Stage Paris - La Ville-du-Bois

The Via Turonensis begins in the very centre of Paris, at the foot of the Tour Saint-Jacques, the only remnant of the church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie and a gathering point for pilgrims since the Middle Ages. This first stage is the longest and most urban of the whole route: a flat day in which the great city gradually dissolves, first into boulevards, then into residential districts and finally into the towns of the southern outskirts.

The route crosses the Seine via the Île de la Cité, beside Notre-Dame, and climbs the rue Saint-Jacques, the old road that runs through the Latin Quarter past the Sorbonne and the church of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas, built on the site of a former pilgrims' hospital. It is a line steeped in Jacobean memory, following the historic axis of the Orléans road until it leaves inner Paris at the Porte d'Orléans.

Beyond the ring road, the way links the towns of the southern metropolitan area — Montrouge, Bourg-la-Reine, Antony, Massy — alternating avenues, quiet streets and landscaped stretches that soften the exit. The surface is tarmac almost throughout and services are continuous, so the effort of the day lies in the distance rather than the terrain. Many pilgrims choose to split it in two or to shorten the start by public transport.

The final stretch enters the Essonne department and gains a little horizon as it nears the Orge valley. La Ville-du-Bois, a short distance from the medieval tower of Montlhéry and the basilica of Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Garde in Longpont-sur-Orge, a historic waypoint for pilgrims to Santiago, brings the urban crossing to an end. From here the Way leaves the conurbation behind and begins to find its own rhythm.