The "petite ceinture" of Paris (by kerouac2)

[mossie]

You continue to surpass yourself with this thread. Many thanks for the link to the safeguarding the PC website.

[htmb]

I feel like I've seen a bit of this, but maybe need to study your maps to be sure.

[Deleted]

You certainly must have seen some of it if you were at the Buttes Chaumont.

[htmb]

Yes, that's what I had been thinking. I just didn't realize at the time what I was seeing.

[Deleted]

Just past the perched post office, the tracks reappear.



This is the view looking back towards Porte de la Chapelle.



This seems more spacious than a lot of areas, but there were tracks splitting just up ahead.





I don't know where this tunnel goes, but I will try to find out.





I know exactly why this barrier was put here.



There used to be a Roma camp here. Let me find an old photo...





Naturally, the other side is plugged as well.



Passengers on the Eurostar have no idea what they are passing over.





Back to lovely nature...



   

   

   



I did not see this myself. I held up my arm over a wall and took a picture of what I could not see.



So people still live where you can't see them.

I could see this, so all I could think was "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"







And then I was at Porte de Clignancourt with its abandoned station. ("Boulevard Ornano")





One side of the building is alive.



The other side invites us to the food trucks parked out back.





I was there too early, but here is where the food trucks park.

My investigations will continue soon...

[lagatta]

Damn you, Kerouac, I love sites like that and need another time-waster like a hole in the head...

Wouldn't the tramline set to surround Paris make la Petite ceinture redundant?

[woody77]

I would love to go explore some of this, but it looks like it's pretty rough areas. Coupled with my limited french, it would not be a good idea. I've definitely explored areas like these in the US, but not while taking photos. It's always worrisome when you come across people in these areas. Motives (all around) are so very unclear.

It was fascinating to read about the use that the parks trains are being put to, though.

[Deleted]

Sept 24, 2013 14:51:07 GMT lagatta said:

Wouldn't the tramline set to surround Paris make la Petite ceinture redundant?

Actually, the tram is already built and running two thirds of the way around Paris with an upcoming section to be built from Porte de la Chapelle to Porte d'Asnières in the next few years. It is true that there is absolutely no reason to reopen most of the PC line to passenger rail traffic because quite a bit of it runs only one or two blocks from the tramway. However, the section that runs through the Buttes Chaumont is far enough away to make it worthwhile, so you can count me among the people who are in favour of the T8 being brought from Saint Denis into Paris using some of the line in the 19th and 20th arrondissements.

[lagatta]

I don't quite see where the Petite Ceinture went with respect to the new tram 3b, and métro line 2 (with its above-ground sections in the 18th and 19th). upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Paris_Petite_Ceinture_1898.jpg I guess that section would run between T3 and métro line 2? Buttes Chaumont is definitely in-between. No question but that existing métro lines are saturated at rush hours, and I suppose a lot of the T3 passengers would be from nearby suburbs?

[Deleted]

Metro line 2 is well within the city -- at least 1 kilometre from the PC or the tram.

As for the tram 3b, you can probably see the little zigzags at the top of the line which were created to serve places of no interest before -- for example the Grands Moulins de Pantin, now a huge BNP Paribas office building on the outer side of the périphérique (the stations are Ella Fitzgerald and Delphine Seyrig) -- this is the only place where the tram goes on the outside of the périphérique.

If you look closely at the tram map, you will see that the Buttes Chaumont -- the green triangle to the left of the Butte du Chapeau Rouge station -- is very much inside the city, indicating that the PC strayed quite far from the periphery.

[lagatta]

Yes, so it is basically as I thought: M2, PC, T3. Yes, the shaggy T3 line seems counter to normal railway planning. Of course I know where M2 and Buttes-Chaumont are; it is a matter of positioning all these in relation to one another and also to how and where people commute, which I'm less familiar with than someone currently living in Paris (I've never lived there for more than about six months at a time. In French, "séjourner" - not "habiter").

[Deleted]

Very cool taking this walk with you, Kerouac. It's just the kind of thing that would get my attention too - where does it go and where does it end?

Communal gardens right in the city and in such a limited space. Fascinating. I really like the way you show us the more unusual aspects and areas of Paris.

[tod2]

Can anyone with a Le Petit Parisien booklet please look at the 15th Arr and direct your eyes to Parc G.Brassens. Just below it you will notice a very thin black line. The line continues towards the Seine where it takes a bend and follows the river until its off the map at Parc Mundes Sports.
Is this not the Petite Ceinture line?

