Out of the apartment and on the metro to Chateau de Vincennes

 5 June 2022.

This morning I awoke after a wonderful night's sleep. It seems my body is at long last trying to find some degree of normalcy. 

After a very leisurely morning, it was such a nice Sunday we had to get outside. I suggested we take the metro to the Bois de Vincennes east of Paris and focus on seeing the Chateau de Vincennes, an enormous pile that has played a very large role in the history of France and a large green space we have never visited.

It took us just a few minutes to walk to our Metro stop, Campo Formio. As you can see, the station entrance is a superb example of the classic Hector Guimard art nouveau designs for which this city is so famous:

That said, the Guimard design comes at a price: age. Most of the metro stations are quite antiquated, certainly by the standards we've seen elsewhere in Europe so far. They generally lack elevators, only a handful have escalators and many of the cars are in sore need of updating as well. Also, virtually no public facilities are available. Some lines, such as no. 1, which we switched to at Bastille, have been updated but even that line is starting to show some age. The Parisians have A LOT to do before the 2024 Olympics!

line 1 at Bastille heading to Chateau de Vincennes

We got off at the Chateau de Vincennes stop since it was both our objective and the end of the line. On the way out we caught sight of this memorial to the local Metro workers shot by the Germans on 22 August 1944 during the liberation of Paris. It would not be the last memorial sighting today. . . 

Once outside the Metro we found ourselves at the north entrance to the Chateau, which is actually a fort as well. Allegedly part of the French military system we could see no evidence of that. There was a car barrier across the entrance, and we had to go through what one might laughably call a security inspection by someone not in uniform but seemingly happy in his work and very easygoing. 

 

The entire space is surrounded by a dry moat, which in past times has been used as a place of execution (more of that later).

Once inside the visitor is struck by the open barrenness of the space, although of course it hasn't always been like that. Only the chapel and the donjon, the large four-sided tower, are original to the middle ages while nearly all the other buildings, most dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries, appear abandoned or at the very least unused. Supposedly they were once part of the French Army Historical services but it's unclear if they are used at all today. 

buildings across from the ticket office

There is a ticket office and gift shop in what was once the harnachement (harness) building close to the old officer quarters. Otherwise the place seemed unoccupied.

officer quarters on the right followed by the harnachement building

the end of the harnachment building 

The Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes was begun in the 14th century and is modeled on its big sister on the Île de la Cité in Paris.

Built in the 14th century as a fortress and royal palace it reportedly had the tallest donjon in Europe.

the famous donjon

As you can see there were few visitors that day, although the park surrounding the chateau was packed with walkers, young people, families and many others out for a Sunday afternoon.

looking toward the southern entrance, which faces the park proper

looking back toward the northern entrance

looking back north from the south entrance

The chateau has been used for executions, all reportedly taking place in the dry moat. 

Perhaps the most famous execution took place in 1804. Fearing a monarchist coup Napoléon I arranged for the abduction and assassination of Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duc d'Enghien. He was summarily shot in the moat on 21 March 1804. Initially buried in the moat, his body was eventually removed and reinterred in the Sainte Chapelle de Vincennes.

memorial to the Duc d'Enghien is barely visible to the far left of the moat

In 1917 convicted German spy Margarethe Zelle Macleod, better known by her stage name Mata Hari, was shot by firing squad. The spot where she was executed is unlisted and her grave, if there is one, is unknown.

The Germans also executed 29 French policemen and civilians at the chateau between 20 and 22 August 1944. Sadly, their memorial is a bit off the beaten tourist track -- and no sign directed the visitor to its location either.  I happened to catch a glimpse of red, white and blue at the base and walked over to it.

memorial to those killed 20-22 August 1944

Besides the donjon and the chapel the only other bit of medieval history excavated is the fountain used for the manor house that once stood on this spot:

We had hoped to exit by the south entrance and thus make our way into the park. That exit was closed, however, and so we went out the way we came. Trying to skirt the park we were overwhelmed by literally hundreds of young people. 

leaving the chateau

the east entrance and the old walls of the fort

Sensing something afoot we decided to turn around and made our way across the street to a lovely park where we sat to plan our next move.

We sat and enjoyed the peace of the moment. Noting the statue behind us our curiosity got the better of us. It was a nicely executed memorial to the men from Vincennes who died in the First World War. Another memorial, another remembrance of lives lost.

We popped back onto the no. 1 by the entrance to the chateau, again noting the seemingly unending stream of young folks coming off the metro, joining the hundreds of others we passed earlier. We came to find out later that today was the last day of a three-day concert series in the nearby Bois de Vincennes. While we missed Massive Attack it was OK to be heading in the other direction. . . 

Back at the Bastille metro we switched to the no. 5. One of our very first experiences on the system back in 2006, we've ridden this line many times and always enjoy this stretch above ground between the Gare d'Austerlitz and Saint Marcel stops:

Back home once again we stayed in for a supper of baked vegetables with cheese.