It started around twelve years ago. I remember walking along the quay with a friend of mine, when we saw a group of about ten to twelve people mingling around. Someone turned on a cassette player and wonderful latin music began to play. Before we knew it, everyone started dancing and I don’t mean just moving your arms and legs; I mean like real ballroom dancing! (Think Dancing With The Stars and you get the picture!) They were incredible.!

The great thing about where they were dancing is that there are three little amphitheaters in this esplanade; so, it was perfect for my friend and I to sit down and watched them dance.

Through the years, this spontaneous dance party has grown. I remember that first night while we were watching them, after about an hour, two policemen came by and told them to pack it up. “No music, no dancing.” is what they were told, but that didn’t stop them. The policemen left and soon afterwards they went right back to dancing.

That first summer was like going to a great little private party each week, but what began all those years ago with a little group of dancers; is no longer little, nor private. When the evenings begin to turn warm in Paris, May-June until September, weather permitting, dance parties on the Quai Saint-Bernard are the norm. The music varies from tango to salsa, rock to swing, to other genres of music. If you love to dance then this is the place for you! If you love to watch, then what better place to do it, with the Seine and the Ile Saint-Louis in the background?

The dancing begins at 7 p.m. each evening during the week and at 5 p.m. on week-ends. What’s really nice is that you get young and old alike dancing together. Everyone is welcome, and who knows, you just might meet your dance partner for life!

Photo Credits: L’internaute

Post from: The Paris Traveler

Well this is my list of other great places that you should definitely go to the top of for a fantastic view. (These are in no particular order; they’re all great for one reason or another!) Yes, I’ll include the Eiffel Tower because if I don’t, someone will be sure to say, “Where’s the Eiffel Tower?”

The top 10 are:

 1.     Eiffel Tower
 2.     Arc of Triumph
 3.     Notre-Dame Cathedral
 4.     Grande Arche de la Defense
 5.     Pompidou Center *
 6.     Galeries Lafayette
 7.     Institut du Monde Arabe §
 8.     Samaritaine +
 9.     Montparnasse Tower
10.    Steps of the Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre

*  Great view of the Sacré-Coeur.
§  Great view of Notre-Dame Cathedral.
+  Great view of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine.

Take out your cameras and start snapping away!

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Believe me, I didn’t mind.  It was my quartier where I would sit on a bench under the trees around sunset, and watch the neighborhood children skate around the fountain, or observe other locals taking an evening stroll. It was the simple pleasure of listening to the laughter of children and the water cascading and falling into the lower basin. It was also a place to meet friends for a drink at the corner café. Saint-Sulpice wasn’t only beautiful, it was most often a peaceful little square.

Why am I talking in the past tense? Well let’s just say that after Dan Brown’s bestseller, “The Da Vinci Code,” there have been a lot more tourists making their way to this once quiet place. The Da Vinci Code tour of Paris take tourists to all the places mentioned in his thriller.  Therefore, if you’ve already read the book, (and who hasn’t?), you know that the church plays a big role in the story.

The Eglise Saint-Sulpice is the second largest church in Paris after Notre-Dame. It was built and restored several times between 1646 and 1745. The façade that you see today is attributed to the architect Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni and later restored by his apprentice Jean-Francois Chalgrin. Chalgrin also built the two mismatch north and south towers, which creates a distinct disharmony in the entire square. The fountain of the “Four Bishops” built in 1844 was designed by Joachim Visconti.

A must see is the church’s organ of 6700 pipes making it one of the largest pipe organs in the world.  Another is the Delacroix frescoes in the Chapelle des Anges (Chapel of the Angels) which is on the right as you enter the church. A must do, however, is to just sit on a bench under the trees, listen to the water falling, and take in the beauty of this square.

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This chubby feline with an infectious Cheshire smile began to mysteriously appear on walls in Orléans around 2001 and soon afterwards in Paris. Mr. Chat was typical of what cats are known for, being independent, agile, and able to climb. And climb he did! To the top of rooftops throughout Paris. One day he wasn’t there, and the next, he would be smiling at you. Parisians and tourists were intrigued to say the least.

So who was this graffiti artist and how did he manage to draw Mr. Chat without being seen and having the abilities we attribute to Spiderman and other super-heroes? And how did Mr. Chat start appearing throughout other European cities, and as far away as South America and Asia? As a matter of fact, Mr. Chat has made an appearance on every continent except Africa! Is it his angel wings he sometimes has that makes him fly? Is he a super-cat?

A documentary film by Chris Marker called “Chats Perchés”, (English title; “The Case of the Grinning Cat”) came out in 2004 and was shown at the Pompidou Center in Paris. The artist, however, was still an enigma and wanted to keep it that way. Thoma Vuille from Orléans, or Monsieur Chat, gave up his anonymity in March of this year when a confrontation with police while painting finally brought him into the public eye.  Ow….or should I say, “meow”!

 Photo Credits: Flickr

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You can even find freebies listed.  Free concerts or recitals, and even free shows that you can see now and again at Radio France.  I’ve attended several of these presentations which are fun; and it’s interesting to watch the actors perform and to be a part of the live audience.  It takes you back to the days when our parents and grandparents use to listen to radio shows like the Jack Benny Show or the Playhouse Theater. 

You don’t have to understand French, but it helps. 

Pariscope

Radio France

Post from: The Paris Traveler

Do you love to roller skate? Well you won’t be alone if you decide to join “le Friday Night Fever” in Paris.  Come rain or clear skies you can skate along with as many as ten to twenty thousand (yes, you read right!) other skaters who meet each Friday night to go roller skating throughout the streets of Paris on a three hour long journey.

It’s a wonderful way of meeting different people, or meeting up with those you met on an earlier excursion. People young and old, families, couples, just about anyone and everyone who loves to skate joins in the fun.

A police brigade clears the way ahead of the skaters as they snake their way through the avenues and boulevards, while more police and an ambulance stays behind the group making sure everyone gets through. It’s not for the beginner, however, as the group as a whole moves quite fast.

If you fall in the latter category, I suggest going to an ice-skating rink instead.  There are three of them open from the beginning of December until the beginning of March. 

You can skate on the first level of the Eiffel Tower.  (Don’t forget that in France you start with the ground level and go up to the first.)  The view is great, but there is the regular price of a ticket for going up the Eiffel Tower.  The other two ice skating rinks are at the Gare Montparnasse and the Hôtel de Ville. 

I personally prefer the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), which is a beautiful building right near the Seine River. It’s the building that you see at the end of the movie in “Something’s Gotta Give” when Diane Keaton gets out of the taxis and finds Jack Nicholson looking at the river and the snow is falling.   You can rent ice skates for 5 €, or bring your own and you can skate for free.   

There are two rinks at the Hôtel de Ville.  The big rink is for everyone, and you’ll see a fair number of good skaters who like to show off with spins and turns. The smaller one is reserved for beginners and children. That’s where you’ll find me!  Music and a carousel nearby make the whole experience quite festive. Come and join the fun!

Photo credits: flickr

Post from: The Paris Traveler