For the athletic tourist, the opportunity to zip through the streets of Paris on foot is not one to be missed. You will feel the cool wind of the city tousle your hair as you and thousands of other enthusiasts make your way around Paris. The weekly Pari Roller or Rollers & Coquillages Ramble are two chances to see Paris in way you never have before.
The Pari Roller is the world’s biggest weekly street skating event. Every Friday evening at 10:00 p.m., up to 15,000 rollerbladers take to the streets of Paris for a 30-kilometer, 3-hour jaunt around the city. The route is different each week, although it always begins and ends at Place Raoul Dautry in the 15th arrondissement. Though the Pari Roller is accompanied by a police escort and ambulance, it is not a route meant for those new to rollerblading. For beginners, the Rollers & Coquillages weekly rally is more suitable. This group skate starts at 2:00 p.m. every Sunday at la Place de la Bastille.
Only in Paris would you see a column of rollerbladers from every walk of life—from the regular athletes, to men in business suits chatting on cell phones while gliding down the rue, to families with tiny tots zipping along, to smoking, black-clothed draguers (pick-up artists), to women in perfect makeup and beautiful clothes. Paris is a city of rampant individualists, and watching or joining in the Pari Roller will let you see them all at their finest. The wonderful absurdity of a city that shuts down major thoroughfares and provides police escort (on rollerblades!) to a weekly skating jaunt evokes the avant garde films that France is so famous for. Nowhere else in the world can you see iconic architecture surrounded by natives and tourists on rollerblades.
Even if rollerblading is outside of your comfort zone, settling in for a leisurely drink at a café along the route will give you an experience of Parisian people-watching you will never forget.
For athletes of a different stripe, the upcoming Randonnée du Rallye Tour Eiffel on January 8 offers another sporty opportunity to see the beauties of Paris. This hike begins at Halle Georges Carpentier, and provides three different routes of 13, 14 and 20 kilometers. Each hike passes the eponymous Eiffel Tower, as well as Montparnasse, Les Invalides, Place de la Concorde and others. Exercise in the invigorating winter weather combined with the incomparable sights of the City of Light will create a warm memory you will treasure forever.
New York Habitat has several apartments available within easy distance of the starts of each of these events, as well as along each of these routes. These Paris vacation rentals will give you an inviting spot to lace up your shoes and rollerblades—and rejuvenate after your jaunt:
This charming 1 Bedroom Vacation Rental – Montparnasse – Porte de Versailles – Paris (PA-2050) in a Haussmann period building features light-filled rooms with hardwood floors. It is close the start of the Pari Roller tour.
This gorgeous 4 Bedroom Duplex Vacation Rental – Marais – Les Halles – Paris (PA-3390) would be perfect for a family interested in attempting the nearby Roller & Coquillages tour. With a spiral staircase, built-in bookshelves, beautiful hardwood floors, and a spacious kitchen, it will provide the perfect retreat for the active family.
What is your favorite way to tour Paris?
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