The Square des Batignolles was created by Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, assisted by the engineer, Jean Darcel, the architect, Gabriel Davioud, and the horticulturist, Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps, on a tract of land that had been described as "a vast wasteland".

This style is most visible in small bridges, concrete designs with plant motifs, and faux rocks with the appearance of stratification (as at Parc des Buttes-Chaumont).

The landscaper employs his artistry, through the use of various forms of asymmetric balance, to convince the visitor that the apparent wildness and randomness of the terrain is the product of artful Nature, rather than the artifice of Man.

Other man-made features typically used in these gardens are temples, tea-houses, belvederes, pavilions, and gazebos whose placement invites the visitor to engage the landscape from the most aesthetically pleasing vantage points.

Exotic vegetation was also planted, both to amaze the senses but also to display the power and reach of the Second Empire, which was capable of gathering and nurturing living species from all over the world.

True to the archetype, the Square des Batignolles features extensive rolling lawns and a large pond that is fed by a natural stream that courses through the park.

Monique Andrée Serf, whose stage name was "Barbara", was a French singer and songwriter who was born in Paris on 9 June 1930 and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 24 November 1997.

We were running to catch them .... On the deck, watching the clouds, We inhaled the crazy smell That emerged from passing steam locomotives And, at the heart of the white smoke, Everything else disappeared ... .