La Petite Ceinture Of Paris, An Abandoned Old Railway Gets New Life

La Petite Ceinture has regained some its glory and a new life, with a recent celebration, including an amusing Drag Queen Pétanque event!

The French value restoring most old buildings and entities of merit, rather than tearing them down.  This includes an abandoned old railway, La Petite Ceinture that once circled  Paris.

Deep trenches were tunnelled out to lay the tracks so that the trains ran below ground under major avenues but visible in large opens sections.  Some tracks were carved through major Parisian parks, such as Parc Montsouris and Paris Buttes Chaumont.

La Petite Ceinture railway was a precursor to the idea of constructing a Paris subway system. A bridge over the Seine carried the train from the 13 arrondissement on the right bank to the 12th on the left.

La Petite Ceinture carried merchandise and passengers all around the periphery of Paris for 72 years from 1862 to 1934.  The rail tracks that circled around Paris totalled 32 kilometres.

Cute stations were strategically placed to accommodate all arrondissements of Paris. Several of them were done in period Art Deco style such as Le Gare de Petit Montrouge, the one next to my place.

There were connections between La Petite Ceinture and the major railway stations within Paris where international trains circulated.

Steam vapour engines pulled wagons for passengers and merchandise hourly during the summer and on Sundays, less so in the winter.   At first, all tickets sold were ” second class seats”, with only first-class ones inaugurated much later.

It initially took about one hour and 20 minutes for La Petite Ceinture train to make the tour, then shortened to 1 hour and 5 minutes with faster engines.

I happen to have followed the renewal progression fairly well because part of it is in my quartier and I have much interest in the preservation of Parisian landmarks, buildings and historical areas.

As I wrote about in another recent post, I am a firm believer in renewal, be it ourselves or material things of value historically or spiritually.  La Petite Ceinture is a jewel of green space, quietness and biodiversity of nature all around Paris.

Additionally, the 14 arrondissement where I live is noted as one of the greenest arrondissements of Paris!  There is a current tendency to promote garden spaces throughout the city for residents to plant and cultivate, called jardins partagés or shared gardens.

A few weeks ago on the occasion of a La Petite Ceinture festival, I visited another segment of it in the Northern border of Paris. not far from the St Ouen metro in the 18 th arrondissement.

They too have a renovated gare now turned into a popular restaurant.

 

 

 

I actually chose this segment because they promised to have a drag queen hosted game of Pétanque, a first for me! This was an irresistible and original idea, when you don’t see many drag queens these days outside of Pigalle or the Pride Parade.

Besides  it being such a novel event, I liked the name of the performer, Catherine Pine 0 Noir, a take on the Pinot Noir grape.

Pétanque is an ancient game of balls, now using shiny steel balls thrown on a raked dirt field.  If you have been to France, especially in Provence, you have probably seen men bent over throwing these balls on the ground.

There was a line waiting to get in the little transformed gare, already stuffed with mostly young folks.  Outside on the rail tracks were oodles of people; families with youngsters having a good time picnicking and listening to a good rock band.

I was there mostly to witness Ms Pine O Noir, who surprisingly had dressed fairly sedate, as drag queen attires goes,  and superbly made up trotting around in oversized red spike heels.

Perhaps in knowing that the event was open to the general public, and not in Pigalle, she hadn’t dressed more outlandishly, but it wouldn’t be a big deal as Parisians are shockproof with near nudity.

Her husky voice and obviously masculine torso looked out of place wearing those bright red spike heels.  She was definitely a pro in these theatrics and handled her contestants with aplomb, but I did feel sorry that she had to carry on in those painful high heels.  Yikes!

I chose to take in the southern boundary of La Petite Ceinture last Sunday during Fête des Jardins.  No drag queens here.

In April and May, the air is wildly perfumed along La Petit Ceinture with the sweet smell of Acacia blossoms dangling like clusters of white pearls from tall tree branches that canopy over the sidewalks.   If I am lucky, I can sometimes pluck some by jumping as high as I can.

They are always a treat, either left alone in a vase where they continue to smell divine or battered up like a beignet and fried, an old French culinary custom.

Fête des Jardins is one of my favourite garden festivals, where you can visit gardens rarely open to the public, plus numerous others where tons of other plant-based activities are held in each arrondissement of Paris.  Handouts of free plants and seeds are a bonus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a guided visit, one of the city’s gardeners pointed out unusual wild plants, way too numerous for me to remember their botanical name or purpose that were growing all along the side of the tracks.

Most have some sort of medicinal purpose; others selected because of flowers and foliage.  Some I easily recognised liked the Buddleia and of course orties(stinging nettles).

I love soup aux orties, but picking them(which I have done), is a challenge not to get painfully stung with their chemical agent that is very irritating to the skin.  It is also a chore to get them ready for the pot as well, but worth it!

The French sing high praises of stinging nettles for all sorts of health benefits.  They also like to flavour some cheese with it too.

 

I loved it all, especially the quietness and being surrounded with greenery on both sides.

I really respect these incredible passionate plant people with their encyclopaedic memory of plant names, who are well trained to care for the many beautiful green spaces, squares and parks of Paris.

Along the way, you encounter patches of colourful street art, and we caught one “artist” in the midst of painting another one of his “masterpieces”.  I only like a few of the street art scenes here.

The Trompe d’Oeil art can be pretty and some whimsical figures painted on sides of buildings at least amusing and admirable.  The rest, at least to my eyes, I find annoying and very detracting.

I was glad to see an insect hotel set up and the newly renovated gare above now has beehives on its roof, so more bees for my balcony garden nearby!

Near the end of our walk near new restaurant Poinçon above, a chef was offering a tasting of a basilic parmesan sauce to those holding out their hands.

We descended down on the tracks at Rue Didot and walked the rails to Avenue General Leclerc where we climbed up onto the terrace of the recently opened renovated station located there.

It now houses a cute restaurant called the Poinçon, named after the ticket puncher the agents used to pinch holes in a rail ticket.  There is an outdoor terrace looking down on the rails, but also unfortunately to a new apartment building built over part of the tracks, which our neighbourhood unsuccessfully fought against.

Prior to that, there was a tennis court and club partially over the rails, that I had hoped  the space would be opened up in totality

We were successful in making sure that the old gare(station) was declared a historical monument and could not be torn down by invasive urban real estate magnates, who are predators.

I had been closely following the renovation next to my building and am very pleased it turned out so cute.  I haven’t eaten at the restaurant yet, preferring to let them become a little seasoned as it has been only opened a few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tunnel top that you see below is part of metro line 4 subway that runs over the tracks, following the rest of Avenue General Leclerc. It was built in 1908. You can see the continuation of the railway on the other side of the tunnel which has not been opened yet.

As more metro lines were built and buses installed to carry people around the periphery of Paris, La Petite Ceinture showed a drop in passengers and service was eventually stopped in 1934.

The rails stayed in use carrying merchandise, troops and military supplies during WWI and WWII and trains ran even up to the 1990’s.

I suspect that there will other innovative projects for La Petite Ceinture in the future, but all will remain with the intent to preserve and magnify this magnificent green belt treasure around Paris!