Martine in Paris - Promenades 

The Petite Ceinture or the Little Belt is an abandoned railway line around Paris. Abandoned for many years, the result is a green path with a rich biodiversity. Parts of the track has been renovated by the city and by SNCF and are open to the public.

A bit of history...

Built between in 1852 and 1869, it provided a link for the transport of goods and passengers between the major railway stations, owned at that time by different private companies. 

It was also used to supply the city's fortifications walls, built in 1840 by Thiers to defend Paris.

The first section of the line opened between Auteuil and Saint-Lazare in 1854 for passengers. The Right Bank line, built between 1852 and 1854, connected Batignolles and Porte d'Ivry. The Left Bank line was completed in 1867.

From the outset, the Little Railway Belt was a huge success. However, it fell rather quickly  into decline with the creation of the subway as well as the bus system, known as the PC for Petite Ceinture, and with the demolition of the Paris fortifications in 1919.  But freight traffic continued until the 1990s. 

Walk between Porte de Charenton and Buttes Chaumont 

This walk follows several sections of the Little Belt Railway, crosses several gardens and two parks (Parc de Belleville and Buttes Chaumont) as well as the eastern part of Père Lachaise Cemetery (the Little Belt Railway tunnel ran beneath it ...).

Little Railway Belt - 12th district

The Petite Ceinture in the 12th arrondissement, which is open to the public, is located between Porte de Charenton and Villa Bel-Air.

From the Porte de Charenton metro station, cross Boulevard Poniatowski and turn onto Rue des Meuniers.   Take the footbridge over the Petite Ceinture and, at 4 Rue des Meuniers, step down to reach the Petite Ceinture, a peaceful green space between the buildings.  

The feeling of calm, brought on by the greenery and birdsong, is immediate. However, the presence of graffiti reminds us that we are still in an urban area. Along the old track, there are still a few remnants of railway signalling equipment.

As the Petite Ceinture runs over the avenues and boulevards, we are now passing over the Avenue Daumesnil. On the right, in the distance, there is the tall golden statue commissioned for the creation of the 1931 Colonial Exhibition. The Palais de la Porte Dorée, designed for this event is a beautiful piece of Art Deco architecture and today is the Immigration Museum.

After a few hundred metres, an alleyway on the left gives access to the Garden  Charles Péguy. Let's not take this path. This can be the start of another very pleasant walk along the Coulée verte René Dumont leading to the Bastille. Instead of taking this path, let's stay on the Petite Ceinture, which runs alongside this public garden. It is built on a former railway junction connecting the Petite Ceinture and the former Vincennes line. This line, which used to run between Bastille station and Marles en Brie, in the Seine et Marne department, has now been replaced by the underground RER A line. The old railway viaduct between the Bastille and the Jardin de Reuilly, once blackened by soot and dust, is today an elegant pink brick and stone structure housing around fifty artists and designers. Above the viaduct, the tracks are replaced by a garden, known as the Coulée verte René Dumont, which leads down to the Petite Ceinture. Another great walk. 

We remain on the Petite Ceinture, where we soon come to a gate blocking access. We have to take an alley on the right that leads to Villa de Bel-Air, a small cobbled street.

We now follow the petite ceinture along this narrow cobbled street, then along rue du Gabon. We turn left onto rue de la voûte and right onto passage de la Voûte, recognisable by its large red cat, created by students at the Lycée professionnel Chennevières Malézieux, in the 12th arrondissement.

Little Railway Belt - 20th district

Let's cross the Cours de Vincennes and enter the Bois de Charonne at 103 Cours de Vincennes, open since 2024. This area was created on a former SNCF railway site. After major earthworks, two thousand trees were planted in 2023.

The garden runs above the rue de Lagny, where I stopped to contemplate the lycée Hélène Boucher, its rather ugly pinkish colour matching well with my prep school years. More interesting is just below us the last level crossing in Paris still in service. Not for trains, but for metro line 2 between the Nation terminus and the metro maintenance workshops.   

The Bois de Charonne is directly linked to the Jardin de la Gare de Charonne, created on a former goods station on the Petite Ceinture railway line.

Exit via the small rue Madeleine Marzin.  Then turn left onto Rue d'Avron.

Just after the Petite Ceinture bridge, turn right onto rue Ferdinand Gambon. At number 4, there is the passenger hall of the former Avron station.  

The station had two courtyards; the arrivals courtyard provided direct access to the Croix-Saint-Simon hospital built by Marie de Miribel. Moved by the poor conditions of the neighbourhood, this nurse opened an anti-tuberculosis dispensary, which gradually became a private hospital.

Continue along rue Ferdinand Gambon, which runs alongside the Petite Ceinture.  At the end, turn left onto rue de la Croix Saint-Simon and then right onto rue des Maraîchers (marketgardeners), taking its name from the rural origins of this part of Charonne.

