In Paris there are carefully manicured gardens all over the place, but did you know long before New York City’s now famous ‘Highline’ elevated park, Paris had the world’s first elevated public park called the Coulée Verte René-Dumont or Promenade plantée.

Built in 1993 atop of obsolete railway infrastructure in the 12th arrondissement of the city, the Coulée Verte René-Dumont isn’t the first public park to be built out of a disused railway line, but it was the first elevated park in the world and has been seen as an example to other municipalities looking to reclaim land from old infrastructures for use as public parks.

At 4.7 km (2.9 mi) in length, it’s still the longest elevated park though the recently opened Bloomingdales Line in Chicago does come close to that record. Claims and records aside though, the park offers Parisians a different perspective of their city which is sometimes rather precious about allowing its citizens and visitors to walk on the grass!

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Stand here using Google street view and virtually got for a stroll along the Coulée Verte René-Dumont.