Jardin Atlantique

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Of the millions of people who pass through the Montparnasse Station each day, taking commuter trains to the suburbs and long-distance trains to other parts of France and beyond, very few are aware of the existence of a large, pretty, and peaceful park right above their heads. This park, called the Jardin Atlantique is built on the roof of Montparnasse Station, and the photo above shows the park as it appears on a typical pleasant and sunny day.

You are looking roughly north in the photograph. The building in the foreground is the CNP building, the same building that looms over the main entrance to the station on its opposite side. Behind that, the high-rise building is the Maine-Montparnasse Tower, possibly the ugliest high-rise in Paris; it is 59 stories high, a mere runt by American standards, but that still makes it one of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe. And in the foreground you see the park itself—keep in mind that the tracks and platforms of Montparnasse Station run directly beneath this wide expanse of green grass!

Photographed in the summer of 2000.