We really like to trek around while we visit a city and we've done a lot of loops around Paris. On this trip, I was thinking we might want to head out in a new direction and end up at the Chateau de Vincennes, since it's on our Paris Museum Pass. Is that an ok route? I've never felt unsafe anywhere in Paris, but I know there are areas to avoid as you move to the outskirts. I know the Metro takes me right there, but we really do enjoy our walking routes. Thanks for any input.
Posted by
Chicago
8047 posts
We have walked all over Paris without fear and I have walked alone through Park Vincennes itself which is quite a lovely place. You might walk over to Bastille from Notre Dame and then walk to Vincennes on the Promenade Plantee an elevated park that runs from atop what looks like the viaduct behind Opera Bastille clear out to Vincennes. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/promenade-plantee-turning-discarded-public-space-into-a-pleasant-place-for-parisians/ This would obviously be nicer in spring summer or fall than winter. You could also drop down from the Promenade around Picpus (we did this to grab lunch) and not far from there is the small cemetery where Lafayette is buried. It has very limited hours -- like a couple or three hours in the afternoon -- so you need to time your walk to be there then and have a good map, but it is quite a charming little place and your friends won't have been there. It is in the Picpus Cemetery 34 Rue Picpus, a small private cemetery. There are American flags over his tomb. The cemetery is reserved for those massacred in the period after the revolution including the 16 nuns whose guillotining brought an end to the terror and their descendents. So there are a lot of dukes and dutchesses there including many of Lafayette's inlaws.
Posted by
OP
Pacific Northwest
2622 posts
Thanks, Janet! Very helpful info:) I've made a couple of poor walk routing decisions over the years...one in Boston and one in Innsbruck and it's helpful to get a little advance knowledge before we set out.
Posted by
Chicago
8047 posts
We have walked in much of this area of Paris and I wouldn't be nervous about it. The entrance to the Promenade is not easy to find -- there are stairs up towards the beginning just past the Bastille Opera House and above the shops that are under the old elevated train line that has been transformed into the walking path. Towards the end of the path it comes down and goes through a park and some streets. It is a pretty cool walk.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6500 posts
I've walked from the Chateau through the Bois de Vincennes to the Peripherique overpass (Porte d'Oree?), which is pretty and interesting and felt entirely safe. I've walked on the Promenade Plantee from near Bastille out a ways toward Vincennes, scenic and safe. And I've walked around the Place de Nation area which certainly felt safe. I don't think I'd be up for a walk all the way from Notre Dame to Vincennes just because of the distance, but safety wouldn't be an issue. Go for it if you have the energy and good shoes!