The view looking down into the park from the entrance above.
Updated April 2025
The scent of aromatic plants wafted in the air as I climbed the steps near the Place de la Bastille to reach the world’s first elevated park hidden in plain sight in the middle of Paris.
Paris has no shortage of beautiful parks, such as the Tuileries and the Luxembourg Gardens, which appear in every guidebook. They may attract a lot of tourists, but I always return to these jewels on any trip to Paris. There are, however, lesser-known, intriguing parks and hidden green spaces with captivating histories worth exploring. Situated on the former tracks of the old Vincennes railway line, the 2.8-mile-long Coulée Verte René Dumont, initially known as the Promenade Plantée, is worth a detour.
An Abandoned Railway Line Transformed Into an Elevated Park
Rising 33 feet above the busy streets below, the roughly one-mile-long elevated portion of the Coulée Verte is supported by the Viaduct des Arts, a series of 70 red brick arches that were once part of an old, crumbling railroad viaduct whose vaults had been used as storage facilities.
Rescued From Demolition
The fate of the abandoned and disused railroad tracks and viaduct was in question until the City of Paris rescued them from scheduled demolition in the early 1980s, turning a decrepit eyesore into a verdant greenbelt with more than eight acres of gardens stretching from the Place de la Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes. A ten-year restoration transformed the viaduct’s vaults into creative spaces featuring 45 studios for interior designers, cabinetmakers, sculptors, ceramicists, tapestry makers, violin and flute makers, furniture restorers, and several furniture showrooms, as well as a restaurant and cafe.
Inspiration For Other Elevated Parks
The model for its contemporary American cousin, The High Line, which opened to the public in 2009, Paris’s Coulée Verte René Dumont (“Flowing Green,” named in honor of agronomist and environmentalist René Dumont) was the world’s first and only elevated urban green space before its New York relative spawned numerous followers. Many other urban green space projects followed, including Chicago’s Bloomingdale Trail, Philadelphia’s Reading Viaduct, Rotterdam’s Hofplein station, and the partially completed Chapultepec Forest Project in Mexico City that was designed to link a subway station to the city’s largest park, Chapultepec Forest.
Vine-covered arches open onto “garden rooms” and intimate seating areas.
Entering the Park Near the Place de la Bastille
Access to the park was a bit challenging to locate. I didn’t see any signs to confirm I was anywhere near the promenade, and the GPS did not show any entrances. After wandering about for a while, I spotted an inconspicuous staircase located near the intersection of Rue de Lyon and Avenue Daumesnil. A small sign marked the entrance to the elevated segment of the Coulée Verte, which begins just east of the Place de la Bastille and continues eastward about three miles to its endpoint near the Bois de Vincennes, Paris’s largest green space, also worth a visit.
Wisteria vines wound their way up and through a trellised arch that appeared like a doorway to the elevated segment of the walkway. This was the beginning of my walk across almost the entire length of Paris’s 12th arrondissement. I followed the greenway to its opposite end, where a spiral staircase led down to the boulevard Périphérique beltway.
Joggers ran by, mothers pushed strollers, and lovers walked arm in arm or kissed on park benches as I navigated the linear greenscape past roses and hollyhocks while inhaling the potent scent of rosemary.
An Eclectic Landscape of Varying Styles
Designed by landscape architect Jacques Vergely and architect Philippe Mathieux in the 1980s, the landscape features an eclectic mix of formally cultivated areas and abundant natural spaces opening onto panoramic views over Parisian rooftops and beyond. In their master plan, Vergely and Mathieux retained the original infrastructure, including bridges, flyovers, embankments, trenches, and tunnels. They also carefully preserved the existing indigenous vegetation, including the moss and lichen that bordered the original tracks, while augmenting the park with a vast collection of new plantings.
The Coulée Verte aligns perfectly with the city’s more recent goals for greening the city and increasing biodiversity. In 2014, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo successfully launched “Reinventing Paris,” a massive greening campaign aimed at planting 170,000 trees by 2016 to establish urban forests across the city. By 2030, city authorities expect to have half of Paris covered in planted areas, in line with the French Parliament’s mandate that one-third of the rooftop surfaces of all newly constructed buildings must be covered in plants or contain solar panels.
