http://www.paris.fr/english/parks-woods-gardens-and-cemeteries/gardens/promenade-plantee/rub_8212_stand_34230_port_18987

Promenade Plantée (Coulée verte René-Dumont)

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This unique plant-flanked promenade spans the 4.5 km from Place de la Bastille to Bois de Vincennes, on a viaduct and over footbridges.

Essentials

Opened in 1993
65,000 sq m

Don’t miss

The Viaduc des Arts.

  

Getting there

- From Avenue Daumesnil to the Bois de Vincennes, up and down stairs and lifts (Paris 12)
- Metro: Bastille

Download the map here 

Opening hours

See the detailed page 

Pictures

More pictures 

  Things to doSurely the most original way to explore eastern Paris between Bastille and the Bois de Vincennes – overhead and underground, on viaduct footbridges and in tunnel trenches.
Philippe Mathieux and Jacques Vergely designed this trail in 1988, on the tracks that took trains from Bastille to Varenne-Saint-Maur from 1859 to 1969 when the line was abandoned and replaced with a sprinkling of gardens.
The City of Paris embarked on a vast refurbishing project, revamping this viaduct’s 71 arcades under the Promenade Plantée, in 1989.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/travel-tips-and-articles/76886

17. La Promenade Plantée

A railroad track with a floral makeover, this elevated walkway offers superb views and allows you to sidle through lush green archways high above the city crowds. This charming 4.5km pathway runs through most of the 12th arrondissement and you can join it from Avenue Daumesnil near the Bastille métro stop.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/travel-tips-and-articles/76886#ixzz3EYfsqGpw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promenade_plant%C3%A9e
The western portion of the parkway may be accessed via stairways and elevators leading up to the elevated viaduct. This portion is reserved for pedestrians. The eastern portion of the parkway is accessible via ramps and stairways and is open to both pedestrians and cyclists. The west end can be reached from Bastille by walking 300 m south on Rue de Lyon, then left on Avenue Daumesnil. The staircase entrance is immediately on the left where Avenue Daumesnil enters rue de Lyon.

The Promenade plantée is an extensive green belt that follows the old Vincennes railway line. Beginning just east of the Opéra Bastille with the elevated Viaduc des Arts, it follows a 4.7 km (2.9 mi) path eastward that ends at a spiral staircase leading to the boulevard Périphérique beltway.

At its west end near the Bastille, the parkway rises 10 m above the surrounding area and forms the Viaduc des Arts, a line of shops featuring highly skilled arts and crafts. The shops are located in the arches of the former elevated railway viaduct, with the parkway being supported atop the viaduct. This portion of the parkway runs parallel to the avenue Daumesnil. The parkway intersects the Jardin de Reuilly near the rue Montgallet and descends to street level. At that point, it becomes a grassy mall and then follows the old railway direction below street level towards the east, passing through several tunnels. As it reaches the rue du Sahel, it splits, with one portion continuing to the beltway, and the other terminating in the square Charles-Péguy along the former path of a branch line that once linked to the Petite Ceinture railway. The elevated part route on the viaduct has some enclosed sections, as when it passes between modern buildings, and some open sections with expansive views.

In addition to the Jardin de Reuilly and the square Charles-Péguy, the Promenade Plantée also includes the Jardin de la gare de Reuilly, with its preserved but unused railway station, and the square Hector-Malot.

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/mar/25/top-10-free-things-to-do-paris

Walk La Promenade Plantée

Photograph: Alamy

Opened in 1993, six years before New York's similar High Line project, La Promenade Plantee is a tree-lined walkway on an old elevated railway line in east Paris. The 4.5km trail is a wonderful way to explore the city, taking you up and down staircases, across viaducts, above the streets and offering the occasional chance to wave back at the lucky Parisians whose apartments overlook it. The walkway also runs over the Viaduc des Arts, a bridge in which the arches are now occupied by galleries.
• 12th arrondissemen, promenade-plantee.org