We will be in an apartment in Paris for 2 weeks in the 6th arrondisement, near St. Germaine du Pres. Are there any gyms or health clubs nearby that we could join on a short-term basis? Any idea about cost?

The question is, will you have time to use it while in Paris? Is this business or pleasure? If pleasure, why not get enough walking in everyday. I work out everyday at home, but when I go on a trip I still usually do so much walking and eat more than I normally do, and I don't gain a pound. But again, I realize this is a personal issue of what each person wants to do with their time.

www.pagesjaunes.fr lists in the 6th
www.clubmedgym.com/

The city website lists a number, but I've no idea how accessible they are to short-term visitors:
http://www.paris.fr/fr/sport/equipem...uipements6.asp

Another website has this entry:
"Espace Vit´Halles
48, rue Rambuteau
75003, PARIS
01 42 77 21 71
Health club popular with Americans..."

dertke, have you ever tried resistance bands? You can give yourself quite a good workout using those and other techniques that don't require equipment (squats, lunges, crunches, pushups). Certainly enough to maintain your fitness for 2 weeks.

Adam Gopnik, in "Paris to the Moon," has a very funny chapter on joining a gym in Paris. Apparently the French have a rather different approach to working out from Americans. Example: at the grand opening of the facility they handed out chocolate truffles. (That's my kind of gym!)

Marilyn I thought of that Gopnik chapter as soon as I saw the name of this thread - hilarious! Dertke not sure what your work out regimen is but there are some great jogging routes in Paris too.

Espace Vit´Halles, mentioned above, is the only Paris health facility I know of that does not require a long-term membership.