IDS - Index

IDS - magazine_summer2008 - Index

46
guide/guide Village, commune and “quartier”: Bercy has been all these things in the
course of its 6,000-year history. A revolutionary commune, then a world
famous wine trade centre, Bercy has always drawn the crowds. The
opening, in 1979, of the POPB (Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy) sports
facility was the first stage in the urban renewal project for Paris’s “East
End”. The initiative has been a success: the relocation of the Ministry
of Finance has been followed by the Bercy park, the Bercy Village, and
more recently the Maison du Cinéma.
© Julien Benhamou
Le quartier de Bercy
New dawn in the East...
The Bercy “quartier” has undergone a complete makeover. With
its parks and gardens, boutiques, bars and restaurants, it has
become the in-place to get a breath of fresh air and relax.
Guided tour.
Between 1860 and 1970, Bercy was
but a series of wine warehouses one
after the other. But, since the late 1980s,
the old wine and spirit stores have been
razed to the ground to create a new urban
landscape. Today, Bercy is centred on a
rectangular park, with a multi-purpose
sports facility (the Palais Omnisport) on
one side, Bercy Village and the immense
Bercy-Expo complex on the other. North
of the park is a residential district, while,
on the banks of the Seine, a terrace over-
Greater Paris - summer / été 2008
BERCY
Village, commune et quartier : Bercy est tout cela au cours d’une histoire
de plus de 6 000 ans. Commune révolutionnaire, puis cité vinicole
de notoriété mondiale, Bercy est depuis toujours un lieu très fréquenté.
L’ouverture, en 1979, du POPB (Palais omnisport de Paris Bercy) a marqué
le début du renouveau de l’Est parisien. Aujourd’hui, la greffe a
réussi : le ministère des Finances a vu le jour ; ont suivi le parc de Bercy,
Bercy Village ou encore la Maison du cinéma.
looks the expressway and river. The wine
warehouses have been taken over by boutiques,
wine bars and wine merchants. As
for the Simone de Beauvoir footbridge it
provides, since 2006, an easy access to the
Bibliothèque de France, on the left bank.
For those who are nostalgic of former
times will nevertheless rediscover the spirit
of old Bercy in the park and the network
of tracks formerly used to convey the wine
from the Seine embankment. Some rail
tracks, three wine stores and some 19th-
© Julien Benhamou
century cellars have also been kept.
If you feel bucolic, you will enjoy a stroll
surrounded by lawns and flowerbeds,
which include a vegetable garden, an orchard
and... a vineyard! Further on: 90
different varieties of roses, a yew-hedge
labyrinth and an aromatic plants garden.
Finally, Bercy Village attracts lovers of
quirky boutiques, fashion and trendy restaurants.
All in all, the redevelopment of
this district has been a success, recreating
a real sense of conviviality. ■
A l’Est,
le renouveau...
© Julien Benhamou
Le quartier de Bercy a fait peau
neuve : espaces verts, boutiques,
bars et restaurants… on s’y
presse pour changer d’air et se
détendre. Visite guidée
Entre 1860 et 1970, le quartier de Bercy
se résumait à une succession d’entrepôts
de vin. Mais, depuis la fin des années
1980, les anciens chais ont été rasés. Pour
être remplacés par l’aménagement d’un
nouveau quartier. Aujourd’hui Bercy s’arti-