I noticed it further on when I started to follow Kerouac's walk from the beginning at Alesia.

[mossie]

You would find it easier to pick out the PC if you use the Michelin Zoom Paris mapbook. I always carry both as le Petit Parisien is invaluable for transport.

[lagatta]

I'm sure you can find maps of Paris arrondissements online nowadays. What I have in print (other than a couple of shitty free maps) is "Paris-Éclair avec répertoire", no doubt out of date. I'm not very familiar with the 15th.

[Deleted]

Today, accompanied by another Anyporter, I returned to the new Promenade Plantée in the 15th arrondissement to see if it had been extended.



It turned out that just a tiny bit had been added to give access to a new entrance.



It is still relatively unknown, since the promenade is not extremely crowded.



Some of the buildings along the way have suffered from talentless visitors with spray paint.



Another rail bridge had been inexplicably renovated without necessity.



It was difficult to approach the remaining rail line as we got near the Seine.





On top of that, there were workers present. (working on what?)



However, there was a good view right next to the Seine alongside the France Télévisions building.

[Deleted]

There was also an older overpass of the rail line in the area.



The next step was a backtrack to where this thread first began, at Porte d'Orléans. For some reason I had not photographed the old station back then.



It has seen better days.



Going east from there was just as good as going west.







The street alongside was a real slice of "old Paris."



Even the "new" buildings on the street had been invaded by the charm.



As usual, the line disappeared into a tunnel.

[Deleted]

In the Parc Montsouris, we were temporarily surprised to encounter the RER B going south.



However, the Petite Ceinture was in a tunnel under these tracks. It soon emerged in the park as well.





Here is a gratuitous image of one of the water features of the park.



But just after that, we could see the old rail line in its full splendour.





My god, could the dripping ivy be any more perfect?



Continuing out of the park in the other direction, the rails remained lovely.





Where would they go next?

[htmb]

That whole section with the beautiful "dripping" ivy is intriguing.

[Deleted]

The powers that be have decided to curtail urban exploration in certain areas.





It was pretty clear, however, that access to this section must not be too difficult.







Meanwhile a whole new neighbourhood was springing up as we entered the 13th arrondissement.







Transitions are abrupt sometimes.



Spotted some urban explorers in the distance!







And the mutation of Paris continues along the tracks...

[Deleted]

Paris is forever fascinating. I like the greenery in this selection of photos. So pretty.

[Deleted]

The rails played peekaboo for a few blocks.























And then it was time for a final disappearance under the towers of Chinatown.

[woody77]

Something I didn't notice at the time, but did in reviewing my photos (which I'll add soon), is that the railroad ties, where the crosswalk in the new neighborhood of the 13th is, are the modern cement ones, not the ancient wooden ones. So when they put that access through, they must have replaced the rails and ties as well...

That seems to perhaps go with the bridge replacements? part of the same policy?

[woody77]

I also found this awesome map on wikipedia:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Paris_Petite_Ceinture_1898.jpg

I think on the west side of the seine, the petite cienture tunnel is now the tunnel that Blvd Exelmans goes into.

And another good map, of the proposed renovations:

lapetiteceinture.jenparle.net/IMG/jpg/Petite_ceinture-protocole2006.jpg

[Deleted]

Thanks for those links; I love maps of Paris, especially old ones.

Today, between storm showers, I went to the 20th arrondissement to continue piecing bits of the petite ceinture together. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel on this project, but there are some bits of the 18th, 19th and 20th arrondissements left to do, plus all of the 16th and 17th.

Anyway, I got off the tramway this morning when I saw this sign.

This mystifies me because the Gare de Charonne of the petite ceinture is nowhere near here. Well, yes, it's in the 20th arrondissement but several blocks away and will be a fascinating part of this report when I get to it, because it is alive and very busy in its new incarnation.

I would have gone into the square to investigate but it was closed due to the stormy conditions.



In any case, the train line was right behind it.



Obstacles are always blocking me!



The line is not down where I am but up behind the graffiti wall.



There is a tramway maintenance centre down at the bottom.





There was a grade crossing for the tramway tracks...



... but they didn't start their life as tramways tracks because look how old they are.



The tramway just opened in this area in December 2012, so this has to be an old connector line.



Then I was at Cours de Vincennes which I showed earlier in this report but all by itself. Tramway line 3b starts on the left and tramway line 3a starts on the right.






