Parc de Bercy and Cour St.-Emilion

The area of Bercy is in the 12th Arrondissement, east of the city center of Paris.  It was once run-down but has recently been revitalized.  The parts that our walk took us through were really pleasant and enjoyable, and it was nice to see a little beyond the main touristy parts of Paris.

View of the area -- Sacré Coeur is in the distance

We started near the Bibliothèque Nationale de France - François Mitterrand.  This could be likened to our Library of Congress; it holds copies of all works published in France as well as about 5000 ancient Greek manuscripts.  Notice that the exterior walls of the library are made entirely of glass - this caused lots of controversy when the building was opened in 1996 because all the books were shelved in nearly direct sunlight.

A protective glaze has been added to help preserve the books

At the base of one of the library's four L-shaped towers

We then crossed the river via this super-cool bridge.  One of the loops terminates at street level, and the upper loop continues as a pedestrian overpass.  Pretty and functional.

Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir

As we walked over the bridge, we had a great view of the Piscine Josephine Baker -- an enormous swimming pool on a barge moored to shore.  It is open year-round and has a retractable roof.

This is the closest I would ever come to swimming in the Seine

Upon entering the Parc de Bercy, we were greeted by some rather scary-looking sculptures called the Enfants du Monde by Rachid Khimoune.

They are meant to represent the rights of children, but to me they seemed a bit frightening.  Which is less creepy: this sculpture...

...or this slightly bedraggled scarecrow found elsewhere in the park? 

The park is divided into three sections: the grande prairie, the flowerbeds, and the romantic garden.  We started in the grande prairie.  It is a wide-open space and we encountered several large groups of kids and teachers on some kind of field trip.  Built into the hillside is a modern waterfall.

A little further away is the Frank Gehry-designed Cinémathèque Française.  It is one of the largest film archives in the world.

We then passed into the flower bed area, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch among the roses.

 

A little farther along was the romantic garden, with fish ponds, water lilies, and fascinating sculptures.

Lily pond and sculpture "La Demeure #10" by Etienne Martin

After exploring the park for a while, we walked over to the nearby Cour St.-Emilion/Bercy Village area.  It was quite a lively area, especially after the tranquility of the park.

The railroad tracks and buildings you see in the photo are left over from when this area was full of warehouses for wine storage.  The storehouse structures have been repurposed into shops and restaurants.

One of the art galleries in the shopping area

We went into this gourmet shop and were each offered a fourré au chocolat to taste.  It's a type of shortbread biscuit with a chocolate center.

The biscuits were delicious, but when we saw someone else getting a taste, we were glad that ours had come from a sealed tin.

We weren't the only ones tasting the merchandise