As we discovered on our bike rides, Paris is full of endless surprises and delights. Here are a couple of tastes for inspiration as Auckland develops our own urban style and heads into summer…
Promenade plantée elevated linear park
With Auckland about to get our own bike-path in the sky along the old Nelson St off-ramp, it was great to discover that Paris has an exquisitely beautiful and long-established elevated park. Exploring the area close to our hotel in Bercy/St-Émilion, we discovered the wonderful Promenade plantée (French for tree-lined walkway) or more correctly the Coulée verte René-Dumont (Coulée verte is French for green course).
The Promenade plantée is a linear garden, 5km long, built on top of obsolete railway infrastructure (the spaces underneath have been turned into art studios and galleries, in a clever two-for-one).
The garden on top winds through the 12th arrondissement from the Place de la Bastille to the Périphérique, putting you at eye level with the upper storeys of the buildings either side. (Further along, it dips down into a wide green park, with separate facilities for cycling, and then transforms into a sort of sunken garden as it travels along the old railway cutting).
This beautiful, well-established park was the first of its kind in the world. It opened in 1993 – pre-dating New York’s equally famous High Line park on an old railway viaduct in Manhattan, which was completed in 2009, and latterly Chicago’s 606 trail which opened this June.
It’s magnificent to see defunct infrastructure rededicated as green and lovely public space, linking cities – and citizens – together at different and surprising levels. It makes you wonder: where else in Auckland we might achieve such magic?
PS If the Promenade plantée seems vaguely familiar, perhaps you glimpsed it in the movie Before Sunset:
The Paris Plages – City Theatre, on a big scale
How lovely is this! A magical summer feature of Paris is the temporary artificial beaches that appear on the banks of the river Seine in Paris – the Paris Plages.
The closure of the riverside banks to traffic is part of the campaign “Paris respire” (Paris breathes), which closes selected roads on Sundays and holidays – not just in summer, but all year long. These wide roads turn into pedestrian havens where walkers, roller skaters, cyclists and parents with children in pushchairs have right of way.
The Seine’s banks become pedestrian-only, and in summer, beach areas are created each with their own design theme. For 3km along the river banks in the historic heart of the city from the Louvre to the Pont de Sully, play areas and deckchairs are used by Parisians long into the summer evenings. And at the Bassin de la Villette there are water sports, from kayaking and rowing boats, alongside restaurants and courts for playing boules.
Parisians and visitors love the sandy beaches and picnic areas, deck chairs and tents, a floating swimming pool suspended over the Seine, and play areas as well as dining, drinking, and entertainment.
If the scene seems familiar, it’s because Parisians have been sunning themselves on the banks of the Seine for a long time – but it’s wonderful to see the city restoring this summer birthright for all to enjoy.
And as Auckland starts to see the possibilities in developing and activating our own waterfront, Paris Plages is an inspirational example for stepping up our own creative style and confidence. Of course we’re lucky to have so many beautiful urban beaches, but where else might we install or open up spaces for people to play on long summer days or Sundays throughout the year?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris-Plages
http://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/major-events/Paris-Plages
