After spending our morning at The Louvre and meandering around the Pont De Arts bridge, Charles and I headed to the Notre Dame to link up with our friends, Joey and Sunu, whom we had met at Jason & Clem’s wedding 2 days before. Together, we wandered back in the direction of the Louvre to pick up one more amiga, Angeline, before continuing onto our ultimate destination, Les Berges: a renovated quay area along the left bank of Seine River designed specifically for recreational engagement.
^^ My SLR camera battery had one bar left and I wanted to save it to take photos in the evening so I switched over to my iPhone to snap pics for the rest of the day. The photo above and the rest below are all from my iPhone. Just like old times..
^^ Joey, Sunu & Charles
Once upon a time, the quays along the Seine River in Paris belonged to cars, trucks and traffic. But in the early 2000’s, the mayor of the city proposed a plan to take back the quays and make them solely accessible to pedestrians. Despite the initial complaints made by locals who were upset to have these side roads and highways taken away (which would result in more car traffic), the pros of this renovation project outmatched the cons because it would ultimately generate more foot traffic. The idea behind the Mayor’s proposal was to enable the people of Paris to “reclaim their city” and experience it in a way that had never been done before. As such, the Seine Regeneration Renovation Project was approved resulting in the creation of Les Berges, which opened last year in the month of June 2013.
^^ Leaving our “mark” haha
^^ We found a cool area that allowed us to connect up the music from our phones to the speakers on the ceiling. I almost decided against sharing this video because listening to my voice makes me cringe but Charles didn’t think I sounded so bad, so there’s that.
Spanning 1.6 miles along the Seine River’s left bank between the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, Les Berges is an urban oasis just begging to be taken advantage of by locals and tourists alike. As we strolled along Les Berges, we saw people running/getting their workout on, kids and adults playing games like tic tac toe, chess and bocce ball; skateboarders practicing their tricks in between crowds of people getting their grub and drank on at the seasonal resto-bars parked along the bank. We joined in on the fun and found a place to sit & chat along the river while watching the sunset with wine in hand.
^^ Angeline :)
An hour later, our group kissed cheeks and parted ways. Angeline, Joey and Sunu headed off to the Montmartre to watch the rest of the sunset over Paris while Charles and I continued our stroll down Les Breges, checking out their floating gardens along the way, until the path led us straight to our final destination for the night… The Eiffel Tower. (more on that tower next week)
^^ Kisses From Paris! Or as the French say, “Bon Baisers de Paris!” (at least according to google translate)
I had no idea Les Breges even existed until Angeline, who happened to live in Paris, suggested that we check it out (Thanks again Ange!). I’m guessing that since the urban park has only been in existence for a year, word hasn’t quite gotten out yet about this hidden treasure. It reminds me a little bit of the High Line in NYC but with an obvious Parisian influence. A hubub of recreational activity, I think Les Berges is the perfect place to visit if you want to see how the locals have fun in their downtime. I highly recommend adding it to your list of places to visit if you’re ever in Paris :)
For more information about Les Breges? Click here.
