A Quiet Walk

Parisians have taken advantage of this three-day Pentecost weekend to head for other parts of the hexagon, and we lucky ones left behind have the city all to ourselves. Adding to the bliss of nearly traffic-free streets and easy-to-find seating at restaurants and cafés is the incredible weather: clear blue skies and temps in the low 80s. Today seemed like the ideal time to get out and enjoy the greenery of Paris before la grisaille descends again.

One thing I've wanted to do since seeing Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in Before Sunset is to walk along the Promenade Plantée, a two-mile long narrow stretch of parkland built on a former elevated rail bed. The entrance, which we located with the help of Rick Steves' Paris guidebook, is just past the Opera Bastille, up a hidden stairway behind a tall red brick wall. The Promenade was even prettier and more peaceful than we'd expected; even though we were only a few stories above street level, the city seemed to melt away. If not for the apartment buildings visible above the park's trees and hedges, we could have mistaken it for a country lane in Giverny.

The entrance:


One of the neighborhood buildings:



A strategically-placed bench:



A surprise along the way: