Just a ten minute walk from our apartment in the Marais is a green escape from the urban Paris environment. La Coulée Verte or La Promenade Plantée is a magical 4.5 km trail that runs the length of the 12th arrondissement – a little piece of nature in the city.
The greenway starts near the Place de la Bastille and The Opéra Bastille and continues to the Blvd Périphérique at the eastern edge of the city, ending near the Bois de Vincennes. This pathway is built on the old rail line that once linked the Place de la Bastille to Varenne-Saint Maur in the mid 1800s. The trains stopped running in 1969. In 1993, the route was turned into a greenway. Along the entire route, there is a mix of wild vegetation combined with landscaped area. There are cherry, lime, maple, and hazlenut trees, bamboo, lavender, climbing plants, daffodils, tulips, and roses in a beautiful mix along this lovely walk.
The first (western) part of the path runs along Avenue Daumensil, beginning over the arches of the Viaduc des Arts. Inside the arches are a diverse set of artisan showrooms, but above runs the walkway, reserved for pedestrians and elevated 10 metres above street level. For me, it was reminiscent of the High Line in New York City.
The elevation gives a unique perspective of the city, with spectacular views of the Haussmann-style architecture of the city. We were amused to see a pair of gilets jaunes hanging from windows of one of the buildings. We have noticed that the gilets jaunes keep their rioting to Saturday nights only, which seems like a pretty French way to protest!
There is also a super view of the Police station decorated with a series of identical statues along the top – duplicates of Michelangelo’s Dying Slave sculpture which is at the Louvre.
The elevated portion ends with a dramatic curved bridge over the wide open Jardin de Reuilly.
The next 2.5 km of the path is wilder and has a separate lane for bicyclists. The greenway continues first at street level and then below street level. The first stage at street level is the Allée Vivaldi and is bordered by residential and commercial buildings.
The underground section takes you through the trenches and under the bridges where the train once travelled. We passed through a series of lovely old railway tunnels, framed by archways decorated with hanging ivy. In the tunnels themselves, there were areas where the bricks had come away that had been replaced by chalkboard paint!
The walkway ends at the Jardin Charles Peguy with a green spiral staircase to bring you up to street level and back to the hustle and bustle of the Paris streets.
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