Biking the 12th Arrondissement

[French Mystique Tours]

Usually when I bike into Paris I have to go through the 12th arrondissement since I live southeast of Paris and this is the arrondissement which is closest to my town. Most of the time I just bike through it and spend my time riding around other arrondissements but I've never really spent any time biking around the 12th. To make up for this oversight I decided to ride around the 12th and write a little trip report about it. To be honest, there aren't a whole lot of tourist worthy attractions here. The most well known ones are the Marché d'Aligre, the park, village and pavillons at Bercy, The Promenade Plantée, Jardin de Reuilly, The Opera Bastille, The Bois de Vincennes and The Museum of the History of Immigration. Then of course for those of you taking a train perhaps you've been in and around the Gare de Lyon. Hmmm....I guess 8 attractions and a major train hub isn't too bad but that still leaves a lot of neighborhood unaccounted for. There are 5 hospitals, a couple parks, a few universities, 3 sporting/stadium complexes, a movie theater and several administrative buildings and this is all very interesting information but what else is there? The obvious answer is a bunch of other buildings so that's what I took pictures of.

Now that you're all excited come join me in this pointless excercise of discovering an area which, as I've demonstrated, possesses little to attract tourists. We'll start the journey at my condo building.



Then I'll show you my street.



And a few pictures of my town as I ride along.
















Entering and briefly passing through the town of Joinville le Pont.








Heading up Route de la Pyramide....




…..and into the Bois de Vincennes where the first thing I pass is The Hippodrome, which hosts international equestrian events.

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Then I entered the wooded section, where I have to cross the cycling circuit.







The Bois de Vincennes is one of the two largest public parks in Paris, the other being the Bois de Boulogne. Although both parks are located outside the physical boundaries of the city they belong to and are managed by the city of Paris. The Bois de Vincennes is part of the 12th arrondissement and what we see today is the result of works undertaken by Napoléon III from 1855-1866. He had the park transformed into an English style garden for the benefit of the working classes, whereas its counterpart the Bois de Boulogne was more a haunt of the wealthy classes. It is criss-crossed with several kilometers of trails and various feeder streams which supply water to its 4 man-made lakes.

The woods are also home to the Hippodrome, a farm, a zoo, a school of horticulture, a botanical garden, restaurants, the Château de Vincennes and adjacent military barracks, stadiums, tennis courts, soccer fields as well as being the site of the big annual Paris springtime carnival, the Foire du Trône. It's even got a Buddhist Temple. It's a great place to walk/jog/bike and in the warm weather you can rent rowboats and paddle around the lakes. There are also places for the kids to do pony rides and go on merry go-rounds and near these places you'll always find an ice cream stand.

There are a number of single track trails which criss-cross the woods and I like to race through them.














Here you can see the Château of Vincennes and its impressive chapel and donjon, which date from the 14th century. It is one of the largest and best preserved castles in Europe from this period although all you can visit today are the donjon and chapel. The remainder of the buildings on the grounds are used for administrative purposes. A number of illustrious historical figures are attached to its history and you can read about some of them by clicking on this link to the official website of the château: en.chateau-vincennes.fr/index.php








Here you can see the Lac Daumesnil, which is full of people when the weather is nice. There is an island in the middle with a somewhat upscale restaurant, as well as this little temple and man-made grotto.



I was riding my bike here around the summer solstice and upon walking into the grotto I encountered a large group of new age people doing bizarre solstice rituals, doubtless attracted by the natural energy emanating from this concrete paradise.

Nearby you can see the manmade mountain in the zoo, which was meant to provide a home for a breed of mountain goats known as chamois. Mostly it's just a mountain of headaches as its poor construction quality and crumbling condition is one of the reasons the park is presently closed and undergoing renovation. The zoo opened in the 1930's and was revolutionary for its time. Prior to this, animals were typically displayed in ménageries and essentially confined to cages. The zoo attempted to present animals in more of a natural habitat. Although antiquated by todays standards in its displaying of animals at one time the zoo was considered cutting edge. The crumbling mountain was designed to last 50 years and while it did last this length of time there was no planning for what next to do with it.

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Leaving the park I crossed the périphérique and entered the city where the first thing one sees is the Museum of the History of Immigration (Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration).



