Just 20 minutes from Paris, this park lets you walk on water! (Hurry, the installation will soon be removed)

Published on September 8, 2023 at 7:00 pm

Are you suffering from the current heatwave and looking for a watering hole in the Paris region to take a dip? We've got a solution for you. Walk on cool water for several dozen metres. Go to the Gué in the Parc de Sceaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine department. You can cross the ephemeral installation on the park's Grand Canal, dragging your bare feet through around 30 centimetres of water. It's both refreshing and fun. Please note that the ford will be dismantled on 17 September!

Le passage du Gué, les pieds dans l'eau.

Summary

Le Gué du parc de Sceaux, it's over here!
An immense area of greenery and freshness, 20 minutes from Denfert-Rochereau
Practical information
Where to stay near the Parc de Sceaux?

Le Gué du parc de Sceaux, it's over here!

The installation, which consists of a large polymer carpet (a type of plastic) that runs underwater along the 125-metre-wide Grand Canal, lets you walk in the water, in complete safety. It's a very pleasant and particularly refreshing experience, as the thousands of visitors who have been coming here since 3 June have discovered. The attraction is free and can be repeated ad infinitum. What's more, the corridor is 6 metres wide, so there's little chance of you being in the way of other walkers! Make the most of it, as this ephemeral installation will soon be disappearing.

125 mètres de rafraîchissement !

If you arrive through the main entrance to the château, the canal will be on your left. You can see it below from a viewpoint lined with sandstone columns. And the ford in the distance.

Le Grand Canal et son Gué (au fond), vus depuis le belvédère.

Once there, all you have to do is take off your shoes and roll up your trousers. Better still, come in Bermuda shorts and flip-flops. Or just come as you are!

Editor's tip

As is often the case when you've got your feet in the water, you'll also have your head in the sun. So make sure you bring a hat (one that doesn't let the UV rays through), especially for your children, as the trees are a long way away.

An immense area of greenery and freshness, 20 minutes from Denfert-Rochereau

A little shunned by Parisians, the Parc de Sceaux is nevertheless the second largest green space in the Hauts-de-Seine department, accessible by RER train in just a few minutes from the capital. With its expanse of greenery, woods, waterfalls, ponds and pastures grazed by cows and sheep, it has been awarded the "Remarkable Garden" and "Eve" (ecological green space) labels.

Deux occupations rafraîchissantes à quelques mètres l'une de l'autre : le passage du Gué et la barque.

This year, Sceaux celebrates the 100th anniversary of the acquisition of the park and its two châteaux by the Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Council. Without it, the park, which was left to lie fallow a century ago, would have been acquired by developers, and would have disappeared in favour of concrete. That was a close one! An important celebration, then. The ford was also set up for the occasion.

As you can see, once the ford has been removed, the Parc de Sceaux will remain a place of oxygen and freshness. You'll still be able to enjoy its pools and waterfalls, but you'll also be able to go boating on its Grand Canal, an initiative that was launched two years ago. This inevitably brings to mind the Palace of Versailles (whose gardens were designed by the same royal landscape gardener: Le Nôtre).

Finally, if you're still looking for something refreshing, there's an ice-cream parlour right next to the château that has been attracting visitors for years.