Paris Encore 2022 Bois de Vincennes

It’s Sunday, and the weather is predicted to be nice, so we decided to take the Metro to the end of Line 1, the Bois de Vincennes, which includes a Chateau and fortress. Vincennes is the second largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Boulogne. It was a former hunting ground for many kings, going back 900 years. 

Built in the 1300s, the chateau was a country residence for royal families. Now, it’s part of the city. It has the deepest moat I’ve ever seen, and it’s the only medieval royal palace still in existence in France.

I’m sorry the map isn’t clearer. The important buildings are the “keep”, or donjon on the map, the chapel and the residences of the king and queen, which are the long buildings bordering the quad on opposite sides of the enclosure. This map doesn’t even list them as the royal residences, probably because the fort and buildings transitioned to other things over the years, after the king moved to his new and improved Palace of Versailles in 1782. It’s been an arsenal, a prison and a porcelain factory since the royals moved out.

The keep, below, is a fortified central tower. It’s the tallest such building in Europe, and ensured that the royal family would be safe while in residence here.

We didn’t tour the buildings, but took a peek in the chapel, before we were told we needed a ticket to see it. Most of the pictures I’ve seen online are of the enclosure and buildings from the outside anyway, so the interiors must not be spectacular. That’s OK, because we’ll make up for it tomorrow! There’s no shortage of opulence in other historic buildings in Paris!

So, on to the Bois (wood) de Vincennes. The gate and drawbridge which the inhabitants would have used was locked, so we had to backtrack and walk around the fort to get to the park. And, it was across a very wide, and somewhat busy street. We decided to stop for lunch before tackling the park, and luckily there was a restaurant within easy walking distance.

As we discovered, the park is immense, and there was no way we could walk to all of the different areas in one visit. We saw some great walking paths, picnic areas, and flowers. But, there’s so much more to this place! There are a series of lakes and a variety of gardens included in the Paris Botanical Garden. And, lots of sports fields. Cars were parked all along the streets going through the park, so obviously it would have been easier to see by car!

We visited the park on Sunday, May 8, which is the day celebrated as the end of World War II in most of Europe. So, when we saw this parade, we assumed it was related to a celebration of this day. The parade of horses was escorted by police cars, with lights flashing, and followed immediately by street sweeping trucks, the drivers of which were not in fancy costumes. 😊

There was really no crowd of spectators in evidence where we saw this parade, but the riders were all in formal regalia, so they must have been headed to a more crowded area. Plus, they’re walking on the side of the road that was in the shade on this warm and sunny day, so this might have been the preamble to the actual event. Being ignorant of any festivities, we were lucky to see this!

There’s one more thing to do today. I told Rick we needed to see the Eiffel Tower one more time, after dark, with the lights twinkling. That’s the ultimate Paris experience, in my mind!

The Metro was still busy as we headed over to the Trocadéro neighborhood once again. Parisians are having their dinner later than we usually do, so that would account for some of the crowd. And, there would certainly be other visitors heading to the same place we were going, for the best view of the lights.

It didn’t get dark until almost 10, but by then a crowd had gathered on the steps.

It’s magical.