Conceived in 1989 and opened to the public in 2007, it was formerly the home to The National Museum of the Arts of Africa and Oceania. The history of this museum dates to 1931 when the museum housed a colonial exhibition dedicated the arts of the aforementioned geographic regions. This heritage is evident in the engraved reliefs which adorn the facade of the building.






Across the street from the museum stands this memorial, dedicated to the men who went and slaughtered the people of the countries whose artwork once filled the former museum.




And nearby is the Square des Anciens Combattants d'Indochine, completing the trifecta of monuments to colonialism.




This square and the nearby streets have been in a state of constant construction for over a year, making it a mess to ride around.




Although construction here and a few other places I habitually ride has been ongoing for quite a while now, I am generally impressed with how quickly many public works/improvements projects are completed in Paris (and France in general) compared to the snail like pace at which similar such projects progress back in Massachusetts, where I'm from. Here there's usually one guy standing next to a hole watching all the other guys in it working whereas back in Mass. it would be one guy working in the hole with everyone else standing around watching him.

Continuing past the construction I continue on down Avenue Daumesnil, which runs almost to the Place de la Bastille and has a dedicated bike lane the entire way there.




But I took a detour first to the Promenade Plantée.







The Promenade is a pedestrian/biking path which follows the route of a former rail line. It starts at Avenue Daumesnil just behind the Opéra Bastille and runs almost to the Bois de Vincennes. If you'd like to read more about it click on the link below and read this excellent report.

tinyurl.com/4zcc47n

Bikes are only allowed on the portion of The Promenade east of the Jardin de Reuilly so that is where I got off the path and decided to take pictures of the ''bunch of other buildings'' I spoke about earlier.




The outer portions of the 12th are full of modern, mid/high-rise buildings. Much of this area didn't see major development until the second half of the 19th century and what was there was often torn down to make way for the present development. It's taken me a while to familiarize myself with the abundance of modern development in and around Paris. Much of it is bland and uninspiring and often it looks like no attempt was made to integrate these structures into the existing fabric of the surrounding neighborhoods. But if you wander around enough you start to notice the differences between what is poorly planned and out of place and where an attempt at aesthetic integrity was at least considered. North of the 12th in the 19th and 20th arrondissements are some really ugly high rise buildings that remind one of eastern European communist era housing blocks. While some of those type buildings are found in the 12th as well I found that in general the modern development in the 12th was better conceived than many other arrondissements.

But of course, there are still older bits to the 12th and one of the things I wanted to do today was to see if I could find some of those neighborhoods or streets that the wrecking ball and time passed by. The photo above was taken on the Rue de Reuilly and moving down this street I encountered the first of the types of older locations I just described.




As you can see, I am about to enter the Cour d'Alsace-Lorraine. I was excited just pulling up to it as it appeared like a grand entry way that was going to reveal the hidden mystery of what lay behind the mask of buildings that lined the street.

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The buildings here looked to be of mid to late 19th century construction and gave the appearance of perhaps having once been warehouses or workshops and some of the shops on the first floors of the buildings were indeed occupied by various trades.


























Finishing up my visit here I left this little enclave and stepped back to the future.





Something about the above buidling reminded me of a cruise ship and I remember I had the theme music to ''The Love Boat'' stuck in my head for several minutes afterwards.

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Moving along across the street I came to one of the many areas full of modern buildings, this one called the Square de Fontenoy.






While I still prefer the older buildings and architecture of Paris this is one of those places where it seemed as though some thought was given to the overall design concept. If you spend some time looking at the buildings you start to notice the individual elements of detail that set the buildings apart from one another and that what you are looking at is really more than just a mass of concrete and glass.

There are interesting lines of perspective that draw the eye in certain directions.




And whimsical features.














I left the modern development behind and once again stepped back to older Paris on Rue Erard.




The Place du Colonel Bourgoin.




Sometimes the new architecture merely reflects what was once new in the past.




Looking down Rue Crozatier.




Passage Driancourt.

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Here I have arrived at the Marché d'Aligre and its adjacent covered market hall, the site of one of the cheapest markets in Paris and a popular place with locals and tourists alike.






Looking down the Rue de Charenton at the intersection of Rue Traversière.




This lovely art nouveau design boulangerie, on the ground floor of the above shown building, had recommendations from just about every guide imaginable.




Still life with bike.




If you have a colorful storefront the local graffiti afficianados will find a way to further enhance your coloring.




A little alley off Rue de Charenton.








And back down Rue de Charenton....