But I'm still chasing the PC. Here's the bridge one street over. We're now in the 12th arrondissement.



It is really climbing out of reach. When will it return to earth?





Ah, it's finally coming in for a landing.

[Deleted]

still following the wall under the rails...



Here was an interesting new obstacle -- a sunken street passing through.





You have to go down to get back up, obviously.



This looked to me like the loneliest and most disrespected street light in Paris.



Finally the rails are coming down to my level again.



Oh, but wait -- this incredible house has to be investigated.



And thus I was finally able to visit the narrowest street in Paris -- Sentier des Mérisiers. ("Path of the wild cherry trees" - a lovely name)





Here's the house.



Uh oh -- "very mean and undernourished cat" protecting the premises!



Jesus Christ, here he comes to attack me.



Whew, he spared my life this time.



I continued my investigation of the "street." Note: you cannot hold an open umbrella in this street.





I can see the exit to the main boulevard here, so now I can turn around.



another place with a dangerous feline



I don't even want to think about moving day.



Some of the places along the alley are quite spacious, though.



Okay, now I'm back to the railroad street.



I think it's nice that people plant their own bulbs along the public street -- and inform you what they have done.



This street is called "Villa du Bel Air" and it is really lovely.



My camera took this picture all by itself, but I decided to keep it.



Finally I am with the tracks again.







Villa du Bel Air is a dead end, but luckily not for pedestrians.



a final look back at the tracks which I have to leave temporarily



This is my exit back to the main boulevard.





The boulevard crosses over the original Promenade Plantée with the rail bridge in the distance.



This section of the promenade plantée is closed due to the storm.





It's out of reach again.





The old stonework is excellent, in my opinion.



And then I was back at avenue Daumesnil at Porte Dorée where I ended a previous section of this report.

Signing off until next time...

[fumobici]

This continues to be a fascinating and in depth photo essay. I eagerly await further installments.

[htmb]

This looks like it's been a grand adventure of discovery for you, Kerouac. Your photos and narrative are great, as usual. I look forward to visiting some of the areas in your posts one day.

[Deleted]

I am honour bound to finish what I started, but obviously this is one of the only things in Paris that covers so much territory -- the biggest arrondissements of the city from 12 through 20. I am happy to say that I plugged the last gap in eastern Paris yesterday, so I should be able to cover the final areas in northwest Paris within a week or two. Frankly, if these photos are still available online somewhere in the years to come, people should find them more and more interesting as these little bits of Paris finally disappear forever or are transformed beyond all recognition.

So, I went back to the jardin the Charonne and went in the opposite direction rue rue d'Avron.



There was the vestige of another old station there.



It was hard to be sure, but it appears to have been transformed into a private residence.





All I could do was follow the street parallel to the track.





A mystery of Paris -- why does a doorless wall have a street number?





A housing project pushed me away from the line, but I could still see it in back.





Some Parisians still find the old fences useful.







Art is what you make it what you make anything you want it to be.

[Deleted]

Old Paris surrounded the tracks on both sides here.





another old station



perfect condition, waiting for a new mission some day



Darn, I missed the potato harvest which gave access to the PC!



What can I see through the hole in the gate?



not enough, unfortunately



Just a block farther was the real live gare de Charonne, now the Flèche d'Or.





It has one of the biggest displays of Space Invaders in the city.



Across the street is the entrance to the tunnel that comes out at the Buttes Chaumont.



This line is clearly still maintained for some reason.







Right along the track is the very chic Mama Shelter, a hotel designed by Philippe Starck. "Luxury for less."



Pedestrians must climb the hill instead of going through it. But I didn't need to since I already showed where the rail line comes out.



I felt it was necessary to return to the Flèche d'Or after dark.





It generally hosts 3 singers or groups every evening.



This way to the tracks! But you can't see them in the dark.



So I just watched the show for awhile.

I had a slight problem with the Security Nazi who said that photos were forbidden, even though everybody was taking photos with their phones. I told him that I had carefully read my ticket which did not mention not taking pictures and that there were no notices posted on the walls either. "The rule isn't written down," he barked. I pointed out that it did not seem to be a real rule at all. Then he started dragging me to the exit where we continued our discussion. His version of the discussion was to get the Big Black Bouncer at the door. However, Mr. BBB seemed to know that they were on very shaky legal ground and that I did not seem like the kind of person who could be intimidated on a subject like this. So he told the Nazi that I could go back in. And not take any pictures. Of course not. I would never do that.