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Photo: jean-louis Zimmermann from Moulins, FRANCE, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
If you were a city planner in one of the great cities of our Earth and you discovered that a railroad right-of-way had been abandoned and would never be used again what might you do? Perhaps if you knew your stuff you'd convert it into a 4 mile long park, about half of which is elevated above street level on the old rail viaduct. This long narrow park pretty much allows the visitor to walk in carfree bliss from Place de Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes.
The Coulée verte René-Dumont or Promenade plantée René-Dumont is a 4.7 km (2.9 mi) elevated linear park built on top of obsolete railway infrastructure in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was inaugurated in 1993.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
One of the truly great venues for the performing arts anywhere in the world, Paris' new opera house actually managed to inspire some neighborhood protest during its planning and construction. Pretty much everybody is a believer nowadays though. Check out the website for upcoming shows, it might even make sense to plan a trip to Paris around one.
An indoor sports arena that seats around 17,000 for sports and slightly over 20,000 for major concerts; formerly known as Palais des Omnisports de Paris-Bercy and Bercy Arena. Home to numerous concerts and major sporting events, most notably the Paris Masters tournament on the ATP World Tour in men's tennis.
La Cinémathèque française
Housed in modern building designed by Frank Gehry, contains a cinema showing French & international films, temporary exhibitions lasting about 6 months, Museum dedicated to the history of cinema. Exhibitions are fairly visual.
Nestled in the centre of the Parc Bercy (below) is a lovely, and truly peaceful, garden with several waterworks and other high-quality landscape-art pieces. If you are one of the many people visiting the 12th on business it would be well worth an hour of your time between meetings and dinner to explore the mound, the fountain, and the bridges, and to watch children play in complete peace, much like the peace to which the garden's namesake dedicated his life.
Between the River Seine and the rail yards attached to Gare de Lyon and Gare de Bercy is a green space which would seem pretty huge if the 12th weren't also the home of the Bois de Vincennes. The park is a good place to hang out waiting for the line to form for sporting events and concerts at AccorHotels Arena.
For a taste of the French countryside, a visit to Bercy Village brings to life the spirit of market shopping inside Paris.