Turn opposite onto rue Courat, then rue Albert Marquet. Cross rue Vitruve and continue along rue Florian.

For street art fans: rue Courat, a tribute by Mr Chat to Chris Marker, who used to live in the area. Near the Square de la Salamandre, a portrait of Bryan Cranston by BZT22; on Rue Albert Marquet, a drawing by graffiti artist Kashink and her Kashinkids from the school on Rue du Clos. 

We 've now reached the rue de Bagnolet, where the Flèche d'Or is located in the former Charonne train station. A famous underground concert venue until 2017, it remained closed for several years. Today, it's a combination of concert hall, social and solidarity canteen and a bar; so I thought I'd stop in for a break and do a good deed at the same time. As the place was closed, I stopped opposite at the Mama Shelter, more trendy and with a terrace along the trench of the Petite Ceinture , just before the tunnel.

Turn left onto rue de Bagnolet and right onto rue de Lesseps, which leads to the Pierre-Emmanuel natural garden, the starting point for another walk through Charonne. This quiet garden is very special because, as on the Petite ceinture, it is mainly home to wild plants.

We leave the garden by the Rue de la Réunion, which we take on the right to enter the Père Lachaise cemetery.

To see foxes in the Père Lachaise cemetery may not be so surprising, as the east side is bordered by the Petite Ceinture tunnel which is a fantastic environment for the wildlife. The photos taken by Benoit Gallot, Conservateur du Père Lachaise, show the rich diversity of animals living in this vast and peaceful green area. 

We cross the cemetery along its eastern side, which will give us the opportunity not to see any foxes - that would be too good - but to see a small part of this symbolic place, which deserves several walks to discover it.

Let's follow the Allée Circulaire on the right.  One of the landmarks is the Communards Wall - Mur des Fédérés (Div 76), a memorial to the Paris Commune.  Not far from there (Div 93), there are often people worshipping at Eugène Pottier's grave and singing the Internationale.

Continuing northwards, one of the most popular spots for thanatourists is the grave of Oscar Wilde (Div 89). If the Irish writer had shocked public opinion during his lifetime, the sculpture created by Jacob Epstein for his tomb provoked deep indignation. So shocking that, according to legend, two Englishwomen emasculated the Flying Demon Angel. Since then, the gentler practice of placing kisses on his grave has damaged the monument too, tending to prove the toxicity of lipstick. The practice continues, but now on protective glass.

Close to the colombarium, we exit the cemetery at the Porte Gambetta, where we take the Rue des Rondeaux on our left.

We follow the cemetery along Rue des Rondeaux up to Avenue Gambetta, which we then cross. From Place Martin Nadaud, we take Rue Orfila and climb the stairs into the Doctor Grancher Garden, which is curiously built on a hill. Inaugurated in 2006, the garden stands on the site of three former buildings and streets.

Crossing the garden, we exit onto rue Villiers de l'Isle Adam on the left and turn right onto rue Sorbier. Past the Lycée Martin Nadaud, we enter the Sergent Aurélie Salel garden at 13 rue Sorbier.

 In the past, this was an open-air gypsum quarry through which the Petite Ceinture ran. When the garden was created in 1938, the railway tracks were roofed over by a platform with six large ventilation shafts. These still exist and are clearly visible despite the planting.

Since 2016, the garden has been a tribute to the first woman firefighter to die in action.

Let's continue along Rue Sorbier up to 79 Rue de Ménilmontant, where there is a short section of the Petite Ceinture. We exit at 11 Rue de la Mare.

Let's continue to Rue Henri Chevreau and turn right onto Rue des Couronnes to take the stairs leading to the Jardin des Couronnes. From there, the Petite Ceinture runs through a long tunnel until it reaches the Parc des Buttes Chaumont.

Via Passage Piat, we arrive at the Belvédère de Belleville, where we can admire the view over Paris.

Little Railway Belt - 19th district

The Petite Ceinture tunnel crosses Belleville, roughly following Rue Mélingue and Rue des Alouettes; this street leads directly to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, where the Petite Ceinture leaves the tunnel and crosses the park up North.

However, instead of walking along these two streets, I preferred to walk in the park where I entered on Avenue Simon Bolivar.

Of course, the park itself is well worth another walk, as are the Butte Bergeyre and Mouzaïa neighbourhoods.

For this walk, I simply followed the Jacques de Liniers path, then the Cascade path, to the Rosa Bonheur pavilion. Situated directly opposite where the Petite Ceinture emerges from the tunnel, the pavilion was originally known as the Chalet du Chemin de Fer (Railway Chalet) when it was first built in 1867. This is where our stroll ends and where I have stopped for a nice break.