A narrow, irregular island sits in the middle of Lac de Saint-Mandé, connected to the shore by a small, arched stone bridge. This lake occupies the site of a former marsh that Baron Haussmann ordered transformed during the nineteenth century. Engineers dug the basin and diverted water from the Marne river to create a centerpiece for the Bois de Vincennes. Napoleon the Third insisted on this specific design, wanting to provide Parisians with a romantic, English-style landscape for their afternoon strolls.
Lac de Saint-Mandé
park garden