As I sat over my tea and croissant in an unremarkable Paris boulangerie, looking out into the pre-dawn darkness, snow began to fall. Large, fluffy flakes quickly dusted the sidewalk. Traffic was light on this Saturday morning, although it was nearly 8am. Sunrise wasn’t due for nearly another hour, but I bundled up and headed out, across the street and into the Bois de Vincennes, a sprawling, forested park sometimes called the “lungs of Paris”. I was determined to continue my unbroken sequence of weekend hiking – today was my fifteenth consecutive weekend hike, now spanning five countries.
The snow clouds made the morning seem all the darker, especially as I left behind the street lights and headed into this 955-hectare (2,460 acre) park, three times larger than Central Park. I quickly reached the shore of the biggest lake, Lac Daumesnil, its thin ice surface freshly coated white. I turned left, following the lakeside path past pleasure boats overturned for the winter.
Several times my foot slipped on a hidden, frozen puddle just under the snow. There is nothing more slippery than a few millimeters of powder snow on top of smooth ice! Each time, I kept my balance and increased my attention to my footing.
(this photo is from late morning, once others had slipped on the ice!).
A jogger passed me, heading in the same direction. Fool, I thought; he will surely hit a patch of ice and take a nasty fall! Just as I was wondering whether to call out and warn him, my own feet slipped from under me and I went down, down, onto my back. I landed, hard, on my camera case, slung as always behind my back. Umph! I grunted. Despite the pain in my back (cameras are not soft!) I rolled to my knees, dusted myself off, and stood up. The jogger, hearing my fall, returned to check on me. I’m fine, I insisted. Merci, I thanked him for his kindness, though my back was seriously sore and my ego was bruised even more. I was undaunted, and my camera was undented, so on I went.
As the light grew and I followed the lakeshore, I encountered dozens of geese, swans, and ducks congregating on the ice, on the edge of the remaining patch of ice-free water. Near the head of the lake I saw, on a small island, a miniature Greek Temple. As the eastern horizon grew brighter, the sky cleared and I watched the full moon setting over the temple and the lake to the west. Fresh snow, full moon, and sunny day to follow – what a lucky day to visit!
I explored the temple, which sits atop a lakeside spring that has, over time, formed a grotto with stalactites and stalagmites. The trickling spring was especially peaceful on this quiet morning [watch video].
The sun rose, and I started seeing more people – mostly joggers, dog-walkers, and child-strollers. I left the lake and followed wooded paths along streams, some with a skim of ice on their surface, and long allées that criss-cross the park. I skirted the racetrack and headed for the arboretum, but it was closed due to inclement weather! So I looped back to the north, circling the Château Vincennes, a former residence of the Kings of France.
Finally, I followed the edge of the Paris Zoo back to my starting point. By now it was late morning, the park was full of people strolling, running, or gathering on snowy soccer pitches. Everything looked so different in the bright sunlight, and the trees were dripping as snow melted from their branches. Some trees, like the one below, were naturally decked with balls of mistletoe!
What a lovely place! I ended my hike where I started – at the boulangerie. It was time to sit down, nurse my wounds, and enjoy another tea and apple croissant. Check out the full gallery of photos – there’s more to see!
Hike stats:
Distance: 15.4km (9.59 miles)
Time: 3h33m (including stops for photography)
Gain: 27m (88 feet)
Track: shown below in purple, and on GaiaGPS interactive map.
my counter-clockwise route was inspired by this website.
David Kotz 
Gorgeous – thank you for sharing! (Opportunities for hikes have been…somewhat limited on the ship, but I have started putting miles in on the treadmill…)