A cosmopolitan stroll through the Plaine Monceau

(S) From Courcelles metro station (line 2), walk westwards along Boulevard de Courcelles towards Place de l’Étoile until you reach Rue Pierre le Grand.

Turn left onto Rue Pierre le Grand. Walk to the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky, which is directly in front of you

Retrace your steps, then turn right onto Rue Daru to rejoin Rue de Courcelles.

(1) Turn right onto Rue de Courcelles. Cross Rue Alfred de Vigny and follow it to the left until you reach No. 8 (a beautiful townhouse).

Retrace your steps and continue down Rue de Courcelles. Pass the west entrance to Parc Monceau. When you reach number 48, note the Chinese pagoda.

Then take Rue Rembrandt on your left and go straight on. Take the time to admire the buildings on this street, each more sumptuous than the last.

(2) At the end of the street, pop into Parc Monceau for a stroll – one of the most beautiful parks in Paris.

At the end of your walk through the park, you’ll come to Allée Michel Berger; turn left here to reach Place de la République Dominicaine.

As you leave the park, you’ll find the Monceau metro station (line 2) on your left, the end point of the walk (E).

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Along the route:

- The Plaine Monceau was designed at the end of the 19th century to house the upper middle class of the Second Empire in sumptuous mansions. Most of these beautiful buildings were constructed by the Pereire brothers.
- A neighbourhood with a Russian atmosphere, featuring an Orthodox church (inaugurated in the late 19th century and now a listed building), luxury boutiques and Russian restaurants.
- At No. 8 Rue Alfred de Vigny, a very pretty mansion, now home to the Paris International Conservatory of Music.
- At No. 48 Rue de Courcelles (at the junction with Rue Rembrandt), one of the most unusual buildings in Paris: La Maison Loo. This pagoda was built by a wealthy Chinese art dealer, Ching Tsai Loo. He constructed this building on the site of a mansion built in 1880.
- Parc Monceau: It was opened in 1775 and built for the King of France’s cousin, the Duke of Chartres; it was originally conceived as a large pleasure garden and attraction. This is why you can see some striking decorative features there, such as a small Italian-style bridge, a replica pyramid, or the famous Naumachia, a basin surrounded by Corinthian columns which is a replica of the site where naval battle re-enactments took place in Roman antiquity.

Nearby:
- At No. 1 Place du Général Catroux, the Hôtel Gaillard, built between 1878 and 1884 and inspired by the Château de Blois, is one of the most exceptional mansions in the Plaine Monceau
- Nissim de Camondo Museum – 63 Rue de Monceau – A private mansion built in 1912, it houses an exceptional collection of 18th-century French furniture and objets d’art within a stately bourgeois residence preserved in the condition in which it was inhabited at the start of the 20th century
- Cernuschi Museum – 7 Avenue de Vélasquez - Opened in 1898, it is one of the oldest museums in the City of Paris. It is also the second-largest museum of Asian art in France and the fifth-largest museum of Chinese art in Europe.