….to Avenue Daumesnil where you can see the arcades beneath the Promenade Plantée which runs above them.




Next I headed over towards the Gare de Lyon, where I took this photo of the station that I didn't realize was blurry until after I got home.




Here's one of my favorite residential streets near the Gare de Lyon, Rue Cremieux.

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Next I headed to an area which I think best exemplifies how to do modern architecture right, the Bercy neighborhood. Bercy was once a village outside Paris that in the 19th century became the center of the French wine market, with large storehouses built to house the product. By the 1970's it was a run down industrial wasteland and a massive redevelopment program was undertaken which lasted for nearly two decades. I think it is mostly a success, although I'm still not sure what to make of the Palais Omnisports (shown below), a major sporting/concert/events center. Looks kind of like a bunker.






But I think the nearby Frank Gehry designed Cinématèque Française works. Originally built as the American Center it was redesigned and opened in 2005 as the new cinema. It houses a museum with collections and exhibits dedicated to film.




The Parc de Bercy is also quite well done.








Next to the park is Bercy Village.




The old wine storehouses have been converted to a pedestrian shopping district and numerous cafés, restaurants and shops line the walkways.




Adjacent to Bercy Village are the Pavillons de Bercy, which were old warehouses that now house The Museum of Fairground Art, The Venetian Rooms and the Piazza and the Théâtre du Merveilleux. The buildings on the grounds are a premier example of industrial architecture of the 19th century. Primarily used by companies for events, visits are possible for groups of at least 15 which make reservations but it is otherwise not open for visits except on special days.






The recent Christmas fair which had taken place here was being taken down and I was able to squeeze out two quick photos before the gentleman in the photo closed the door on me.






During renovation at Bercy artifacts from the neolithic period were unearthed (5th millenium B.C.), the most significant of which were some dug-out canoes, or pirogues. The pirogues and associated artifacts are on display at The Carnavalet Museum in the Marais district.




From the shades of the past I once again encountered the shapes of the future.

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I got a late start on the day and with the shortened winter daylight hours I had to return another day to finish my explorations. Returning a few days later I started off down Rue de Wattignies.




Moving down the road I encountered this building, which had an ornate sign above the entrance indicating the name of its original occupant prior to being subdivided into commercial space.






The Dorin company came into existence in the 18th century as a manufacturer of cosmetics but it was most noted for its perfumes. Through the influence of Marie Antoinette the Dorin company became the official supplier of perfumes and beauty products to the royal court at Versailles in 1780. The building in the above photo was constructed in 1888 and housed the laboratories of the company. Today their products are sold at a limited number of boutiques throughout the world with three of these locations being in Paris. There is a Dorin museum in the town of Chatou near Versailles for those of you interested in the history of luxury cosmetics.

Back to the Rue de Wattignies.




At this point I was exploring the area south of Avenue Daumesnil and east of Rue Taine and it was pretty well built up with mostly uninspired architecture. Nothing too awful but nothing to captivate the imagination either. Just ordinary. I decided to head to Avenue Daumesnil and visit the Art Deco church which I always passed by but had never visited. Here are a couple of exterior photos of the Eglise du Saint-Esprit.






It's pretty hard to get exterior photos of the church since it was built on a footprint that constricted its shape, that is, being sandwiched between a bunch of existing buildings. The church draws its inspiration from the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and was one of a series of churches constructed under the cardinal Verdier between WWI and WWII known as the Chantiers du Cardinal. A number of catholic artists devoted to sacred art were involved in its construction and decoration. The new materials available at this time were utilized in its construction most notably in the form of reinforced concrete, which comprises its frame. The exterior was faced with red bricks from Burgundy. Here you can see one of the bricks stamped with its makers mark.




In the early 1940's a series of reliefs in molded cement were also added to the exterior and are representations of the seasons. Here is one of them.

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The interior is decorated with murals and frescoes commissioned by the architect Paul Tournon from a group of artists known as the Ateliers d'Art Sacré. The murals and frescoes were produced by Maurice Denis, Georges Desvallières, Nicolas Untersteller and Elizabeth Branly, the sculpture by Carlo Sarrabezolles, the windows by Louis Barillet, Paul Louzier and Jean Herbert- Stevens, the wrought iron work by Raymond Subes and the mosaic work by Marcel Imbs. The church is considered one of the most important works of Christian art during the time period between the two wars. I'll show you some pictures of the interior and murals but since the church is so dimly lit they are not as luminous in photos as in person. Nonetheless, here we go.




















