Category: Local hikes in the Ile-de-France

Having exhausted most of the possibilities in the hiking guide devoted to our immediate local area and keen to try out new paths, we got out an old guide for the whole département of the Seine-et-Marne where we live. And so, on a sunny Sunday May morning, we found ourselves parking opposite the church on… Continue reading A 10-km loop around Savins

This second stage on the GR 13 is tougher than the first, relatively flat one from Moret-sur-Loing to Nemours, with 332 metres in positive elevation. After leaving the car at the station in St Pierre-Nemours (a huge, free parking lot), we crossed the town, via the castle, before heading uphill into the woods above Nemours.… Continue reading GR 13 From Nemours to Souppes-sur-Loing

It’s been years now since I hiked one of France’s GR paths, the long-distance hiking trails that crisscross the country in every region. Now that I am confined to France and unable to do my planned hikes in Germany, I have decided to do several stages of a local one, the GR 13B, that runs… Continue reading GR13B from Moret to Nemours

Hike number three in the book of a local hikes. We did this early on a Sunday morning. The first section along the river is pleasant enough. However, the second half is deadly boring on dirt tracks through fields and sparse forest land, with the high speed train creating a terrific din just a hundred… Continue reading Misy-sur-Yonne loop

A fantastic 18-km hike done on an early September day when the weather was absolutely perfect. From the pretty little town of Donnemarie-Dontilly, this hike takes in a number of small hamlets and villages, each one of which has its own church, some in a spectacular position, such as the church at Paroy on top… Continue reading Donnemarie-Dontilly and the Brie region’s mediaeval churches

Hike number 29 in the local book of hikes, done on the last Monday of August with an early start at 8:30 when the air was crisp and fresh after a long day of rain on the Sunday. A fairly easy hike, on mostly flat terrain, but with lots of new discoveries: a castle ringed… Continue reading Episy, la Genevraye and Cugny

A 15 km hike taking in three villages (Ecuelles, Villecerf and Montarlot) and a lot of fields, partly on the GR 11, partly on the local hiking paths. A nice loop from home that is feasible in all weather conditions and at every time of the year (except the hunting season as a lot of… Continue reading We walked out of the door and then came back

This is a short hike we took from our house on a sunny afternoon during the lockdown in France. A pretty walk to the old washing place on the Orvanne river, then back and up the hill behind the village through orchards and vegetable gardens. All done in the hour that we’re allowed out each… Continue reading Short lockdown walk around home

A three-hour hike done on Sunday, March 8th, 2020, around Bois-le-Roi and the Mare aux Evées, a rather unusual drainage system in the heart of the forest. Some spectacular rock formations, a few palatial residences by the Seine and lots of peaceful forest trails.   http://www.komoot.com/tour/160768347