One of the (many) things we love about our neighborhood is the walking/running path that runs through it. One end of the Promenade Plantée (planted walkway), also known as the Coulée Verte ("Green Flow"), is a block or so from our apartment. It runs about 3 miles from just behind the Opéra Bastille out to the eastern edge of the city. The stretch of the path by our apartment is elevated above street level and the space underneath the path houses boutiques selling antique maps, paintings, musical instruments, clothing, jewelry, furniture, and many more things.
The elevated part of the path is beautifully landscaped. It is a peaceful space in the middle of the city and we have enjoyed watching the flowers bloom all spring.
Being elevated above street level also gives you a better look at the details on higher floors of the buildings around the path.
The path even cuts through a few newer buildings.
The elevated portion of the path ends in a bridge stretching over a large park where people picnic on weekends. A branch of the path completely encircles the park's green space.
(The people at the far right of the picture are some teenagers dismantling a sculpture)
After the bridge, the path runs at street level for a few blocks before disappearing into a tunnel. When we first took the path all the way to the end, we weren't sure if we had missed something when we hit the tunnel. We decided to go through it and see where we ended up. The path emerged from the tunnel below street level and runs through a lushly planted canyon.
It comes up to street level at a few different points as the path continues out to the city limits, but there are long stretches where you would never realize you were in the middle of a city if you couldn't see the buildings peeking above the trees.
