So this post is a continuation of the previous post which
you can see here. I probably never walked more than four stations in one go.
This was mostly because every now and then there are barriers that were just
too difficult to get through. But here I am trying to make sense of it all and
put it into a coherent "tour" of the tracks. So the last station we
looked at was Gare de Bel-Air-Ceinture, following this is Gare de l'Avenue de
Vincennes.
For the non-Frenchies reading this, "gare" means station. Though you will probably figure this out. It appears in the name of each station so go figure...
*-*-*-*
Gare de l'Avenue de Vincennes
This bit is very colourful (not surprising when you see the
next few), and is the start/end depending on your perspective, of my favorite
part. That is, now my old favorite part has been destroyed, ahem I mean renovated.
ABOVE: Presumably the platform of this "station." As you can see this whole area has been attacked by colour and mildly nonsensical English. BELOW: "Rain is Pink" and "Free Smile." Well at least they are happy.
BELOW: I like this one. I seem to like chunky iron bridges. Is that weird? I hope not. And Here are some more photos of the area (and the next few stations).
*-*-*-*
Gare de la Rue d'Avron
This part of the track is VERY lively. We walked through
coming from the other direction to this virtual "tour" I am writing
for you now. We ran into architecture students, graffiti artists and all
sorts.
This man had a groovy hat, sadly I did not get a very good shot of him...
This station didn't just have the little buildings you see scattered here, but also this, which of course we could not get into (we had a peek nonetheless).
The next station was Gare de Charonne-Marchanidises but it
was destroyed, so I am not sure exactly where it was. We deff walked through it
but as there was no sign of it I was not aware of it.
*-*-*-*
Gare de Charonne
I first went to Gare de Charonne totally unaware that this
is what it was, I was attending a concert in the now renovated La Fleche d'Or.
Given the "ceinture" sign and railway clock, I worked out pretty fast
that I was standing in a petite ceinture station. Given that the singer was
pretty rubbish it deff was a highlight to the evening...!
Underneath the station however it is even more interesting. There
were so many obscure structures hanging about. I found it fascinating. My
friend however was quite content just watching me flit about- to be fair he had
been down the catas the last few days and I had only been down there one night
so probably had more energy than he!
Its like an industrial wonderland!
*-*-*-*
Gare de Melimontant
OK, so if you read my last post you saw my last warning. But
I am warning you here again. Between this station and the next one is a really
long tunnel, in the middle of this tunnel my friend and I had our cameras and
phones and money stolen. So perhaps skip this bit. I have reason to believe
that they hang out there often. It is NOT worth it and there is zero chance of
getting away from them. So do yourselves a favor. Don't bother.
Furthermore the station no longer exists. So why would you
bother?
But here are some photos anyway because the first two times
I went through I was lucky.
The tunnel we were mugged in.. Yes that tiny speck is how far away the light is. So don't do it.
This is just before it.
*-*-*-*
Gare de Belleville-Villette
Here is another "station," there is little sign of
it existing now. Nonetheless I have spent a surprising amount of time along
here. Just before this, most probably around the site of the now also destroyed
Gare de Paris-Bestiaux was this huge iron bridge I had been seeking out that
now goes over the canal in Parc de Villette.
*-*-*-*
Gare du Pont de Flandre
The first time I saw this it was through a hole in the fence
by a metro exit, where I took the photo above. I promised myself then that I
WOULD get inside it. And I did a few months later. Now there is a man living in
there running some kind of dance club out of it. He is very friendly, but I am
rather untrusting of people that are THAT friendly. He also some how had wired
up electricity, TV, the lot. It was actually pretty luxurious in comparison to
where I was living at the time.
Just some little details I liked.
*-*-*-*
I think this is probably the end of part II, I will have to write a part III for the rest. Wow this is becoming so long!
