Parks in Paris: Parc de Bercy

[Today's post is #1,000, another milestone.  We hope you enjoy following Our 10 Year Plan.  Thank you for joining our odyssey.]

Recently, we had the pleasure of visiting the Parc de Bercy along the Seine's Right Bank in the 12th arrondissement.

Our informal guide was longtime friend Eliane Pasquier, who was visiting from Vichy.  Eliane lived in Paris for many years before relocating to Vichy with husband Jean-Charles.  So, she knows Paris very well.  

Eliane with some random dude in the Parc de Bercy

The Parc de Bercy was created in the mid-1990's.  The location was the former wine depot for Paris.  Barrels of wine would arrive from all over France for storage, distribution and (of course) consumption in Paris.     

According to France-travel-info.com:  "At one time this park area was outside the city of Paris’ tax boundaries. This means it was the entry point for taxable items.  Taxable items such as alcohol payed a duty tax to be enter into the city.  As some place was needed to store the wine outside of the taxable city, large wine warehouses . . . were created.  The first wine warehouse was initiated during the time of Louis XIV."  

"Throughout Parc de Bercy we saw the system of rails created to allow horse-drawn carts to haul barrels of wine to and from the port on the river.  The annexation of the Bercy area to the city of Paris came at the time of the Haussmann reorganization.  Now located inside the city, taxation applied to wine stored here.  As technology progressed, wine was stored at the vineyards, so this warehousing system became redundant in the 1970s."

Some of the buildings of the former wine depot were preserved and a large park with gardens was established.  On the edge of the park is Bercy Village, where you can find restaurants and shops housed in former warehouses.  Below are some then and now photos.

Then:

 

  Now:  

Nicolas is a chain of wine shops in France.

While visiting Bercy Village, we enjoyed lunch with Eliane at Partie de Campagne, a small resaurant with delicious food from the L'Aubrac region in southern France.  Greg enjoyed a galette--a sort of whole wheat crepe with jambon et fromage (ham and cheese).

After lunch, we toured the park, which is quite large--not NYC Central Park large, but large nevertheless.

In the park are many works of art, statues and other works.  Below is a photo of the Pavillon du vent.

Below is a sculpture by Brazilian artist Oscar Niemeyer.

The sculpture represents a hand offering a flower.

While touring the park, we also spotted a sign of Spring.

Next to the park is a modern building.  Can you guess the architect?

If you guessed Frank Gehry like Susan did, then you are correct.  Gehry originally designed the building to house the American Center in 1994.  Most recently, the building is home to the Cinémathèque Française, a film museum and archive.  (Greg hopes to visit the museum soon.)  

Appropriately, one of the streets in the park honors famed French film director and critic François Truffaut.  

Thanks for visiting the Parc de Bercy with us and our lovely guide Eliane.