Springtime in Paris: Perfect Season For Paris Walks
It was spring, and everything was in bloom. I spotted a variety of flowering trees and bushes, including multi-hued roses and tulips, vibrant irises, acanthus, begonias, and lavender. There was a smattering of bamboo, some ivies, and a plethora of wildflowers. I walked under a canopy of maples and amid chestnut trees with fragrant white blossoms, magnolias with pink and violet flowers, and white and pink cherry blossoms.
Reflecting pools were dry, but I could imagine how they looked filled.
An outdoor botanical gallery: the trellised wall beside the stone and painted facade was a study in contrasts.
Entering the Park Near the Bois de Vincennes
When I first walked the length of the park about ten years ago, I entered from the other side on the ground-level portion, a few blocks off Place Felix Eboué, where Avenue Daumesnil intersects with Boulevard de Reuilly. Experiencing it this time in the opposite direction, starting from the Bastille, offered a different perspective. I had not noticed before that there were several other entrances along the way, and occasionally, an elevator was available to bring visitors to the elevated portions.
If you enter as I did the previous time from the Bois de Vincennes side, you will descend a flight of stairs that brings you into one of the former railroad tunnels-turned-grotto, punctuated with small waterfalls. You will hear the sound of trickling water in this pass-through while observing public art installations and murals. This ground-level area of the walkway leads to the elevated portion of the park, offering expansive views of Parisian rooftops and the boulevards below.
Pubic Art Installations Along the Promenade
The city has commissioned several artists to create public artworks along the Coulée Verte. Artist Anna Conda’s bright murals enlivened many walls along the walk. Illustrator Caroline Laguerre’s series of three frescoes brings color and playfulness to the alcoves of one residential building. In one of the tunnels, Ruben Carrasco’s larger-than-life colorful jungle animals look directly at passersby.
After passing the Allée Vivaldi, a pleasant surprise awaited: a four-foot-high sundial created in the 1990s by Régine and Jean-Loup Doucet, located by the entrance to the Jardin de Reuilly-Paul Pernin, another lesser-known park that primarily attracts local residents.
I passed through a gate that opened onto a gently sloping lawn bordered with hundreds of tulips and surrounded by various levels of themed gardens, many of which were dotted with sculptures. Architect Pierre Colboc designed the Jardin de Reuilly between 1992 and 1998 on the site of a former freight station. Thirsty visitors can hydrate there at France’s first public fountain, which dispenses fresh still or sparkling water free of charge.
A narrow passageway on the elevated portion passes through two buildings, where pedestrians squeeze their way between the structures, which appear as a single unit divided in half. Like a living being with many personalities, each part of this park offered a different view of the city, accompanied by all its Parisian scents and flavors.
Arched grapevine trellises, allées of bamboo, and columns of fragrant flowers punctuated individual sections of the passage, various landscape elements representing different design periods in the history of garden design. And, ah! There were so many roses!
At some points, I had a voyeuristic bird’s-eye view into some Parisian apartments and terraces. Although their privacy may sometimes be compromised, I kept thinking how fortunate those residents were to have this hidden garden in the sky right in their backyards.
Check out those French derrières!
A Building Facade Bearing Reproductions of Michelangelo’s “The Dying Slave”
Every turn revealed another jewel: small reflecting pools, architectural details, and some colossal al fresco classic sculptures. The elevated passage offered an excellent view of the Commissariat de Police building at the corner of Avenue Daumesnil and Rue Rambouillet, whose façade (above) was adorned with 12 reproductions of Michelangelo’s “The Dying Slave,” commissioned by architects Manolo Nunez-Yanowski and Miriam Teitelbaum. The original statues are part of the permanent collection at the Louvre.
The final stretch took me to the edge of the Bastille, where I entered on my second visit to the Coulée Verte. I felt just as I do after enjoying a fabulous French meal: sated but wanting more.
Anyone up for a walk?
Photos by Robin Plaskoff Horton.
