The metropolis of Paris is not just the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. Beyond the ring road, the capital has a heritage as rich as it is diverse that it would be a shame not to discover. As reported National Geographic , the Greater Paris Trail aims to encourage walkers to explore little-known places. Inaugurated in 2020, it extends over 615 km and is divided into 39 sections, each corresponding to a day’s ride.
The history of the Parisian suburbs
The Trail was imagined by Jens Denissen, urban planner and territorial coordinator, the artist Denis Moreau, the publisher Baptiste Lanaspeze and Paul-Hervé Lavessière, urban geographer. “Walking is both a way of discovering a place and being part of its structureexplains Jens Denissen, who has led public walks in the suburbs since 2014. It is a process of permanent exploration [et] a way to take care of this territory, to raise awareness of hidden natural areas. »
Each of the stages of the Greater Paris Trail leads hikers to question the place of the suburbs in the history of the capital. Stage 9, for example, highlights the consequences of industrialization on the main centers of the Middle Ages, including the cathedral basilica of Saint-Denis. This centuries-old necropolis, which inspired Notre-Dame de Paris, is considered the cradle of Gothic architecture.
Read also: Olympic Games 2024. How to avoid paying too much for the metro in Paris this summer
Stage 11, littered with weeping willows, focuses on the relationship between citizens and nature. This end of the path passes by the École du Breuil, in the Bois de Vincennes. Dedicated to horticultural training, this institution hosts an Arboterum which houses hundreds of different magnificent tree species.
Other GR trails
History lovers will particularly appreciate stage 24. It begins in Hauts-de-Seine with Joséphine de Beauharnais’ Château de Malmaison, the country property that the empress shared with her husband, Napoléon Bonaparte. The path then passes in front of an abandoned paper factory where the Little Parisiana newspaper with a circulation of more than a million copies at the start of the 20th century, and ends in front of the great Defense arch, inaugurated for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.
The Grand Paris Trail also crosses other routes, including several long-distance hiking trails (GR). “We are creating an open door to existing trails in homage to hiking and its history”, explains Jens Denissen, referring to the history of this practice which consisted of inviting people to leave industrial cities. So many connections that multiply the possibilities for walks!
