If you’ve been to Paris more than once, there’s a high chance you’ve spent time in the Luxembourg Garden, the Jardin des Plantes or the Tuileries, all of which are great choices of course – vast, leafy, calm, cool… – but our beautiful city has many more green spaces that deserve to be better-known.

A good example would be the George Brassens park, named after the famous French singer who died in 1981.

Covering almost 9 hectares, and recently restructured, the park has a lot of interesting attributes, including its central lake, wooded area, lawns, beehives, vineyard, theatre, massive flower beds, puppet show, merry-go-round, pin-pong tables…

The Parc Georges Brassens was created forty years ago on a patch of land that was once a vineyard before being transformed into an abattoir at the end of the 19th century. This closed in 1978.

Some relics of the former uses remain to this day, including a large stone entrance gate, the auction building near the lake (more about this later) and the horse market buildings. The day of our visit, these were being used for a record fair (over 100 stalls!), with lots of rare vinyl on offer, and a few finds on CD for us.

This “collectors day” was coordinated by the association ‘Ace15’ which organises events in the area throughout the year. Upcoming events can be viewed here.

Opened in 1985, the park is roughly in the shape of a rectangle, but with a number of different levels and slopes, meaning there are many secret corner to discover and explore. Parts have deliberately been left unkempt to encourage biodiversity. There’s even a little stream!

When you arrive, the first thing that will probably strike you is the quantity of gorgeous flowers. There’s also a raised rose garden, shady paths and spaces perfect for reading a book or having a quiet picnic.

If you want a picnic in the grass or work on your tan, you’re in the right place – there’s plenty of space on the lawns and close to the lake.

Until recently you could walk around the lake, but now a pontoon has been added so you can walk across it, giving a better view of the preserved auction building, its tower and its clock. A few step to the side of the building allow you to go up to the roof and get a good view of the water.

And there’s a lot more that might interest you in the park:

— a real theatre, the Théâtre Monfort (details here),

— a puppet theatre (details here),

— ping-pong tables,

— pony rides (apparently, but we didn’t see them),

— hives and classes to learn about beekeeping (info here),

— the ‘Clos des Morillons’ mini vineyard, whose limited edition wine is sold by auction each year (info here)…

— a merry-go-round

— a vegetable patch…

… but the park has numerous wild areas, with uncut grass, a stream, a small pond with frogs, a wooded area…

And the south side of the park is where you can see part of the former railway that ran all round Paris, called la petite ceinture (we explored and wrote an article about it a while back). This section can’t be accessed, but you’ll be able to see the entrance to a train tunnel, the tracks, some street art on a shipping container and nearby building, and lots and lots of trees. It’s almost like being in the countryside somewhere!

With so many different atmospheres, secret corners and lush freshness, the Georges Brassens park is a great place to discover, perfect for a picnic, table tennis or just a great walk. We hope you’ll go down and see for yourself!

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The Parc Georges Brassens (here) is open every day from 8am (9am at weekends). Closes between 5.45 and 9.30pm, depending on the time of year (check current times here)

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Une publication partagée par Paris nature (@paris4nature)