Promenade Paris – Promenade Plantee – Promenade Plantée | Apartments Blog

If you thought you knew everything about Paris, its monuments, museums, trendy bars, shopping streets … You’d be surprised! The Parisians themselves recognize it easily, the city of lights never ceases to surprise you, and there is always something new to discover…

For example, have you heard of the discrete “balade suspendue”, a lovely footpath above ground level, adored by Parisians in search of a little greenery and freshness at the week-end?

The “suspended tour” or promenade plantée serpentines through the entire 12th district and is about 4.5 km long ; an audacious landscape gardener and an architect ( Mathieux and Vergely) had an incredible idea: to use an old railway line that’s been disused since 1969 and transform it into a green path….suspended above the city!

The end of the line was at Bastille (Paris cultural Mecca, site of the legendary prison where the French Revolution began, and where the best pubs and clubs are to be found). The train use to cross the neighbourhood to get to the little town of Saint-Maur in the suburbs.

On a sunny day, start your journey with a café crème and a croissant on a terrace on the Bastille square; then, go behind the gorgeous opera where the path begins. It is nine metres high and overlooks the charming neighbourhood above the avenue Daumesnil, right until the pretty garden of Reuilly: this part of the walk is called the “Viaduct of the Arts”. You’ll be surrounded by beautiful vegetation, cherry trees, majestic lime trees, flower beds, and all this suspended in the air, in the heart of Paris, with the sounds of horns coming from below and TV antennas cluttering the Parisian roofs….it’s a complete surreal experience … and oh so romantic !

Once you have landed in the garden of Reuilly (former marshalling and freight yard of the French railways), you will admire a huge sundial in the shape of a butterfly (there are many hidden in Paris, have fun spotting them …). You can take a well deserved break on the lawn or walk in the shady thematic garden (aquatic, bamboo … there’s something for everyone’s taste!)

Then, if you want to continue your stroll, follow the Allée Vivaldi, lined with shops of all kinds, and where the bicycle path begins if you are in the mood for a ride. Finally, the walk goes underground and you will go through tunnels and trenches until the Bois de Vincennes, where you can lunch in a nice Brasserie to conclude a very busy morning!

Come and discover this bucolic route and another way of living the city, forgetting it while contemplating it. From this green path Paris seems so far away and you’ll feel like you’re elsewhere…. and you will enjoy the city of lights even more when you get back to its pretty busy streets!

Rent now apartments in Paris and discover this unusual walk called the Promenade Plantée during these beautiful spring days, relaxation and fun guaranteed in the capital of gastronomy!

via blogonlyapartments.com