A vicious village in the heart of Paris Butte Bergeyre – only true Parisians know such a place. Some share their knowledge with tourists, leading small groups into the hidden corners of their city.
Anyone who embarks on discovering the city with Dominique Cotto should not be a beginner in Paris. This engineer does not show the famous landmarks of the city. Dominique is the president of the association ‘One Day in Paris, always in Paris’, which aims to show foreign tourists ‘their’ Paris.
‘We have about 100 volunteers. Everyone knows their neighborhood inside and out, its history and its inhabitants,’ says Dominique. And since he first saw the light of day in the 19th arrondissement more than half a century ago, his today’s walking tour takes him through the streets and alleys around Buttes Chaumont Park in the northeast of the city. His starting point is Colonel Fabien Square. At the beginning of the 19th century, all kinds of animal fights were held here. Today, the square is primarily known for its UFO-like building, made by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, the headquarters of the French Communist Party.
A village frozen in time: a hidden paradise on top of Paris
From the bustling Mathurin-Moreau Avenue, the route leads to Rue des Chaufourniers Street, where a large quarry used to be located. The streets around Buttes Chaumont Park, the second highest point in the city, almost all climb steeply, and staircases in the neighborhood require a certain level of fitness. That’s why Dominique rests after 80 steps of Rue Michel Tagrine Street. He and his companions reached the nearly 100-meter-high peak of Butte Bergeyre: a paradise in the heart of the urban jungle, a village that seems to have frozen in time.
Stairs leading from Rue Manin to Butte Bergeyre – MBZT, CC BY-SA 4.0, Via Wikimedia Commons
In Philippe-Hecht Street, white lilacs and blue wisteria grow abundantly over walls and fences. Some houses are so overgrown with ivy that only windows are visible. The village at the top of the hill consists of five streets, each more picturesque than the previous one. At the foot of the hill rise multi-story buildings, whose yards stick to them like nests on the cliffs. The view from Barrelet-de-Ricou Street to these courtyards far below is breathtaking. In many, nature has conquered the space again: some are completely overgrown with grass and bushes, while in others, huge trees break through the concrete.
Charm like a dollhouse: a miniature world in the middle of a Parisian bustle
The pavilions are reminiscent of ‘Villa Villekulla’, the home of Pippi Longstocking, beloved heroine Astrid Lindgren. They are equally colorful and loose. Some facades are dotted with huge cracks. ‘The soil is unstable due to the centuries of limestone extraction,’ explains Dominique. Up here, you feel like you’re in a dollhouse: everything is small and comfortable. The same applies to the common neighborhood garden. There are about 25 such ‘common gardens’ in Paris, mostly located in outdoor arrondissements.
‘Jardin Partage’ on Butte Bergeyre was opened in September 2004. It is open to the public and is the pride and joy of the inhabitants of the hill. ‘It’s our Jardin du Luxembourg,’ says one of them. With two exceptions: it is significantly smaller, but it offers a view of the Parisian panorama, which is only more spectacular from the Eiffel Tower.
Cover photo: tangopaso, Public Domain, Via Wikimedia Commons
