Cover image: Street sign - Promenade Jane et Paulette Nardal
© Entrée to Black Paris

Jane and Paulette Nardal were two of seven sisters born into a prominent middle-class Martinican family at the turn of the 20th century.  Paulette was the first woman of African descent to receive a degree from the Sorbonne; Jane followed in her footsteps soon afterward.  The women are most famous for the literary salon they hosted in the Paris suburb of Clamart, where conversation over a period of months gave birth to the Negritude movement that is credited to men.

In 2019, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo presided over a ceremony that named a long strip of greenery near the lower boundary of the 14th arrondissement after these two illustrious women.  I visited the Promenade Jane et Paulette Nardal for the first time just a couple of days ago.  Today, I'm sharing my impressions of what I found there.

The most convenient way for me to access the promenade was via the Tram 3a. I exited at Porte des Vanves and made my way north on rue Raymond Losserand until I reached rue des Arbustes.  The western end of the walkway is found here.

A colorful table with text in French and in Braille provides information about what visitors will find on the promenade:  three large play areas for children, stationary reclining benches, a biodiversity area, a shared flower/vegetable garden, a book sharing area, and an installation that depicts the history of the neighborhood from 1900 to 2019. 

Schematic representation of the promenade
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I walked from one end to the other, snapping photos along the way.

Signage at both ends and about midway along the walkway indicate that the Nardal sisters were "women of letters," Muses of Négritude literature and politics, and militant feminists.

Signage amidst passion fruit plant and other greenery
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The promenade is 540 meters (590.5 yards) long.  It is flanked along its entire length by apartment buildings, a municipal nursery school, the headquarters of the French Red Cross, and medical facilities and other operations housed in reconstructed buildings that were formerly part of the old Broussais Hospital.  But when you focus on the greenery and the activities along the route, you easily forget about these.

Mother and son approaching the nursery school
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Storage area for chopped wood and tiles
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Flowers in shared garden
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Because it is September, most of the flowering plants and bushes are past their prime.  I plan to return next spring to view them in all their glory!

The promenade is situated above La Petite Ceinture (The Little Beltway), an old railway that circumnavigates Paris.  No longer in use, much of it has been covered over.  But at the eastern end of the promenade, across rue Didot, you can still see the tracks.

La Petite Ceinture
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This section of La Petite Ceinture is home to a species of bat called Pipistrelle commune. The play area near the western entrance to the promenade was created in the shape of a bat.

Salon des Petits playground
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You can listen to the sounds made by these creatures at a bat detector stand located in the Salon des Découvertes.

Bat detector
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For me, the most intriguing part of the promenade is the Jeu des Souvenirs, also located in the Salon des Découvertes.  It is made up of triangular units, each bearing a section of a color painting that depicts one of three eras for the neighborhood - 1900, 1970, and 2019.  The installation is interactive, so passersby are invited to turn the units to see what is represented on each side.  It is a wonderful usage of art as a means to engage with history.

Jeu des Souvenirs
© Entrée to Black Paris

Jeu des Souvenirs - triangular mobile units
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Jeu des Souvenirs - face of a mobile unit
© Entrée to Black Paris

At the eastern end of the promenade, on place Alice-Guy Blaché, lies the Maison des Pratiques Artistiques Amateurs (MPAA/Broussais).  It was built on the site of the boiler room of the old Broussais Hospital, for which the original chimney still stands.

MPAA cultural center
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MPAA - Chimney of the boiler room of the Hôpital Broussais
© Entrée to Black Paris

MPAA is a cultural center that hosts live performances, exhibitions, and artistic workshops for amateur artists, actors, and musicians.

The construction of Promenade Jane et Paulette Nardal was part of an urban renewal project that appears to have been successful.  Watch the inaugural ceremony (in French; ~25 minutes long), which took place on August 31, 2019, below.

Learn about the campaign to have Paulette Nardal inducted into the Pantheon HERE (Website is in French).