The Promenade Plantée in Paris. Once a raised railway line. Instead of pulling it down, they planted it. And now it is a pleasant second storey floral walk, with benches and drinking fountains; functional, delightful.

The ground-level gardens of Paris are flourishing too. The Parc de Bercy will look good when it is mature. For now, there is an information centre, which tells you about the thousands of people caring for Paris's public greenery.
Where life in Paris spills out on to the pavements: in the rue Montorgueil, the food stalls stretch out to tempt the breakfasters in tha cafés on the other side of the street. The street itself is paved in a swirling mosaic.

The new line 14 of the Métro, the "Méteor". Driverless, it takes you to the Bibliothèque Nationale, four massive glass towers with vast wooden walkways between them.

The Jardin des Poètes, in the west of the city, not far from the Roland Garros tennis stadium, has plaques at the edge of the paths inscribed with extracts from famous French poems.

There are points against Paris, of course: graffiti and roller-bladers, for example. No doubt people scribbled on walls in Montaigne's time and maybe there was his equivalent of roller-bladers, but reading beneath his statue by the Thermes de Cluny "Paris a mon cœur..." (Paris has my heart), I think I know what he meant.

Use a map of Paris!

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A modern park, very architectural and different from traditional parks. Lots of fountains and greenhouses and a good place to spend a quiet Sunday morning with the family.

Metro Balard. Near Quai Andre Citroen, west of the Tour Eiffel

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