Laid out by Haussmann in 1860, the present-day park leads to an area occupied by the Le Petit Ranelagh dance hall and stage, which was originally built around a café. In the gardens, the Allée Pilâtre de Rozier was the setting for the very first hot-air balloon flight undertaken by this famous aeronaut on 21 November 1783, which would take him as far as the Butte aux Cailles.