16.11.27 / Bellvile Parc / As with most things Parisian, the parks often hold surprises, even the small ones / When I had grown tired of standing in queues for art galleries, I started exploring parks and markets in an attempt to see more of the Parisian life I was experiencing in the cafés and on the trains /

With Bellville, the neighborhood intrigued me / Its multicultural charm stands out / I crisscrossed my way up narrow streets, up to the park / I passed walls of graffiti art, torn music event posters, spray painted dustbins, litter blowing across the street and some rough looking guys sitting on a parked car drinking / It wasn’t mode Paris but it still felt like Paris /

The light was already dipping on an overcast afternoon when I entered park. Its a haven of green surrounded by tall apartments / It sits on a hillside, with winding paths through the foliage that lead upwards / I climbed my way to the top and turned back to find a breathtaking view / Paris splayed out before me, hugged by the grey winter / The Eiffel tower and Montparnasse tower were both visible in the distance / I climbed back down some steps to make a recording from a more central spot / On a bench on my right, a young man played guitar / Ever present, the rumble of traffic remained to remind me where I was / Families pass and a runner does several laps past me / The most interesting part of the recording to me is the echo of voices / Some children playing near the top of the park above me scream out, and as their cries hit the apartments below, they ricochet back with startling clarity / To me it was certainly an unusual reverberation for a park / Perhaps for those used to living in big cities the experience is more common / Finally as I finished recording, the sun had ripped through the grey clouds for the first time that day, spitting out its orange rays / I quickly climbed back up to the viewpoint to observe a spectacular sunset over a city that continues to reward its habitants with spontaneous bouts of beauty //

All recordings and Photos by Ben Gale See the PDF: https://issuu.com/bivouacrecording/docs/60_minute_cities-_paris-_ben_gale

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