If you visited Paris some 35 years ago, instead the Bastille Opera you would have found the Bastille railway station. The station is now gone but the tracks remain unused for decades making a wild and green scar in the art of the 11th & 12th borrough. A few years back, it was decided to renovate the neighbourhood and to replace the railway tracks atop the Viaduc des Arts by a promenade planted with roses, shrubs and rosemary (la coulée verte / the green flow). It continues at ground level through the Jardin de Reuilly and the Jardin Charles Péguy on to the Bois de Vincennes in the east. |  |
It's a lovely walk in spring and summer (but remember autumn in Paris is not bad either) and if you're tired of just walking around you could step down and explore the arty shops and ateliers (71 boutiques all together) and cafés "under the arches" of the "Viaduc des Arts". I will soon make a "must be seen" shop listing for this area very soon.
La Promenade Plantée
Avenue Daumesnil
75012 Paris
Mº Ledru Rollin, Bastille (by the rue de Lyon) or Gare de Lyon.