Back to the road looking down Rue Edouard Robert.






Moving north of Avenue Daumesnil and the Promenade Plantée the neigborhoods become a little more lively, colorful and interesting. Here is the Rue Victor Chevreuil.

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At the end of this street I arrived at Rue Sibuet.






Feeling a bit hungry and in need of some lunch I started looking for a place to eat and came across a lovely little local restaurant called Le Picotin at 35 Rue Sibuet.



It had some nice looking and not too expensive dishes that could be ordered a la carte but I was more interested in cheap and they offered a 10 euro lunch menu of a small salad, pasta dish and dessert so I popped in and grabbed a bite. In doing a little research on restaurant reviews it gets mostly favorable reviews. The menu didn't appear too large which generally means the chef concentrates on doing a few things well. On Thursdays apparently there is acoustic music.


A couple more photos along Rue Sibuet.






Here are a couple of photos whose locations I don't recall.






Next I arrived at Rue du Rendez-Vous, which runs between Place de la Nation and Avenue de Saint-Mandé. It is a lively street in a lively area and around here, I felt, was one of the nicer areas in the 12th outside of the well known areas near Gare de Lyon and the Marché d'Aligre.




Just off this street were a couple of those little alleys that time forgot that I like to discover. I don't recall the name of this first street but my map labels it as Cité du Rendez-Vous. It used to house several artisan workshops which were renovated in the 1990's to create residential establishments.






Just next door you find the Cité Debergue, which also housed artisan workshops transformed into residential dwellings with the added bonus of a nice litle park.










The developers of this parcel thought of everything during its renovation. They even built a cage where you can leave your children while you go grocery shopping, or on vacation. I assume someone has been hired to feed them while the owners are away.

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Here is the church next to the two cité named streets.




And some Haussmann inspired buildings on Rue Marsoulan.




Across from the two little cité streets I saw a colorful looking fruit store that I thought would make a nice picture.





The owner was not at all impressed with my photographic eye for detail, nor that I had included his store in my photo essay and he came out and yelled at me and told me I had no authorization to take a picture of his store. Really?!?! What was I going to do, steal his secret recipe for oranges? I played the dumb tourist and gave a huge smile and wave as I rode away on my bike saying in a most gracious tone ''Merci'' as though he had been complimenting my photographc skill. Perhaps next time I'll head to the Préfecture and make sure I fill out the appropriate forms before taking pictures of Parisian fruit stands. Here's one last photo from the Rue du Rendez-Vous.




Moving around the corner I came to Rue de la Voute.




Off this street runs the Impasse Vassou....




….and just across the street is the Impasse Canart.










Next to the two impasses I noticed a quaint little tavern called Taverne de la Voute. It was a small place with maybe 6 or 7 tables and a bar with a limited but nice looking a la carte menu and a 3 course lunch menu for 14.50 euros. If I hadn't eaten already I would have given this place a try. I could find no reviews for it on-line and if you are seeking a quiet, out of the way, unknown and undiscovered place where you'll find only locals and never a tourist then why don't you give this place a try and be the first to write a review? If you don't do it soon I'm going to beat you to it. Here is a picture of the restaurant and its building.




Around the corner from here I headed up the Rue du Gabon.




I took this photo looking down Rue du Niger.




And along Rue du Niger is where I encountered my last little area that time forgot.





You don't find too many detached single family homes in Paris and I'm sure the owner of this one is quite pleased to live here.

Adjacent to the house is a narrow alley called the Sentier des Merisiers.






Here's the sign above the doorbell to the single family home. It says ''Very mean cat and not well fed''.

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How about going for a little bike ride with me down this alley?




And of course, what visit to Paris would be complete without experiencing a protest.




Having finished up my photo journey I headed back to the Bercy area and got on the bike path along the Seine which I often ride back to my town. Here's what it looks like along the way.






Good news for commuters, traffic on the périphérique is fluide.







The Chinagora restaurant complex sits at the confluence of the Seine and Marne rivers. At this point I follow the Marne river back to my town.
















A series of canals interrupts the ride and I take a little detour through Saint-Maurice.






I finally arrive in my town.





And that is the end of the ride.

[JP]

Thank you for this! We are staying in going to Paris next week and staying in Bercy. Your photos have made me ready to explore the neighborhood.