Irony at Parc Montsouris; pic; Steve Sampson
The light in Paris may be legendary but, for a lot of the year, it can be elusive. That’s why no one wanted to waste the recent Indian summer.
Officially, it was art week – with three big-ticket events. Both the Picasso Museum and La Monnaie, the Paris Mint were re-opening, not to mention Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton.
Art week (Fiac) in the Tuileries; pic: Cynthia Rose
Afternoon, Place Farhad Hachet (see mural), 13th; pic: Cynthia Rose
Yet the autumn sun was enough to soften the bleakest site. So most Parisians stuck to their special, local places – those haunts they are about to lose come the winter weather.
Sunset in the 13th, Quai Austerlitz; pic: Steve Sampson
Petite Ceinture, south near Parc Montouris stretch, pic: Paysages souterrains
Such favourite spaces include parks and quais but also something called la Petite Ceinture. This, the ‘Little Belt’, is a now-abandoned railway. Built in the 1850s to ferry travellers between bigger train stops, la Ceinture was finally closed in 1993. But parts of it provide a high-up view of the city and many of its tunnels plunge beneath Parisian streets.
Morning on the Petite Ceinture, 15th; pic: Cynthia Rose
Because the Little Belt encircled the city’s edge, much of it is overgrown and simply sits derelict. But other paths and stations have been renovated – either by the city or by local communities. Much of the track which traverses the 15th arrondissement, for instance, has become an elevated parkway. Pleasant and wide, it ends (a bit suddenly) in the Parc George Brassens.
Its creation was inspired by the Coulée Verte, a walkway built in 1993 atop another disused railway. Famously visible in Richard Linklater’s film “Before Sunset”, the Coulée was the site that inspired Manhattan to build its High Line.
Petite Ceinture at Porte de Clignancourt (La Recyclerie); pic: Le Petit pois
The Gare du Boulevard Ornano (built 1878); pic: Association Sauvegarde Petite Ceinture
One of the Ceinture‘s old stops is yards away from the métro exit at Porte de Clignancourt. In an area without a lot of public assets, locals have turned the tracks here into a complex. The railway’s onetime station (Boulevard Ornano) has become a pretty café called La REcyclerie. Outside, there are shared gardens and a farm.
Afternoon inside La REcyclerie: pic: Cynthia Rose
Bleaker stretches of these old rails remain wild and dodgy. But, given the right light, many have something precious: the rare combination of Parisian views and solitude.
Sunset, Bibliothèque François Mitterand from Quai Austerlitz; pic: Steve Sampson
• The Association Sauvegarde Petite Ceinture has spent two decades fighting for the lines to be rehabilitated. Also worth checking: the site Lieux-étranges (Strange Sites).
• La Recyclerie is open seven days a week. The Friends of the Jardins du Ruisseau hold numerous events in and around their communal gardens. Un peit pois sur dix has a great piece on them both (in French).
The derelict Gare de Charonne in the 20th; pic: Blackbeard, Lieux étranges