Friday night roller skating in Paris
 

My teenage daughters are interested in participating in the Friday night rollerskating event when we are in Paris next month, but they don't want to haul their gear all the way to France.

I understand the tour starts near the Montparnasse tower and I am wondering if some enterprising individuals might have established a rental busness nearby.

Will we be able to rent rollerskates, helmets and pads for the night?

Hi
I can't speak to the rental situation but have observed the Friday night roll at the start in Montparnasse and at various spots along the way. Are your daughters expert skaters? This is a fast and furious skate with hundreds of skaters. Not a place for anyone who is not an advanced skater (skating fast!) It is great fun to watch but be very careful about joining in. CJ

Watched the Pariroller event from the sidewalk along blvd Montparnasse last October - packed skate crowd, moved very fast..occasionally, a skater would fall and those nearest would raise their arms overhead to warn those behind - the pack swerved around until the skater found his feet again... hundreds (thousands it is reported) of skaters streaming by - we only stood there 20 minutes or so and they were still coming...

Here is info from an earlier post:
Author: Travelnut
Date: 08/19/2004, 10:20 pm
Message: http://www.pidf.com/AN-world/u_3/home346.asp
For beginners:
The riverside expressway: Sundays form 9:00 to 4:00 pm
Left Bank: From the Orsay Museum to the Eiffel Tower
Right Bank : From the Tuileries Gardens to Bercy (Fitness course)
Paths in the Bois de Boulogne Park (92)
Batignolles Square (17th District)
Monceau Park (17th District) : For children
Tino Rossi Square (19th District) : For children

From googling:
"Rollerblades can be hired from: Galerie Point Show 66 Ave Des Champs Elysées Telephone 01 42891889 Metro: Franklin d. Roosevelt (All telephone numbers are local: dial 0033 before the number and omit the first zero if ringing from abroad). "
"To rent in-line skates: Check out any store of the Decathlon chain.
Try the store 23, blvd de la Madeleine. 1st. Tel: 01 55 35 97 55. Metro Madeleine"
"Whatever your level on roller-blades, know that there is a day for you. Weather permitting, Paris-roller organises every Friday and Sunday of the year two roller meetings. One is the Friday Night Skate, a 25 long km route secured where only good skaters are admitted. The other is Sunday afternoon where everybody is welcome!
"You can rent roller-blades from a specialised shop in Paris. And don?t worry about the route and the hour. These are published at least one day before on the Paris Roller website.
http://www.pari-roller.com/index.phtml?langue=en"

Hi new,

The route changes every week.

Go to
http://www.pari-roller.com/?lang=en

Click "contact us" for information about where to rent gear.

((I))

Thanks for the helpful replies.

The Friday night skate souns like it may be a little too intense for us, but we will look ionto some of the other options you identified for us.

We just saw the Parirollers go by on Blvd. St. Germain, so the event rolls on. A good crowd of skaters, though they took less than 5 minutes to clear our location.

Found this in an article on the Friday night skating; it is more for "beginners." Last April I saw them skating along the Seine and it didn't appear to be anywhere near the crowd that the Friday night skate draws.

"However, there is another skate that is far more suited to beginners, which takes place on Sunday afternoons and starts at 2.30pm at Place de La Bastille, which is organised by the association Rollers & Coquillages.

http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-smiles...d-coquillages/

Just one site about the Sunday skate group.