Parc de la Chapeau Rouge 11-25-15

Today I resolved to explore one of the little parks that we have passed by any number of times when we took the tram around to the Porte de Vincennes.  It's only two stops down the line and it faces the tramline so it always looked kind of inviting when we would go by.
It was created in 1939, out of land that had originally been part of the outer Paris defensive emplacements created by Thiers in the late 19th century.
It's not hard to believe that it was part of a defensive ring around Paris because as I was walking around the park I noticed that there were 3 sort of built up plateaus, now planted with trees, that would have been ideal for bombarding down into the valley below.  That is all built up with apartments and buildings now but in the 19th century it was likely all forested.
 It is in a neoclassical design with a wide open lawn going up the hill to the top of the park.
At the bottom main entry there is a fountain created brick and surmounted by a sculpture titled "Eve" that was in one of the Paris expositions contemporary to that period.  As I walked along a thought occurred to me.  How great it is that a society chooses to exalt the beauty and grace of it's accomplishments in the form of Naked Women!

It was nice to finally see the park, but I had to cut it short because it started raining, again, and I was walking home and didn't want to get too wet.