Saint-Lazare (RER E) train CISI, 9.57 direction Chelles Gournay. Arrive at gare de Bondy (zone 3) at 10.13. You can board this train at the Gare de Magenta, departure 10.02.

Durée de la rando : 3 h 30. The walk will last some 3½ hours.

Ticket - Acheter un ticket simple pour Bondy. Purchase a one-way ticket to Bondy (zone 3). Le retour se fera par la gare de Villeparisis qui se trouve en zone 5.
The return will be from Villeparisis, in zone 5, and on a different train line.

Don't forget rain gear, sun gear, lunch, water and... shoes as usual. Daniel's email is daniel.perot@free.fr

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Tiffany Urness has kindly sent us some pictures taken during the walk.

Wednesday 17 June on the Marne

This week, Virginie will lead us on a walk along the Marne. Here is her info.

I can lead a walk on June 17, about 17 km along the Marne riverbank, around the first loop: from Maisons-Alfort to Joinville and then maybe to Paris through the "Bois de Vincennes".

The meeting point will be at the station "Ecole vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort" (zone 2, metro line 8), outside at 9.45 and we ‘ll start at 10.00

As usual: remember to bring along water, snack and rain gear

All the best , > > Virginie > > (Tel: 06 89 96 29 96)

Wednesday 10 June: three parks and the Seine

Hello Fellow Walkers,

On Wednesday June 10 I will lead a walk through three parks (parc Andre Citroën, jardin des Tuileries and the jardin des Plantes) and along the Seine.

The meeting point will be in the 15th arrondissement at the corner of rue Balard and rue Leblanc. To get there take metro line 8 to the end of the line, station Balard.

I will be there at 9.45; at 10.00 we start walking.

The usual reminders: good shoes, appropriate clothing and something to eat and to drink.

I plan that we reach the Gare d'Austerlitz (metro line 10) at around 13.30.

If you want to come, please let me know by email to mdavidaul@bc.edu.

Best,
Martina