[2] After the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte had turned the Bois de Vincennes into a training ground for his soldiers.

Between 1840 and 1843 The land occupied by the Parc Floral was mostly deforested and turned into an immense field of 166 hectares where the infantry practiced manoeuvres.

During the Second Empire of Napoleon III, a large part of the Bois de Vincennes was made into a public park, but the area of the future Parc floral remained under military control well after the Second World War.

Visitors entering from the Chateau de Vincennes pass through a forest of cedars and oaks to arrive at the central element of the composition, the Vallée des Fleurs, or Valley of Flowers.

The Valley borders a lake, the Miroir d'eau, or water mirror, which is placed near the center of the park, with a modern fountain and series of cascades on one side.