12th arr

The 12th arrondissement is the easternmost area of the Right Bank of Paris.  It's split into a few distinct sections: immediately on the river is the Bercy area, which is mainly a very large park with a sports complex.  The park is very nice and peaceful; it's a more modern design than many in Paris.

These pictures aren't mine.

The park is connected to the 13th arr across the river by a footbridge.

Just north of the park is where most of the trains come into Paris, so there isn't much there but a jumble of train tracks and a couple of stations.

To the north of that and the eastern part of the 12th is mostly a business and residential area, there isn't much to see there.  Here is a rather nice fountain in the Place Felix Eboue, although it's sad looking at the moment, with no water.  Sometimes it's lit up and very pretty.

To the west the 12th meets the 11th at the Bastille, and it has a similar feel as I described for the 11th.  There are a lot of bars and restaurants, and it tends to be a middle class oriented area.  This side of the Bastille is a bit quieter and more staid, but it's one of my preferred neighborhoods: there are a lot of things to do but it's not hectic and too busy.

Just next to the Place de la Bastille is the Opera Bastille, the current home of the French National Opera.  This, rather than the famous opera house in the 8th, is where you would go to see an opera since the mid 20th century.  It's also a really cool building, and one of the few prominent examples of modern architecture in the city.

Moving along to the north side of the 12th there is the area around the Place de la Nation, the last of the huge roundabouts in this western portion of the Right Bank (the 10th, 11th, and 12th arrs).  This "star" joins ten large streets, and I think it's probably second in size only to the circle around the Arc de Triomphe.

It's hard to get a good picture of the center circle because there is so much traffic.

Here is an aerial shot of it, obviously not mine!

Nowadays it's mostly used for festivals and gatherings and such, but it was originally called "Place du Trone," or "the place of the throne" and had strong connections with the monarchy.  Louis XIV, the Sun King, came here after his marriage in 1660 with his new wife to sit on a throne before the people.

Under the Revolution it was renamed "Place du Trone Renverse," or "place of the backwards throne" as a bit of a joke, since a guillotine was placed there.  It was not the main guillotine in Paris, which was at the Place de la Concorde, but it still had a good amount of victims.

Near the Place de la Nation is the place where these victims were buried, now the Picpus Cemetery, but at the time it was an Augustinian convent that had been seized by the revolutionary government.

Today it's the only privately owned cemetery in the city, and possibly the one with the most modern burials, but you can visit it.  I'm going to write up a separate post on the cemetery because it turned out to be very interesting, but I'll give you a couple of pictures for now.

This is the site of the mass graves for the guillotine victims, who included commoners, clergy, nuns, members of the army, and nobility.

General Lafayette's wife was one of the main patronesses of this cemetery after the Revolution, so they are both buried here.  In deference to his role in the War for American Independence an American flag is always present above his grave.

So that's the 12th arr in a nutshell!  I highly recommend the Parc Bercy as a nice green spot away from touristy areas, and the banks of the river in the 12th are very pretty.  The Bastille area is fun and interesting, as I've mentioned, and I definitely recommend the Picpus Cemetery to any of my fellow history nerds - otherwise it's probably not that interesting.