Bercy

Once nostalgically known for its wine warehouses, which formed a self-sufficient village of their own in eastern Paris, Bercy is now an area undergoing intensive development. Already the site for the Palais Omnisport (which plays a double act of accomodating sports activities and rock concerts) and the mammoth Ministry of Finance, Bercy spreads east from the Gare de Lyon through a maze of new office and appartment buildings. At the heart of these sites lies a freshly landscaped park, the Parc de Bercy, which has preserved some of the old wine warehouses from the bulldozers, allowing some remnants of its past to linger on.