Lesser known islands in the Seine

[GitteK]

....... and other waterfront places. Going through old "to-do lists" – and searching the internet for restos with “green” surroundings - I noticed Île de la Jatte in the north-west corner of Paris on my list. So I wondered if anyone have been up there - and could give some more info ?

These restos I found look very charming indeed:
* Le Petit Poucet
* La Guinguette de Neuilly
* Café Jatte
www.le-petitpoucet.net/laguinguette.html
www.cafejatte.com/index2.htm

This is Le Petit Poucet:




and the island itself seems quite attractive too.
travel.webshots.com/album/60506165UfufEM?start=24





Further down the Seine (at the level of Bois de Boulogne) you have Île de Puteaux where the inhabitants call themselves "Putéoliens" according to this blog:
www.monputeaux.com/ile_de_puteaux/index.html


and further south you find Île de Saint Germain where a quite wonderful park should be located - as well as a village-like ambiance.


www.linternaute.com/paris/magazine/dossier/06/curiosites-botaniques/12.shtml
tinyurl.com/2wg3s6

3 other lovely places by the waterfront seem to be:
* La Plage
at Port de Javel, between Parc André Citróën and Allée des Cygnes.
www.bestrestaurantsparis.com/restaurant-paris/detail/la-plage.html

* Cap Seguin
in Boulogne-Billancourt, overlooking Parc de Saint Cloud

www.capseguin.com/#decouvrir

* Le River Café
just at the northern tip of Île de Saint Germain
www.lerivercafe.net/fr/index.htm
www.bestrestaurantsparis.com/restaurant-paris/detail/river-cafe.html





Maybe one could make a real "outing", taking the tramway "Val de Seine" T2, which starts from La Défense and the riding all the way south through the western suburbs to the last station: Issy Val de Seine, right next to Le River Café !?

Here's a map with aerial photos of the Seine:
www.92express.net/
click in the left column on le 92 "à la carte"

[geordy]

Yet another spot, Isle de la Jatte, that has been on my list for some time....and brought to the fore front as "Sunday in the Park with George" is enjoying a successful revival in London and now here! And the recent Seurat drawings exhibition at MOMA which had many "studies" for the famous painting!

[holger]

These look wonderful. I will note them down for one of the next trips. Thanks.

[GitteK]

>>>Sunday in the Park with George<<< ............ which is ??

And why did you put "studies" in quotation marks ??

[geordy]

Gitte,

Sorry....Sunday is a Sondheim musical based on the, short, life of George Seurat and the creation of his pointillist painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte."

I put studies in quotes just because.....or not knowing if that is how such drawings were referred to world/forum wide! But then I assumed knowledge of the musical..oh well..time change and all.....

[Anne]

I am afraid that I won't be of much help : I had never heard about les îles de Puteaux et de St Germain, and I only knew about île de la Jatte because our beloved president used to live there and there was a bit of a scandal recently about the way that he had bought his appartment there .

However, I checked some of the restos that you mention on the web, and reviews are generally not too good : it seems that their lovely surroundings and décor turned them into trendy, overpriced and not very friendly places . Unless someone here can indeed recommend one of those restos, I suggest that you just stop there for a drink or a salad, instead of planning a gastronomical feast there ...

[GitteK]

Anne266 - very glad to learn that. Where did you search ? I would like to read the reviews. I cannot understand how can they be crappy, when they seem to have such yummy menus - and such exquisite surroundings ?

These are quite positive (of course every resto will get the odd negative comment, but all in all I think these look OK ?)
www.fra.webcity.fr/restaurants_paris/river-cafe_79505/Avis-Lieu
www.fra.webcity.fr/restaurants_paris/la-guinguette-de-neuilly_79498/Avis-Lieu
www.fra.webcity.fr/restaurants_paris/le-petit-poucet_55690/Avis-Lieu
www.fra.webcity.fr/restaurants_paris/cap-seguin_72898/Avis-Lieu

This is negative ("overpriced" as you said)
www.fra.webcity.fr/restaurants_paris/le-cafe-de-la-jatte_200039710/Avis-Lieu

[Anne]

Gitte, I didn't say that the places were crappy, I said that they appear very "in" and overpriced, because of their exquisite surroundings indeed . I looked mainly at mmmm! and linternaute :

mmmm.free.fr/resto/1454.html
mmmm.free.fr/resto/3296.html
mmmm.free.fr/resto/428.html
www.linternaute.com/restaurant/restaurant/2738/cap-seguin.html
www.linternaute.com/restaurant/restaurant/389/le-petit-poucet.html
www.linternaute.com/restaurant/restaurant/2737/river-cafe.html

But reviews differ very much from one website to another indeed : like River Café, which gets mostly really crappy reviews on mmmm! gets quite a few positive ones on linternaute ...

But I tend to trust mmmm! quite much : see my post on the "Paris Food guides" thread in the "Restaurants" section .

[anneparis]

I have been to the three restaurants on ile de la jatte and they are trendy restaurants with famous and beautiful people. But the food was not that great.

[anneparis]

Oh, I also have been twice at the River Café because it was close to my office (before I became a not-too-desperate housewife). Not too bad, trendy too. My boss used to invite our biggest clients there.

[MaisonMetz]

Gitte -

I had bookmarked this thread earlier to keep your super info about lesser known islands in the Seine handy for future reference. (Am sending an overdue exalt your way.) Assuming some good weather in the Ile-de-France, we may explore one or more of these in October.

Then just recently, I came across another reference to the Île de Saint Germain in a Paris Update article by Helen Stokes on little-known gardens. In addition to a short discussion on the experimental gardens designed by Yves Deshayes, she adds:

"Other parts of this 21-hectare park are home to community gardens, a pony club, and the Maison de l’Environnement, with exhibitions on nature and the environment. Watching over the park is “La Tour aux Figures,” a 24-meter-high sculpture by Jean Dubuffet."

Here's a link to the article, which first addresses the Promenade Plantée in the 12th, a favorite, and the Parc Clichy Batignolles in the 17th, which we just explored for the first time last October. www.paris-update.com/outings/green_spaces_paris.htm

Jo

[GitteK]

Jo - what a wonderful website "Paris Update" ! Merci.
The islands are on my list, also hoping for nice weather, so I will take some pics and write a wee report for you to see.