Hello!
Hello guys!
Today we are going to do something that I’m really excited about because I had never heard of it
but when we came to Paris I did a post on Instagram asking you guys
if you had any suggestions of things that we should do
and Birgit in Iceland said this.
And ‘this’ happens to be an elevated walkway that’s ten meters above the street level.
It was converted in 1993 from an old nineteenth century viaduct.
The first elevated park walkway in the whole world
and I didn’t even know it was here.
So thanks, Birgit!
We’re going to go check it out.
Wow.
It’s like a huge garden up here.
Oh my god.
It’s so lush up here.
It doesn’t even feel like we’re in Paris anymore.
You can barely hear the traffic even.
I mean you can but not as much.
Well we’ve been up here for about twenty minutes and about two minutes in Marc turned to me and said,
‘I think this is my favourite place in Paris.’
I was ready to commit to that.
And I actually had already thought the same thing right after we walked up and I saw how lush it was.
So I guess we fall hard and fast.
This walkway is called Promenade Plantée and
you wouldn’t know that this existed if you were on street level
and where you walk up is right behind the Bastille subway station
and there are forty-five archways - part of the viaduct - that extend far down the road
and when you’re walking at street level you don’t know.
Like you see trees above but you don’t know that there’s a walkway up here.
You’d have no idea.
When you climb those stairs and you get up here for the first time the entranceway is so lush.
It truly is a garden with mature trees and lots of places to sit
and you immediately see people just relaxed and there are people strolling along with their pets
or their strollers
or doing crossword puzzles.
We saw this funny sign actually that said
joggers are tolerated but they have to yield to walkers because this is a promenade.
But this used to be a railway from 1853 to 1969
this was an operating railway and then it was abandoned for a long time after it closed
and then in 1993 is when it became what it is now.
And apparently there was a lot of pushback from Parisians who were not interested in this idea at all,
hated the idea, and over time it has become really beloved
and a place where people can just come and relax and
get their fill of greenery when urbanism becomes too much, I guess.
I was saying that if we lived here I would be coming here every day
getting my coffee and just sitting on these benches ‘cause
it’s just such a peaceful place.
It is and there’s benches all the way along, there’s many places that you can sit down
and if you’ve been to the Highline in New York City - very similar.
I mean it’s the same idea but this feels a little bit different.
I love both but I had no idea that this existed in Paris
and that it was the first one in the world.
So I’m so glad for this tip because otherwise it just would’ve completely escaped our notice.
It’s so nice to see along here not only are there stairs to get up and down
but there are also elevators all along the walkway
so if mobility is an issue or if you have a stroller
then you can definitely get up and down without any problem.
Not to worry.
Sorry I’m so slow.
Oh it’s all right.
I just can’t walk slowly enough, it’s so beautiful.
I know.
So we’ve been walking for a little ways now
but we’ve only gone, like, a fraction of what’s possible because
according to Google maps the old train tracks were about fifteen kilometres long
and they’ve only restored about five kilometres - almost - into parkway.
So it just gives you an appreciation for how much effort was put into creating this public space.
It’s so neat.
And I guess there’s some rumour that they’re going to extend this
maybe towards the end of the fifteen kilometres.
Yeah and make more of that abandoned track into parkway which would be so cool.
We’re just walking by what I think is one of the prettiest parts so far
where the train tracks have actually been filled in to make a little pond
and it gets wider in this area.
It’s just such a nice little surprise as you’re walking along to come across a little pond.
Walking along this promenade there’s always something kind of different to turn your attention to
and behind us is an apartment building where it splits into two
and the walkway goes directly through it, which is really cool.
I’ve never seen that before.
And right now we’re coming up to the Jardin de Roi.
Jardin de Roi, I think is what it’s called.
Roi.
And we’re going to cross the little footbridge
Now we’re on this little footbridge that goes across a park
and you can look down and just see people relaxing and having picnics and sleeping.
And it gets really wobbly when these guys are running across.
Yeah, if you jump it can actually like wobble beneath you.
It’s like we’re back in Colombia on that hike.
I absolutely loved that promenade
Yeah.
It’s so cool.
We’ve only made it, I think, less than halfway but we’re getting very hungry
so I think it’s time to…
We’re going to get out of here.
…get back to street level and get something to eat.
But hopefully you guys enjoyed this hidden treasure in Paris as much as we did.
It was a perfect fall day.
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