I was in the 13th arrondissement yesterday to check out a new hotel and outdoor restaurant terrace (more about that soon in another post) and Vincent mentioned a lovely park he discovered nearby last week.
Parc de Choisy is just off the Boulevard de Italie, close to the Tolbiac metro station on line 7. The rectangular shaped park area, measuring 10 acres, was the site of the former plant for the Ivry gas company, which was dismantled in 1935. Edward Crevel, who was the chief architect of Paris, designed the park in 1937 and he also designed the Art Deco style George Eastman Dental Institute that’s next to the park.
The garden still adheres to the formal French garden design with a perpendicular axis and a fountain down in the middle, trimmed rows of trees forming a canopy on each side, and colorful flower beds.
Also like a typical French park, there’s lots of activities including a children’s playground (I love the imaginative and playful structures in the children’s playgrounds across Paris), basketball courts, ping pong tables, an open-air theater, and even an outdoor workout facility with elliptical machine.
It was a perfect sunny summer day with temps in the low 80s, low humidity, and a cool breeze. It was nice to see Parisians taking advantage of the park by picnicking, resting on benches, working out, fiercely competing at table tennis, playing in the playgrounds, and relaxing in the cool shade underneath the trees.
128 Av. de Choisy, 75013
Come experience Eye Prefer Paris live with Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3 walking tours I personally lead. Eye Prefer Paris Tours include many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes, food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks and gardens and much more. In addition to my specialty Marais Tour, I also lead tours of Montmartre, St. Germain, Latin Quarter, in addition to Shopping Tours, Gay Tours, Girlfriend Tours, Food Tours, Flea Market Tours, Paris Highlights Tours, and Chocolate & Pastry tours.
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