Parks in Paris to Picnic
 

Greetings, Folks

For the first time, I'll be in Paris in July and I am looking forward to having a picnic in a park (picnic basket and all). I'm sure there are plenty of lovely parks for me to enjoy my fruits, bread, cheeses, and wine. I realize that I can picnic in any park, but I'm wondering if there are parks that you feel are particularly quaint and beautiful that you can recommend.

Cheers and happy travels!
Katrina

My husband and I spent many hours in the Tuileries Gardens on our 50th anniversary trip last August. We did not happen to picnic, but you certainly could there. Lots of benches. You can find shade because there are many trees. It's a busy place, but still a lovely park for relaxation and people watching. It is a large park so one never feels that it is crowde. Plenty of seating areas for couples or small groups.

Slopes of the Parc de Belleville with views of the city on a clear day. Pyrenees Metro.

Jardin-du-Luxembourg - lovely and great people watching.

http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/f...embourg-121571

If you are thinking about huge lawns on which you can spread out, the Buttes Chaumont and the Parc de la Villette draw the biggest crowds on a sunny day, followed by Montsouris.

The Place des Fêtes (a métro stop) has a Sunday market where you can pick up picnic items and walk to the top of the parc des Buttes Chaumont.

You can find privacy in Bois de Vincennes.
You could find women or women like looking men in the Bois de boulogne when I was young but surely it is history now.
?

Actually, there are many parks where spreading out your picnic on the grass is forbidden. If you find yourself in one of these parks, you'll have to make do with a park bench or sit on some steps.

So how will you know if it's OK or not? Just look around and see what others are doing.

Champs de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower and Place des Vosges are popular spots, in addition to the ones kerouac listed. Except for PDV, these parks will stay open late at night, beginning this summer, which is a plus.

Since hauling a picnic basket full of stuff isn't any fun in the July heat, it would be wise to look for "traiteurs" or "supermarches" near the place you plan to spread out. Just use the "search nearby" function on GoogleMaps. This is one time when using disposable dishes/glasses would be an excellent idea...

You cannot go onto the grass and picnic in most parks in Paris, it is forbidden. And yes, you can get chased off by the authorities with whistles. You cannot do it in Luxembourg Gardens in most places, for example (in reality there are 3 small areas where you are allowed to sit on the grass and it is the area where people are packed in, sitting on the grass, you can figure it out--not where I would want to picnic). But most areas have signs forbidding it there.

You are allowed on the grass in Champ de Mars and Place des Vosges in the central areas. I think the nicest park where you are allowed to do this, that is fairly central, is Parc Monceau (at least you used to be able to go on the grass). So I'd go there, and you can combine it with a visit to the Musee Nissim de Camondo. YOu are allowed at Buttes Chaumont, of course, that's a good choices but farther out. Generally, "gardens" are not big parks and are more formal (like Tuileries or Luxembourg). You are more likely to be allowed in the large parks, not small pocket ones nor gardens. Place des Vosges is unusual, I think, in allowing it.

It isn't a secret, there are signs up and if a lawn area has those little metal picket fences around it, then it likely is. The signs say "pelouse interdite" (lawn forbidden). There also may be signs saying "pelouse au repos" which means they are protecting the lawn to get it to regenerate and you are not allowed on it, either, which is in colder months. Some areas that are closed at times and not others will have signs saying "pelouse ouverte" meaning it is open. SO just look for the signs iof in doubt.

They've had a lot of degradation of some parks in the center city when people are allowed on the grass, it turns into a football field, or gets filled with trash (problem on square du Temple and the Esplanade des Invalides). Parc Monceau has also had problems.

Some places may have a few picnic tables under some trees in an area without grass in some of these parks, like Tuileries. But not what the OP is envisioning, I think. Luxembourg Gardens has some in some areas, also, under a shelter roof.

Parc André Citroën is an option, especially if one wants to take the tethered balloon ride as an alternative to the Eiffel tower.

I am not seeing where the OP has restricted her picnic to take place "on the grass." Benches afford a place to sit comfortably and still have a picnic type lunch. It's done everyday and in almost every park that has benches.

Parc Monceau in the 8th...

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chap...ies-dead-guys/

((H))

I like the benches behind Notre-Dame cathedral- at the end of the isle the cathedral is on - great views of the flying buttresses and two branches of the Seine River.

a park you can sprawl on the grass is along the Seine just upstream from Notre Dame - the open-air sculpture park place on the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) - again views of Notre Dame in the distance - relatively few passersby here.

I've bench picnicked all over Paris - one of my very favorite spots is at the west end of the Tuileries Gardens - on benches perched high above the Place de la Concorde - great watching the pedestrains and constant swarm of cars badttling it out as they go round the place. Great for sunsets.

But to me the perfect picnic place would be on the steps of the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower. Here you have arm chairs that can be moved around with smashing views of the Eiffel and on this sloping down to the Seine terrace lots of locals skateboarding, break dancing, etc.

I dunno about this bench stuff. The OP clearly stated "picnic basket and all." That is not quite the same as sitting on a bench eating a sandwich.

I don't recall seeing many picnic tables in Parisian parks however and I'd much rather have a neat view of something than just sitting in the middle of a park.

Are picnic tables now standard in Paris parks or maybe they always were and I just forgot?

I suggest getting deli take-out fare from Monoprix or some supermarket - yes big baguette sandwiches make a whole meal almost and sit with nice scenery. And no grills I think either in public parks?

Your imagination is lacking if all you can come up with is eating a sandwich on a bench. From a gathering of goodies from Bon Marche to a simple menu as the OP listed, it can be put in a basket [or not] which is then simply placed next to you or in between 2 people and voila! I'd much prefer a bench to sitting on the ground, grassy or not.

Have they solved the rat problem in the parks in Paris? I was never much of a fan of sitting on the grass in Paris just to have some cheese and bread and wine, but those stories from a couple of years ago certainly put me off ever entertaining the idea.

I can't think of many, if any, parks in Paris that have actual picnic tables. And I have never seen a grill. That would just seem SO out of place!

There are no picnic tables or grills in any park in Paris (any fire would be forbidden).

I have to admit that some of you are reassuring me that tourists will never spoil the prime picnic spots of Paris, where people spread out a blanket and play frisbee or football all afternoon, or just take a nap after the wine.

By all means, sit on a bench in the tourist ghetto and pay 5 times the normal price for tourist grub from the Bon Marché. This will ensure that you will never find out what Parisian picnics are like.

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...epu-vil090.jpg

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...epu-vil082.jpg

Full report here: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...illette?page=1

Doesn't matter what others think or feel, this was the OP's request. Lots of folks here know how to find the "real" Paris, you included.

You could take the canal cruise from the Arsenal Port at Bastille and debark at the Villette stop for your picnic. Be sure to pick a warm sunny day.