Get active in Paris!
You don't have to be the "typical tourist" in Paris... why not see the city on two wheels or explore things visitors don't usually see, such as the city's skate parks? For ideas on how to enjoy Paris while staying active,
check our list here.
Stay connected all over Paris
The Mayoral offices all over Paris are equippe with free, albeit unscaure, WIFI. It's free for anyone within range. These days, it's not uncommon to see people sitting in parks with their laptops open. This is thanks to the Paris connectivity innitiative. Of course, many other establishments around Paris are wired with free WIFI. Check our
list of free WIFI spots around Paris so that you can stay connected while visiting the City of Lights.
Parisian Sales... Oh la la!
In France, the big sales come twice a year, once in winter and the other in summer. And it’s every year the same excitement!
Because this is a crazy time, here are some tips to help you find your way between hysterical girls and mountains of clothes laying on the floor.
- Have a fixed budget and stick to it : Don’t let yourself go with the general excitement and spend your whole pocket money in some dresses you won’t wear.
Even though it’s sale time, it doesn’t mean you should leave all your good resolutions at home.
- Wear comfortable and easily-removable clothes : You are going to spend all day trying on clothes, so think light and convenient.
- Take an easy bag : At the end of this amazing day, you might have so many bags in your hands you couldn't scratch your nose if your life depended on it, so try not to weigh yourself down with too many extra things. Take a big bag which won’t slide down from your shoulder every 5 seconds.
- Stay away from the new collections : And we all know you can’t help it!
We always end up buying some items which are not on sale! So have your blinders on and be careful where you turn your gaze!
Looking for nice galleries to visit?
Paris is well-known for its art life and the artists living in the city.
If you come to Paris, you will find endless opportunities to learn about paintings, sculptures, photographs and even indefinable art.
We have selected ten galleries that are worth a checking out.
Click here for a Gallery Map in the area Opéra and Champs-Elysées where you must go if you are passing through Paris.
Original time travel through the Parisian facades
Want to have a nice walk through Paris but are tired of these traditional organized tours ? Here is an original tour and educational as well!
You probably noticed that Haussman left his mark on the Parisian landscape but he isn’t the only one. So let us take you back in time starting from the Middle Ages and bring you to present day, through Parisian facades.
Five awesome places to have a picnic!
It's a nice and sunny day, you don't know what to do, but you feel like laying on the grass and pretty much doing nothing. The perfect solution? Have a picnic!
We selected five great places.
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Along the Loire embankment
Here the banks are spacious and the buildings hidden by the greenery. You will only hear the gentle waves of the Seine and the echo from the sound of the neighbourg petanque areas.
Students like meeting here between the footbridge and the Rue de Crimée, then following their picnic by gathering with others at Bar Ourcq (68, Quai de la Loire) for a mojito.
->Quai de la Loire (XIXth), métro Jaurès ou Laumière.
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Buttes Chaumont
One of the rare parks in Paris to be open until 11 pm. Families and friends love to uncork their bottle of rosé around the lake, near Place Armand-Carrel. The solitary ones prefer to be on the highlands to enjoy the view.
->Acces from the place Armand-Carrel (XIXth), métro Laumière.
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In the Tino-Rossi gardens
This series of esplanades, lawns and stairs is one of the rare places in Paris where you can lay down on the grass, near the Seine. The stairs of four small amphitheatres welcome groups of young people just out from work who are ready to sway their hips whenever the association “Paris Danse En Seine” organizes, during the week-end, tango balls, salsa or rock nights.
->Acces from the Sully bridge (Vth), métro Jussieu. Info: Paris Danse en Seine,
(33) 1 48 86 16 05
.
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On the Swan Islands
This tiny spit of land 10 meters wide and 1 kilometer long, covered by chesnut trees, wild daisy flowers and weeping willows comes out in the middle of the Seine River.
People set up on the far south, on the small esplanade where a copy of the Statue of Liberty is sit enthrnoed.
->Acces from the Bir-Hakeim bridge (XVth), métro Bir-Hakeim.
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On the Arsenal Port
The Arsenal could look like a small meridional port, with its spruce banks, its flower beds and its wooden pontoon along which dozens of pleasure boats are moored. A perfect place to have an aperitif while the sun is going down.
->Acces from the place de la Bastille (XIIth), métro Bastille.
A perfect picnic needs to match perfect food. We recommend "Daily Monop" because there is always one of them near you and it's perfect to get everything you need for a parisian picnic.
Here is a list of the Daily Monop in the suggested picnic areas.
XIIth -->Daumesnil
XVth -->Commerce
XIXth -->Belleville
(Sources: l'Internaute, l'Express and Flickr)
