Promenade Plantee. Photo: amytoensing.com

Text by Simone Blaser

Sometimes the French just get it right.  For the 20 years preceding the buzzy unveiling of Manhattan’s Highline Park, Parisians have quietly enjoyed their own walk-in-the-sky: the promenade plantée, a 4.5-kilometer respite from the often overbearing honks and crowds that can conquer even the best-planned day in Paris (the best laid schemes of mice and men and all of that).  This respite is a garden, a journey, a picnic; it’s a moment to breathe and walk under an arcade of trees and colors; a moment to appreciate the marriage between nature and architecture.  The promenade plantée is Paris’ very own elevated park.

Viaduc des arts. Photo: parisdailyphoto.blogspot.com

The park extends from just behind the Opera Bastille to the Porte de Saint Maur, a stone’s throw from the Bois de Vincennes on Paris’ eastern edge. It sits on what was once a railway that connected the Bastille to the suburbs of Paris, in service from 1859 to 1969 and no doubt the product of Baron Haussman’s grand renovations of Paris. In 1988, the landscape architect Philippe Mathieux and the architect Jacques Vergely resuscitated the abandoned railway viaduct to create a green space unlike any other in Paris.

Photo: france-for-visitors.com

It’s an assault of color: shades of greens and pinks and whites and yellows change with the seasons, but never disappoint.  Wild vegetation and modern landscaping complement the buildings, both modern and historical, that surround the promenade. Architectural ornaments—invisible from the street level—suddenly reveal themselves. Be sure to look out for the varied ironwork that frames the balconies of older buildings, chimney pieces reminiscent of reed pipes, and even some graceful caryatids that hold up the weight of an art-deco building. The promenade fleurie is perhaps Paris’ largest window-box of flowers. As always, the best sightings are those you don’t expect; so above all, visit this park with eyes (and ears!) ready to be surprised.

Photo: publicartonline.org.uk

Bring along your children and your leashed dog and, for an afternoon at least, walk on air.

Don’t forget about the Viaduc des Arts: the 70 renovated archways below the railway that now house dozens of artists’ ateliers, galleries, furniture showrooms, a restaurant and cafe.

Bridge over the Parc de Reuilly. Photo: flickr.com

Metro: Bastille (Lines 8, 5, 1) and Ledru-Rollin (Line 8).

Enter at 38 rue de Lyon (Paris, 75012) or 280 avenue Daumesnil (Paris, 75012) or various points in between.

Edited by Tory Hoen for the HiP Paris Blog. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

For those lucky enough to be in Paris this July, the Paris Jazz Festival is back for its 16^th year. As throngs of tourists crowd the city center, the Parc Floral in the Bois de Vincennes, where jazz performances will be held every weekend until July 26, provides the perfect escape. The main events take place on the park’s main stage—the Delta—but smaller performances take place in the nearby Clairière des Impros and Jardinophone as well. Visitors are encouraged to bring picnics and lounge on the grass while enjoying the weekend’s outdoor concerts.

Photo courtesy of pixinn.net (Christophe Meneboeuf)

This year, the festival explores international and historical themes in music, and the program for each weekend focuses on a different musical concept or tradition. This coming weekend’s theme, “Gypsy Land, ” will celebrate the musical heritage of the diasporic communities of central Europe. The line-up for Saturday, July 11, includes the Costel Nitescu Quintet and Bojan Z. The program for Sunday, July 12, features native Alsacian Bireli Lagrene, followed by Kocani Orkestar—a group that mixes Ottoman/Bulgarian influences to create their own unique “flamboyant brass band style.”

Photo: parisjazzfestival2009.net

The Bois de Vincennes is open from 9:30am to 8pm. Entrance to the Parc Floral is 5€ for adults, 2.50€ for students, and free for children 7 years and under. Concerts are free once you have paid entrance fees.

For more information about the festival and the program for the month of July, follow this link: http://parisjazzfestival2009.net/english-version/

Looking for a place to stay? Check out Haven in Paris’ fabulous vacation rental apartments at www.haveninparis.com

Photo Erica Berman

Text Jen Holup
Open the infamous little red “Plan de Paris” to a map of any arrondissement, and you will be presented with pleasant green shapes on every page.  Full of green spaces to discover, Paris is a veritable urban jungle.

Many of Paris’ parks are well-tred territory, beloved by both locals and tourists alike. Luxembourg Gardens is a welcome rest-stop on a journey through the bustling Latin Quarter to Montparnasse. the Champs de Mars and Jardin des Tuileries offer grandiose promenades among the city’s most impressive monuments.  Yet, more than once, after packing a picnic and a book for an afternoon in the park, I have found one of the endearing “pelouse au repos” signs gracing the lawn, informing me (albeit in the charming French way) that the grass was “resting,” and thus unfit for human contact.  So, where does one retreat for a picnic in the City of Lights while our flora friends recuperate?

Bois de Vincennes: Since Louis XV, these 995 acres have been open to public enjoyment.  The lovely thing about parks in Paris is that they are so much more than a series of well-landscaped paths for an afternoon stroll.  Bois de Vincennes offers distractions for all interests.  This forest on the eastern edge of the city has so much to offer, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it even for a rainy day.  Enter the forest from Porte Dorée (Metro Ligne 8), where you will be greeted by Paris’ only Aquarium.  A short walk away is the Zoo (closed for renovations until 2012), the Cité de l’Histoire de l’Immigration, and a bonafide Buddhist monastery offering courses in meditation, yoga, and Eastern practices several days a week.

During the summer, the Pelouse de Reuilly comes alive with carnival activity.  To truly escape the city for a spell, Vincennes offers two pleasant lakes: Lac Daumesnil and Lac des Minimes.  Bird-watchers will delight in the informative placards identifying (in French) the lakes’ waterfowl.  A trip to the Ferme Georges Villa, a small-scale farm, and a hippodrome.

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont: Truly, the only setback of this unique park is its unfortunate location on the feeble Metro Ligne 7-bis—a 7-stop affair that will likely require at least two transfers from any major hub.  Take a taxi, if you must, but don’t miss this peaceful oasis in the 19th, offering spectacular views of Paris.  Ideal for lounging on a spring or summer day.

Bois de Boulogne: Alighting at the art-deco Metropolitain at Porte Dauphine evokes the early twentieth century Paris of Proust, where gentleman courted ladies along the wooded avenues to Longchamp races or the ritzy suburbs of Neuilly and Boulogne.
(Perfectly safe during daylight hours, but do exercise caution in any public park at night: the area becomes an infamous red-light district after dark).