A green ring around Paris.

An iron belt in the heart of Paris

There are lots of unusual places in Paris, but have you heard of this one? In the heart of the metropolis, like an invisible border A place where the hustle and bustle of the boulevards fades away to make way for silence and greenery.

Built under the Second Empire, from 1852 onwards, this 32km railway line was originally designed to link the stations together. Each train company had opened its own station in Paris, but if you wanted to transport goods from one line to another, you had to unload everything and go through the streets. To remedy this problem, a railway ring has been built, A small train which initially only carried freight.

It then opened up to travellers as well, carrying up to de 38 million people at the 1900 Universal Exhibition. Then, little by little, the line was abandoned (some sections were still in use until the 1980s, old-timers will remember). It was replaced by the PC bus (for «Petite Ceinture»), and partly covered over, concreted over etc. but not entirely.

From industrial wasteland to wild refuge

There are, around Paris (although still within the Boulevard des Maréchaux) several sections are still accessible today. What a surprise to sometimes see, at the bend in a street, this iron staircase that descends into the heart of the city! a sort of mysterious wasteland.

Take a walk rue Didot, for example, in the 14th arrondissement, At the bottom of the street you'll see one of these entrances. In just a few steps, you're in another world: a green trench, abandoned tracks, A path where a few rare walkers venture, a place of silence and shade, a refuge for biodiversity.

If you take a photo there and share it, people will think you're in the forest, somewhere in the provinces, a long way from Paris. Trees covering the road like a canopy, cobblestones from another age, old piles of wood, a small path, high moss-covered walls, wild flowers and birdsong.

Parisian ecological walk

Certain other sections, notably the 13th, near the Charles Trenet garden, These are much more attractive, with well-mown lawns, benches, flowerbeds and children playing.

In Paris, there are 7 «pieces» of the Petite Ceinture that are still visible and accessible, between the 12th and 19th arrondissements; the Paris City Council website lists these «ecological promenades», which are easy to find. Some parts, however, are closed to the public.

It's funny to think that the longest park in Paris is partly hidden beneath our feet, We all have a child's heart for the wasteland, and somewhere we still have the soul of an adventurer. We all have in us the heart of a child who loves the wastelands, and somewhere still an adventurer's soul.

Although, of course, I wouldn't advise a midnight stroll on a foggy evening:), a short hour's walk through these unusual places reconnects you with nature. Little by little it reclaims its rights and transforms stone and concrete into a tunnel of greenery, along a ring that encircles Paris like a sleeping memory.

Frank Emmerich