Chatou / Conflans-Sainte-Honorine

This Seine à Vélo stage transports you back from the Impressionist period to the times when boatmen and mariners ruled these parts. Do explore the Saint Germain Boucles de Seine area, plunging into French royal and imperial history, Impressionist painting and the imaginary worlds of writer Dumas and composer Debussy… The State forests of Saint-Germain and Marly-le-Roi serve as green lungs for Paris’s western suburbs. Pushing further west, tucked between the Seine and its valley’s slopes, the route leads to La Frette-sur-Seine, nicknamed ‘the pearl of the county of Val d’Oise’. The cycle path runs along its quays, lined with splendid 19th-century villas, with outdoor copies of paintings on display by the likes of Pissarro, Marquet and Daubigny, immortalizing the Seine here. Finally, you reach Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, capital of traditional Seine navigation in these parts, offering an intense taste of the French art of living.

The route

Between Chatou and Sartrouville, the Seine à Vélo cycle route runs along a flat greenway. Riding from Sartrouville to Val Parisis, for the time being, you have to cross an urban area without any specific facilities for cyclists in place, while awaiting the laying out of the route along the riverside. On the stretch between Cormeilles-en-Parisis and Herblay-sur-Seine (Communauté d'Agglomération Val Parisis), you ride along roads shared with motorized traffic. However, certain traffic-calming measures have been put in place in parts. In the long run, a greenway will run beside the Seine, reserved for non-motorized forms of transport. Along this stage, the way is flat.

RER & Transilien

• RER A: Rueil-Malmaison; Chatou-Croissy; Le Vésinet Centre; Le Vésinet Le Pecq; Sartrouville; Conflans fin d'Oise
• Transilien line J: Cormeilles-en-Parisis; La Frette-Montigny; Herblay-sur-Seine.
  Free access to the Transilien with your bike: from Monday to Friday, before 6.30 am, between 9.30 am and 4.30 pm and after 7.30 pm, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays with no time restriction.

Don’t miss

• The royal and imperial town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye: Saint-Germain-en-Laye counts among the most interesting historic towns near Paris. It was a favourite residence for many French kings from Louis VI le Gros on, including François I and Henri IV; it was also the birthplace of Louis XIV. The place has preserved not just its medieval heart, but also the Château-Vieux, turned into the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale under Napoleon III, and the Domaine National, the grounds surrounding the latter, featuring the famed Le Nôtre Terrace. Also consider seeing: the homes of celebrated artists, including painter Maurice Denis and composer Claude Debussy; the fine townhouses, many owned by aristocratic families in the 17th century; Place du Marché, an arcaded square where many events are put on.
• The Church of Saint-Martin d'Herblay-sur-Seine: Located just a few metres from the route, standing out on its promontory dominating the Seine Valley, this 12th-century edifice offers you a well-deserved, peaceful pause, plus fine views.
• La Promenade des Peintres: At La Frette-sur-Seine, outdoor copies of paintings by famous artists remain on display year-round on the banks of the Seine, helping you to imagine the atmosphere along this stretch in Impressionist times.
• The Church of Saint Nicholas at La Frette-sur-Seine: nicknamed ‘the belfry by the water’, this edifice dating back in part to the 12th-century stands just a few metres from the Seine, its bell-tower sporting surprising ‘skirts’.