Batignolles and Épinettes: village squares to the new park: a walk in Paris

The former village of Batignolles, joined to Paris in 1860: an Alphand garden by the Saint-Lazare railway cutting and a temple-front village church on its square. The walk then goes north into the Épinettes to a private lane of flowered houses, and ends in the 10-hectare park built on the old SNCF goods yard, under Renzo Piano's courthouse tower.

Best time: Weekday morning; the Cité des Fleurs is open to walkers 07:00-19:00 Mon-Sat and only 07:00-13:00 on Sundays and holidays

The route, stop by stop

1
Square des Batignolles
A 16,615 m2 English-style garden by Adolphe Alphand for Napoleon III, with a grotto, a stream, a cascade and a small lake full of ducks, swans and moorhens. Four plane trees planted in 1840 and 1880, the tallest 30 m, are among the biggest in Paris. Barbara was born nearby and sang about it in Perlimpinpin (1972); the central path is the allée Barbara. On 24 May 1871 Communards were shot here and buried in a common grave under the bandstand. 20 min.
2
Église Sainte-Marie des Batignolles
77 place du Docteur-Félix-Lobligeois. A Greek-temple front with four columns and no bell tower, only a small 1857 campanile. It grew from a wooden chapel of 1826-1829 that Charles X and the Duchess of Angoulême paid for. Listed monument since 1975. The square in front is the old village centre. 15 min.
3
Cité des Fleurs
A private 320 m lane laid out in 1847 between rue Guy-Môquet and rue de La Jonquière, with three small round squares. Its founding rules kept its mix of villas and townhouses and its gardens; engineers from the nearby Goüin locomotive works built homes here. Open to walkers 07:00-19:00 Mon-Sat and 07:00-13:00 on Sundays and holidays; keep quiet, people live here. 20 min.
A 315-metre private lane where two 19th-century owners' conventions fixed the rules: each house different, each with a front garden. Alfred Sisley lived here; it is the…
4
Parc Clichy-Batignolles - Martin Luther King
A 10-hectare public park on the old SNCF Batignolles goods yard. It was first planned in 2001, tied to the Olympic village of the Paris 2012 bid, and finished in 2020. 30 min.
5
Tribunal de Paris
Parvis Robert-Badinter. Renzo Piano's 38-storey courthouse, home since 2018 of the court that used to sit in the Palais de Justice on the Île de la Cité. It has 90 courtrooms and won the Équerre d'argent architecture prize in 2017. Metro 14 and 13 at Porte de Clichy take you back to the centre. 10 min outside.

Walking directions

Batignolles and Épinettes: village squares to the new park

The route, stop by stop

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