Well, here I am in Paris for just 24 hours, enroute to Provence for a month and then a long-distance walk of 140 kilometers on the north coast of Brittany. I arrived in Paris yesterday at around noon and made my way to my hotel in the 12th arrondissement near the Parc de Bercy. Here is the view from my little balcony.

After a brief rest and a revitalizing afternoon coffee, I made my way to the Coulée Verte – a green pedestrian corridor that stretches for 4.5 kilometers across the 12th arrondissement. The short walk there really let me know that I was in Paris!

I joined the Coulée Verte at the Promenade Plantée, located below street level on a disused rail line that operated from 1853-1969 from Place de la Bastille to La Varenne-Saint-Maur.

The path soon passed through several stone tunnels and then continued up at street level, joining many small parks and planted areas.

Spring blooms and blossoms were everywhere, including cherry, forsythia, azalea, tulips, quince, primroses, and a variety of narcissus.

There were many people enjoying the parks and the path on this warm and sunny Friday afternoon. Some were walking dogs, jogging, or strolling leisurely along with family or friends, and some were taking advantage of benches to read or just relax.

This suspension bridge arched over the grassy lawn of the large park called Jardin de Reuilly.

The Coulée Verte then rose to an elevated position above the streets of Paris, with many sculptural elements, water gardens, and varied plantings.

It was fun to look down from the walkway onto the lovely buildings and busy streets of Paris.

Here are several more images from my inspiring walk along the Coulée Verte.

The elevated path ended near the Place de la Bastille, a busy square where the Bastille prison stood until its destruction during the French Revolution. The July Column, topped by Augustin Dumont’s golden Génie de la Liberté, commemorates the events of the July Revolution of 1830, also known as the Second French Revolution. As I approached, I could see and hear that the square was very busy.

Place de la Bastille continues to be a place to mount protests, and today there were two demonstrations happening when I arrived – a Climate Action youth rally and a demonstration against rising rental costs, evictions, and homelessness.

I sat for a long while in the sun and enjoyed listening to the rousing brass band and the enthusiastic chanting and cheering from the teenagers at the Climate Action rally. People kept streaming into and out of the square and the mood was overwhelmingly positive and also strangely energized and relaxed at the same time. I don’t think it was just me!

From Place de la Bastille, I strolled towards the Seine along the Canal St. Martin where many beautiful wooden boats were moored.

And then at this point I began to feel a bit whoozy after my long walk in the sun and because I had barely slept on the night flight from Vancouver to Paris. So, I decided to put away my camera, source a quick dinner, and walk back to my hotel for an early night. This is my last photo of my afternoon walk in Paris.

The following day I woke early and decided to have an easy morning. I set out to explore the Parc de Bercy, located very near to my hotel. There were few people around and I enjoyed the sounds of the birds as I meandered about the many different sections of this large and diverse park. There were naturalized areas, formal plantings, water features, sculptures, bridges, buildings, a community garden, playgrounds and picnic areas, and even a small vineyard.

I traversed the length and width of the park and then decided to walk across the pedestrian bridge which leads from the park over the River Seine.

From the pedestrian bridge I had a lovely view downstream of the Pont de Bercy.

I returned to the park which was beginning to be busy with joggers, families with young children, seniors, and assorted groups of teenagers chatting, listening to music, playing basketball and skateboarding. But, there were still some quiet places to be found for people to sit and read in the sun or talk with a friend.

Meanwhile, I continued to find enjoyment and serenity by focusing on shapes, patterns, textures, and colour through the lens of my camera.

Before heading back to my hotel to prepare for checkout, I walked through Bercy Village, a pleasant pedestrian street lined with shops, cafés, and restaurants.

I purchased a light lunch to go at a Patisserie and managed to resist walking out with one of these!

I was not so disciplined, however, at “La Cure Gourmande – Biscuits, Confiseries, Chocolats.” They certainly know what they are doing when they hand out a sample of their tiny but amazingly delicious apricot biscuits – I bought 3 and ended up paying handsomely for them!

Suitably fortified for the walk from my hotel to the Gare de Lyon station with my big backpack, I was ready to soon rest my feet and enjoy the three and a half hour TGV train ride to Avignon. I was leaving Paris about 24 hours after my arrival – impressed with its busyness and energy but also happy to have found serenity and relaxation in some of its quiet and green spaces.