Petite Ceinture du 12e arrondissement

The Petite Ceinture in the twelfth arrondissement sits behind high metal fences, a rusted ribbon of abandoned railway tracks choked by wildflowers and overgrown thickets. Originally built in the middle of the nineteenth century, this circular line once ferried cargo and passengers around the perimeter of Paris before the city outgrew it. During the nineteen thirties, train service withered away, leaving these iron rails to surrender to the slow encroachment of ivy, sumac, and the quiet return of urban nature.