

This hike proposes to explore the South / South-East region of the Bordeaux metropolis. On the first day, we swing on either side of the ring road, between Pessac and Bègles, in a composite landscape of forests, old and under construction pavilions, swamps, large and neglected areas. The bivouac is organised in the commercial zone of the Rives d’Arcins next to the Suburban Shelter les Guetteurs (“The Watchers”). On the second day, we cross the Garonne to begin the crossing of the hills of Bouliac, Floirac and Cenon.
Suburban Walks
An extraordinary journey
into the ordinariness of our contemporary cities
A dive into the urban interstices
The Suburban Walks are exploratory walks through the outskirts of the cities. They cross and connect hybrid and fragmented landscapes, composed of housing estates, social housing complexes, old towns, expressways, industrial and commercial areas, car parks and electricity pylons, but also unexpected parks and gardens, forgotten forests, old paths and especially uncountable abandoned spaces where wild nature develops, out of sight. This diffuse and involuntary nature represents a tremendous potential for escape and resourcing, a kind of exoticism of proximity.
The suburbs, a land of adventure and exploration
The suburban area has developed to respond effectively to our modern needs for housing, travel, consumption and production.
The resulting chaotic urbanism is often considered useful but uninteresting, and above all devoid of the qualities that make up the city and the pleasures it provides.
However, the urban outskirts have richness to reveal, resources that could change our viewpoint and practices, and build a sense of suburbanity : a huge territory, a great diversity of landscapes, an unsuspected architectural heritage…
Could we not, from this point of view, consider the suburban area as a land of adventure and exploration, like the great natural spaces ? And imagine hiking in the outskirts as we do in the mountains or in the countryside ?
The suburbs offer a new hiking experience. The hybrid and eclectic nature of the territories crossed, where places, atmospheres and sounds follow one another like a continuous zapping, constantly stimulates our senses and gives the walk a new dynamic.
The origin of the project
In 1999, Yvan Detraz, then an architecture student and co-founder of Bruit du frigo, led a 3-month, 1000 km walking expedition through the Bordeaux suburbs to map neglected spaces and paths. Before Google map and with the help of a simple geographical map, this mission sought to reveal the potential for escape from the Bordeaux suburbs and to develop a walking culture. (see “Zone sweet zone”).
It is from this founding experience that the concepts of the Suburban Walk and the Suburban Refuge were born.
If in 1999, nobody imagined hiking in the middle of the housing estates or along the ring road, today more and more curious people want to discover their city differently by venturing off the beaten track.
The collective suburban walks that we organise around Bordeaux bring together a large and eclectic public : families, students, walking clubs, seniors… The Suburban Shelters, which offer a unique immersive experience, are also very successful.
It is to respond to this search for exoticism of proximity and to share our knowledge of the territory and its hidden treasures that we have created the Common Land Trail.
The Metropolitan Trails Network
The Common Lands Trail of Bordeaux is a member of the Metropolitan Trails Network, created in 2017 in Marseille, on the occasion of the exhibition about the Metropolitan Trails organized at the Mucem Museum (as part of the permanent exhibition “Connectivities”).
This national network (Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Avignon) was created as a continuation of the international Metropolitan Trails network (Milan, London, Cologne, Istanbul, New York…) initiated and piloted by Baptiste Lanaspeze (editor – Editions Wildproject) and Paul-Hervé Lavessière (Geographer).
The first National Assises of the Metropolitan Trails were organised on 8 November 2018 at the Mucem in Marseille.
” The Metropolitan Trails are public spaces of a new kind. Transport infrastructures, tourist facilities, off-wall cultural centres, citizen platforms, training areas… they allow us to rediscover our living spaces and to foster the emergence of a common culture.
Urban hiking is a social phenomenon, a deep-rooted movement. Coming from the worlds of art and planning, it now interests a large public.
Metropolitan trails are an international innovation, born in France. »
Extract from the website : National Network of Metropolitan Trails


Common lands trail & Art of metropolitan trails
Cross-exhibitions2> Bordeaux

Hyderabad Urban Trail
Hyderabad – India

Dérive droite
The Walks of panOramas2> Floirac, Cenon, Lormont, Carbon-Blanc, Bassens

Zone Sweet Zone
Walk as urban project2> Bordeaux

Moving grouped
Bordeaux, Lormont

Walk around the Shelters #10
Le Haillan > Saint-Médard-en-Jalles

Common Lands Trail
Great Bordeaux

The Common Lands Trail at the Mucem
Marseille

AtTEnTIOn à La mArcHE !
Bordeaux

Walk around the Shelters #9
Le Haillan > Bruges

Walk around the Shelters #8
Lormont > Ambares-et-Lagrave

Walk around the Shelters #7
Floirac > Bassens

Walk around the Shelters #6
Lormont > Saint-Vincent-de-Paul

Walk around the Shelters #5
Pessac > Floirac

Tournée générale
Pau

Secret expedition
Lormont

Walk around the Shelters #4
Martignas-sur-Jalle > Bordeaux

Walk around the Shelters #3
Around the CUB, left bank

Walk around the Shelters #2
Ambes > Lormont

Walk around the Shelters #1
Gradignan > Bègles

Rocade walk
Bègles

Guest Garden
Royan

The crossing of the hillsides of Bordeaux
Floirac > Bassens

Suggested itineraries
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

The Tour of Bordeaux
Bordeaux periphery, left bank

Zone Sweet Zone
Bordeaux outskirts
Last
projects
> all projectsAt the crossroads of art, territories and populations, our approach aims to promote the transition to sustainable, shared and welcoming cities, by proposing alternative ways of imagining and building our living environment and by exploring new forms of public space.

The Secret Balconies
Montpellier

The Portable Public Spaces
Lyon

Modular shade canopy
Lyon

On vacation with Jeannie L
An artistic cycling epic between lakes and ocean2> Bordeaux - Lac de Lacanau - Lac d'Hourtin

Blank pages
Strasbourg

Poulp’Fiction
Floirac

Hooky classes #4: Le Mont Victoire
Bordeaux grow nature 2> Bordeaux
