Viaduc des Arts

We had a very nice talk with Diane yesterday and she mentioned that one place they went to that wasn't in the guidebooks when they were last there was the Viaduc des Arts which runs from the Opéra Bastille to the Jardin de Reuilly in the 12th arrondissement. In the 1850s an elevated Paris-Strasbourg Railway (the Viaduc) was built that ran to the Place de la Bastille. By the 1950s it was no longer used because the RER A replaced it. In 1979 they began to think about what to do with the SNCF train station at Bastille (it became the Opera) and the Viaduc which starts at rue de Lyon and follows the avenue Daumesnil. They decided to make the Viaduc into a mile-long planted promenade and rehabilitate the vaults below into shops for artisans and artists; the first section of it opened in 1989.

You can watch a Geobeats video about the Viaduc des Arts. Oh, golly, it's been such a long time since I've watched these Geobeats videos on Paris! I completely forgot that they existed! I'm going to have to go back and review them before we leave!

It would be great to walk along the Promenaded Plantee and then come back along the Avenue Daumesnil. There is even more information at Paris Walking Tours with lots of great photos. I think we should make this trip when we go to the Marche d'Aligre and Le Baron Rouge!