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. 

Parisian Places: Maison Européene de la Photographie

There are so many museums in Paris. Before my 26th birthday, I tried to hit as many museums as I could that offered free admission to students 25 and under, and so by the time winter rolled around in Paris, I was a little burned out on museum-ing. I never would have gone to the Maison Européene de la Photographie had it not been personally recommended to me by a photographer and Francophile back in Chicago. 

I like museums that are big enough to be interesting, but small enough that you can see most everything in a few hours and not feel overwhelmed.*  In case you were wondering, the Louvre is not one of my favorite museums in Paris. (Gasp, blasphemy!)

Best of all, I like museums that are free, and La Maison Européene de la Photographie is, on Wednesdays from 5pm to 8pm. (Regular admission is 8 euros, or 4.50 if you qualify for a discount)

When I visited in the spring of 2013, the featured photographers were Martial Cherrier, Joel Meyerowitz, and Diana Michener. 

Michener's featured work was dreamlike, in black and white. If I knew any photography lingo, this would sure be a good place for it. 

Yes, I felt weird taking photos in a photography museum (...with my iPhone.) But it had to be done!

Joel Meyerowitz, my preferred artist of the ones exhibited, had an extensive amount of work on display. 

A Question of Color featured photographs of the same scene side by side, one in color, one in black and white. 

Face to Face featured portraits. Of humans. I liked it for the same reason that I like Humans of New York. 

           

Aftermath depicted scenes in New York directly following September 11th. According to the white plaque on the wall, he was forbidden to take photos at the site because it was a crime scene. Somehow, he did it anyway.

I don't remember exactly what this was from, but the photos sure were beautiful.

              

 

Meyerowitz's Restrospective featured his photos from a road trip through Europe, decades ago. I loved seeing pictures of places I knew in Paris, my home at the time, from years past.

         

Martial Cherrier's work was interesting... his fascination with the human body and drugs was clear. 

Exhibits change often, so this is a museum to return to again and again. It's just steps from the St. Paul metro strop in the heart of the Marais, so grab a falafel afterwards or wander over to Ile Saint-Louis for some ice cream. 

Practical Information

5/7 Rue de Fourcy - 75004 Paris

Metro: Saint Paul or Pont Marie

Open Wednesday - Sunday, 11am - 8pm

http://www.mep-fr.org/

Other things to do (and eat) in The Marais

*Musée d'Orangerie and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris also fit into this category. 

Parisian Places: Galeris Lafayette Rooftop & Terrace

I lived in Paris for about nine months before I finally went to the Galeries Lafayette rooftop. I didn't know what I was missing! Check out the view: 

You have can see the opera house, the Eiffel Tower, and Parisian rooftops for miles (kilometers?)

There is a restaurant (Noura) and a coffee stand up here, but it's also fine to bring your own picnic lunch and enjoy the view for free. 

 There are benches and chairs at your disposal (extra points if you bring along a cute French boy) but if all else fails, you can always sit yourself right down on the fake green grass stuff (what is that called? Mini golf grass?) and picnic or read or gossip with a friend whilst you enjoy the scene.

To get up here, first of all make sure you're in the right Galeries Lafayette (we're talking the main one on Boulevard Haussmann, not the one for Les Hommes or La Maison, the main one with the stained glass dome and the sea of makeup counters on the ground floor)

The go up to the sixth floor (and remember that the sixth floor in France is the seventh floor in America)

And finally...

Enjoy the view!