A beautiful arch of green borders the old city of Nice for the greatest pleasure of Nice, walkers and tourists. A sort of vegetal border between "the old", as we say here, and the modern city. Discovery in virtual tours and images of all kinds of the Promenade du Paillon.
Havre of greenery in the middle of the French Riviera capital
In the heart of town is a space of about 1.3 km long and more than 50 meters wide, starting from the top around the Museum of Modern Art (Mamac) and the National Theater of Nice (TNN) until the seaside. Many species of plants were chosen by the designer of the place, true botanical architect, landscape gardener Michel Péna. The idea of representing the five continents, through the choice of species, aims, in a certain way, to make the place a small representation of the world. Large paved areas allow pedestrians to roam the area.
Some paths allow, as in a jungle, with a little imagination, to penetrate into more "wild" areas.
The maintenance is done in a reasoned way by avoiding pesticides and too much watering. Wikipedia encyclopedia lists 1600 trees (oaks, cypresses, olive trees, palms, pomegranates, eucalyptus, giant ficus, ferns, maples etc ...), 6000 shrubs and 50000 perennials without we could find the sources of these counts ...
Art in the garden
Several modern or classical works of art dot the garden. A triumphant reproduction of a Michelangelo's David who does not lack success on Instagram ... A statue of General Massena, originally from Nice, and a nice museum named after him, near the famous Negresco, the along the Promenade des Anglais.
The arch of 115 ° Bernar Venet is further to the sea, you remember the exhibition at Mamac de Venet "on mathematics".
Virtuals tours 360° interactive
Click on the purple links to move in the virtual visit or on the globe 
to view a map of 360 ° views and access them.
Discovering the Coulée verte
The beginning of the Paillon walk starts almost from the Place Garibaldi with a first large space, at the level of Saint François place, its fishmongers and the beautiful Lycée Masséna.
The tower Saint-François overhangs the place and will offer you an exceptional point of view, different according to the hours of the day. Several streets then cross the green flow (crossing Flanders-Dunkerque, resistance and Deportation alley) until the place ... Masséna.
Many facilities allow children to have fun on wooden facilities to play (marine bestiaries with boats, whales, dolphins etc ...), swings, playgrounds, giant spiders etc. ...
Masséna square, majestic, imperial, mineral, is the scene of many events, starting with the Carnival of Nice, its gigantic tanks always very successful and elegant flower battles, scented ...
In 2019 the concert of the Music Festival of France Television hosted on site a variety of artists, for the delight of young and old ... despite the traffic disruptions of the tram line No. 1 for a few days. Tramway that crosses the flow at the level of the square and then follow it along the old town, Boulevard Jean Jaurès.
An original event entitled "Cool and Green" took place at the Lycée Masséna in June 2019 on the theme of ecology and sustainable development, organized by several local associations and the city.
Fews panoramas
Water and fountains
A large space, adjacent to Place Masséna, offers a spectacle of fountains gushing from the ground with a mirror of water. One hundred and twenty-eight jets delight the passers-by with saving freshness. At regular intervals, accompanied by music, the ballet rises in the sky of the French Riviera. A real pleasure during the summer heat waves! Many children running in the middle of the water maze, unleashed by the pleasure of having fun in groups. A system of foggers, on both sides of the square, from the ground, releases fine droplets of water in suspension which evaporates create a cooling, pleasant phenomenon and well known meteorologists.
Albert Premier Garden Sector
Last part, towards the south, of this green zone, between the place and the seaside, where the Paillon reappears, most of the time shyly, before being engulfed and to plunge in Mediterranean Sea ...
Long-distance swimmers also clearly perceive the layers and the difference in temperature and salinity of the waters at the mouth of the river. During heavy rains the sea takes on this place a beige hue because of the silt spilled ...
The village of Christmas settles at the end of each year on this area, we proposed a blog article with photos, videos and virtual visits as well beautiful illuminations of the Place Masséna, the Ferris wheel and commercial attractions and culinary end of the year. Not to mention the ice rink, which gives mountain desires ....
The Albert Premier Garden and this area hosts the famous Jazz Festival of the city of Nice or the festival of contemporary music, as they say (rap, lots of rap), "CrossOver"; formerly a military music festival ... if our memory is good ...
The triathlon of Nice, the book festival but also many other events here take their comfort away from the palm trees, some grumpy moaning against a "privatization" of places ...
The bandstand on the side of the Méridien hotel draws crowds during performances including the Nice Concert Band.
The green theater, outdoor amphitheater, and the centenary monument, celebrating the connections of Nice to France in 1793 and 1860, punctuate the green flow ...
The promenade du Paillon: a garden overlooking a river
A little worry still exists to see the river, upstream, following very heavy Mediterranean precipitation overflow in town. Nature during its excesses of fury sometimes resumes its rights brutally, but trust the warning systems and the talents of hydrologists in charge of underground facilities carrying Mercantour water under the green flow ...
As often debates took place about this space, some people reproaching him for being closed, others, activists ecologists, to serve as a screen for a local policy not ambitious and too oriented to the communication, in terms of ecological transition . Maybe, possible, but in the end, it is a nice place, a kind of urban parenthesis, a real success, which attracts and pleases ...
Local politicians are also fighting over the paternity of places between the former (J Peyrat) and the current mayor of Nice (C Estrosi) ...
History
Before being covered, the banks welcomed the washerwomen who had been drying the clothes. Many bridges made it possible to connect the two banks. The paillon river from the Mercantour was channeled little by little between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th, until 1972, to give more space to the city. For a long time, other eras and other mores, the place served as a bus station. We remember, child, car parks and service stations. Many other websites will offer a more complete history than us, for example this one https://lacouleevertenice.wordpress.com. If you are interested in local history, we recommend Jean-Loup Fontana's book "Nice le le comté, a multimillenary story".
The 360 ° virtual tour on this page offers views from the ground level but also from several high points which we advise you to visit. The Saint-François tower, the terrace of the Aston hotel, the Meridien and the Ferris wheel. Thank you to them for their welcome.
