Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [41]
Other places to view M Blanc’s handiwork:
Centre Commercial des Quatre Temps, La Défense Click here
Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, 14e Click here
Marithé + François Girbaud branch, 6e Click here
* * *
Though upwards of some 96,500 trees (mostly plane trees and horse chestnuts) line the avenues and boulevards of Paris, the city can often feel excessively built-up. Yet there are more than 455 parks and gardens (with another 87,500 trees) to choose from – some not much bigger than a beach blanket, others the size of a small village. Over the past 15 years, the city government has spent a small fortune transforming vacant lots and derelict industrial land into new parks. Some of the better ones are Parc de Bercy and the unique Promenade Plantée Click here, the ‘planted walkway’ above the Viaduc des Arts, both in the 12e; the Jardin de l’Atlantique, behind the Gare Montparnasse, and Parc André Citroën (Map) on the banks of the Seine, both in the 15e; Parc de la Villette and Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, both in the 19e; and Parc de Belleville, 20e. If you’d like a hand in the ‘reforestation’ of the capital and elsewhere and don’t mind spending €5, visit 1 Parisien, 1 Arbre (1 Parisian, 1 Tree; www.1parisien1arbre.com).
In just about every park in Paris, regardless of the size, you’ll see a signboard illustrating and explaining the trees, flowers and other plants of the city. Most are rich in birdlife, including magpies, jays, great and blue tits, and even woodpeckers. In winter, seagulls are sometimes seen on the Seine, and a few hardy ducks also brave the river’s often swift-flowing waters. Believe it or not, 32 mammals live in the parks of Paris, there are crayfish in the city’s canals, and the Seine is teeming with roach, carp, bleak, pike and pike-perch.
If you want to keep Paris clean, leave your car at home and resist the temptation to rent one unless you’re touring around the Île de France. Instead, bring or rent a bike Click here, bearing in mind that the Vélib’ rental system is more of a way of getting from A to B than a recreational facility; enjoy the city on foot – Paris is an eminently walkable city (see the walking tours in the Neighbourhoods chapter); or use the public transport system, which is cheap and extremely efficient. For further tips on how you can reduce your impact on the environment, contact Les Amis de la Nature ( 01 42 85 29 84; www.amisnature-pariscentre.org, in French; 18 rue Victor Massé, 75009) or the World Wildlife Fund France ( 01 55 25 84 84; www.wwf.fr, in French; 1 carrefour de Longchamp, 75116).
In theory Parisians can be fined up to €183 for littering (that includes cigarette butts) but we’ve never heard of anyone having to pay. Don’t be nonplussed if you see locals drop paper wrappings or other detritus along the side of the pavement, however; the gutters in every quarter of Paris are washed and swept out daily and Parisians are encouraged to use them if litter bins are not available.
Return to beginning of chapter
URBAN PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
In 1967 stringent town-planning regulations in Paris, which had been on the books since Haussmann’s time, were relaxed and buildings were allowed to ‘soar’ to 37m. However, they had to be set back from the road so as not to block the light. But this change allowed the erection of high-rise buildings, which broke up the continuity of many streets. A decade later new restrictions required that buildings again be aligned along the road and that their height be in proportion to the width