Cascade du Bois de Boulogne

The Cascade du Bois de Boulogne features a series of cascading stone pools and an artificial grotto built from massive blocks of Fontainebleau sandstone. Napoleon the Third commissioned this landscape feature during the eighteen sixties to transform the forest into an English-style park. Workers hauled the heavy rocks from the forest of Fontainebleau by train to recreate a natural mountainous stream. The water flows from the top pool down into the large lake below, masking the sound of the city with constant rushing water.