From Ledoux's customs rotunda at Stalingrad along Paris's largest artificial lake. You cross the city's last working lift bridge, then follow the Canal de l'Ourcq towpath to the old cattle market of La Villette, now a park with the Philharmonie concert hall and the Géode dome.
Best time: Late afternoon into the evening along the water; or a weekend, ending with a concert at the Philharmonie
The route, stop by stop
- 1Rotonde de la Villette
Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad. The largest of Claude-Nicolas Ledoux's toll houses on the Farmers-General wall (1784-1788), where duty was collected on goods entering Paris by the Flanders and Soissons roads. Since 2009 it has held a restaurant and a contemporary-art gallery. 10 min.
- 2Bassin de la Villette
The largest artificial body of water in Paris, 699 m by 70 m, filled on 2 December 1808. It links the Canal de l'Ourcq and the Canal Saint-Denis to the Canal Saint-Martin. Walk up either quay (quai de la Seine or quai de la Loire). 30 min.
- 3Pont levant de la rue de Crimée
The last lift bridge in Paris, in service since 1885, still raised about 9,000 times a year. When it lifts for a boat, walkers cross on the fixed footbridge beside it. 10 min.
- 4Grande Halle de la Villette
The old cattle hall of the La Villette abattoirs, built 1865-1867 in iron and glass, the largest of the three livestock halls. Listed monument since 1979; now used for exhibitions, festivals and fairs. Reach it along the Canal de l'Ourcq towpath. 20 min.
- 5Philharmonie de Paris
Opened on 14 January 2015, with the 2,400-seat Salle Pierre Boulez. Home to the Orchestre de Paris, the Ensemble intercontemporain and Les Arts Florissants. 20 min outside; check the programme for a concert.
- 6La Géode
A geodesic dome by Adrien Fainsilber and Gérard Chamayou, opened by François Mitterrand on 6 May 1985: a hemispheric cinema, now run by Pathé, the only one in the Paris region. Metro 7 at Porte de la Villette for the way back. 15 min outside.
More walks in Paris
- Île de la Cité and the Latin Quarter
- Marais mansions, falafel and markets
- Montmartre from Nouvelle Athènes to Sacré-Cœur
- Left Bank: Orsay, Rodin and Invalides to the Grand Palais
- Canal Saint-Martin to Belleville
- Tuileries to the Eiffel Tower along the Seine
- Southern villages: Montsouris, Cité Florale and Butte-aux-Cailles
- Saint-Germain-des-Prés to the Luxembourg
- Batignolles and Épinettes: village squares to the new park
- Covered passages: Palais-Royal to the Grands Boulevards
- Ménilmontant to the village of Charonne via Père-Lachaise
- The 13th: from the Gobelins tapestry works to the Choisy triangle