Parisian Places: La Promenade Plantée & Jardin de Reuilly

If you've ever been to New York, you may have visited the High Line, an abandoned railway turned into a long, walkway-shaped park where you can stroll, picnic, and admire a view of the city and

art of sorts.

Strolling 

Art of sorts

Well, in Paris, they have La Promenade Plantée, or La Coulée Verte (why does it have two names? I don't know) another abandoned railway-turned-park in the Eastern part of the city that actually predates New York's High Line by a good chunk of time.

When the weather is nice, the Coulée Verte is one of my favorite places to walk and talk with a friend. It's like being in another world - you're lifted up and out of the city, away from traffic, away from buildings and businesses, away from velibers ringing their bells and les vieilles trying to trip you with their enormous rolling market caddies that take up the entire sidewalk - all you can see is picturesque Parisian rooftops and blooming flowers. And sometimes graffiti. 

Picturesque Parisian Rooftops

Bloomin' flowers on the Coulée Verte

If you keep walking, you'll eventually come to Jardin de Reuilly, a big lawn, essentially. You can usually find friends picnicking, families playing, and people soaking up rays (watch out - it's not always the people you want to see who are baring the most skin!)

And here's something mind-blowing. If you take the little walkway to the right that goes just around the pelouse and then down the stairs which lead to a park exit, at the bottom you will find the most amazing public water fountain I have ever seen. 

You press a button, and fresh, cold water shoots out and fills up your bottle. And you have a choice between, get this, regular water and sparkling water. Sparkling water! Am I the only one who thinks this is amazing and totally worth a trek across town?

Because trek we did. I found out about this miraculous modern-day sparkling spring through Instagram after I had already left Paris, and so on my next trip back, I insisted on coming back, down the Coulée Verte, to the Jardin de Reuilly, on a hunt for this magical eau petillante. 

It would have cost less than a euro to just buy a bottle, but what's the fun in that? 

Practical Information

How do I get there? Well, if you're in the middle of Paris, get yourself to Bastille, and then find the opera house and plant yourself right in front. Face the opera, and walk left. Follow the sidewalks left left left, around to the side, and down the subsequent street - keep going, keep going, a block or two away from Place de la Bastille, and then look to your left - the non-descript stairs take you up to the beginning of the Coulée Verte. Voila! 

Metro: Bastille and Ledru Rollin are closest to the west entrance, and Montgallet is closest to Jardin de Reuilly.  Gare de Lyon and Dugommier are not too far, and since the walkway continues all the way to the Peripherie (4.5 kilometers!), Daumesnil and Bel Air are two more metro stops in proximity. 

When can I go? The Promenade Plantée opens at 8:30am and closes anywhere between 5:45pm and 9:30pm depending on the time of year.