o2bnfrance

As you can tell from my screen name, I am a Francophile. For me, spending time in Paris is a must. However, I've done most of the tourist things, and now, I'm curious about what the locals do.

Where do they take their families for inexpensive entertainment? For example, I'm a recreational ice skating enthusiast and would like to join the locals at an indoor ice rink or take in a local amateur ice hockey game. I love music and would like to catch pop-rock or jazz local and international artists performing in concerts or small clubs. I would like to roller blade somewhere safe and different. I like small carnivals and fairs, local amateur and college plays and musicals, church fund raisers and events, etc.

Do you have any other ideas or suggestions that would allow someone to mingle with the locals? Do the locals do theses things in their leisure hours? Would I want to mingle with the locals, and why would I not? Or am I thinking too American?

Thanks.

Travelnut

I can't help you because I'm very anti-social and try my best to leave the poor Parisians alone. I actually feel a little intrusive going in out-of-the-way places, thinking about 'us' tourists encroaching into 'their' private spaces...

But some of the things you ask about, especially music concerts, can be discovered using Cityvox - Paris, or FNAC.com, under 'spectacles'... I think they like any of the cinemas - some are multiplex like we use in the US, others feature old or classic films. Every Sunday, the Seine banks are closed to cars, and people can walk or roller-blade along there. On sunny days, people love to go to the parks.

If you don't speak French, though, I think it will be a big challenge to 'get to know' anyone local.

suze

I don't understand your last comment about "thinking too American".

That said...

I'm sure people in Paris do the same things everyone else does every where else. Some go to church, some belong to clubs or activities, kids go to school, some sit home and watch TV, etc.

How to find the events is another question. I've done many of the things you are looking for in Switzerland, but that's because I have friends who live there... I've been to elementary school pagents, the firemen's fundraising BBQ, etc.

The biggest (only happens every 25 years) is the Fete de Vignorones a HUGE party of high importance to the locals. I planned my trip specifically to be there at the time. www.fetedesvignerons.ch

Maybe you can start with www.whatsonwhen.com?

How about going when Paris Plage is going on? When they close off streets and bring in sand to make a beach right in the city. I believe there's also a music festival in July?

grapes

To be honest, I do not understand your question. People all over the world eat, shop, go to the laundromat, go out to dinner, hang out in coffee shops/bars/tavernas, attend church, play in the park, go to museums/concerts/and sports events. As you like France so well, I assume you speak some French which means you may read the newspaper and look for current activities while in Paris. I imagine the TI and/or hotel staff could also help. Perhaps a trip to your local library to search for information on French culture and lifestyle may be intersting and helpful. Now that I have rambled on, I think I just had an epiphany. Sometimes the very thing a person is trying to find is walking right beside them down the street in broad daylight. When we seek something it is often found right where we are. Hope your next trip is great fun!

emilyjhon

Localities may be visiting Paris Movie Theaters, parks, gardens & squares on weekends.

Have you tried some of Paris' best restaurants -http://www.boorah.com/restaurants/best-of/5480/IL/Paris.html like Kroger & Tuscany Steak & Pasta House...

Travelnut

umm, those are in Paris, Illinois. ?

suze

o2bnfrance~ Do you speak French, at at least a conversational level? If you do, this will be easy. If you don't, it's will be much more of a challenge, but not impossible.

o2bnfrance

Suze:

Yes, I do speak conversational French-to-get-by-on. But I want to eventually become fluent, and that’s one reason I want to immerse myself into areas with French speakers. When I speak French in Paris, it has never failed that the other person always yields to English. Their idea, not mine.

Regarding your question about my “too American” comment, I had always thought that the French resisted the Americanization of their country, i.e., McDonald’s, KFC, Disney, etc. And I wondered what they do in their burbs that’s different from what we do in ours, and where can I go to find out.

But since I posted these questions, I’ve discovered through a lot of Internet research that such places do exist. Although, Paris does have several ice rinks, it’s still Paris, and that didn’t answer my total question. Several clicks (and hours later), I discovered evry-thing I wanted to know about life in the suburbs of Paris, in a thriving town 30 minutes south of Paris and five from Orly.

Evry, France appears to be the sampling I’ve been looking for, and I’ll be going there my next trip to check it out. They have ice rinks, ice hockey (the Evry Peaux-Rouges [Redskins]), American football, baseball, movies, school plays, church socials, concerts in the park sometimes with such well-known entertainers as the Bueno Vista Social Club, universities, a shopping mall, McDonald’s, KFC, and a nearby Pop-Rock-Restaurant-Bar-Concert Hall venue called Le Plan. Jazz is popular in Evry, and some of their local entertainers are very talented, from what I’ve seen in concert film clips.

If anyone else is interested in visiting Evry, take the Blue Metro line south from CDG to the Chatelet Les Halles Station, and there, transfer to the Green Metro line south to Evry Courcouronnes, the heart of town.

It sounds exciting now, but who knows? I might be disappointed. It might be too much like home, and in minutes, I’ll find myself back in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower. But as a wise person from my childhood once said, “You won’t know what’s on the other side unlessen ya goes there.”

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

Bon voyage, tout le monde. Laissez le bon rouleau des temps.

o2bnfrance

Kailani

When I am visiting my friends in Paris, we go to Rue Mouffetard near the Latin Quarter on Sunday mornings. The street is closed off, and street musicians gather, and there is dancing and singing in a lively farmer's market atmosphere.

suze

Well certainly all the people who live in Paris, do all the normal "living life" things too. I'm not sure why going to the suburbs would be inherently more interesting.

After you arrive just grab any and every local newpaper and read the calendar and events section, watch for flyers posted, ask in book stores, attend church, go to the library. The kind of "authentic" local events you are seeking, are less likely to be found ahead of time online imo. You need to do your research on the ground.

coldplay

Having lived in France previously for several years, and having very good French friends, I don't want to disappoint you but the French dislike Americans intensly, even more so than the English. In fact they don't like anyone but the French. Therefore, you could be disapointed if you encroach on their space.

o2bnfrance

Thanks for the warning, Coldplay.

But what’s new? I’m already hated by half of America because I don’t belong to their political party or have the same religious beliefs that they have. If I wanted friendship, I could buy it here. I just want to spend time there to improve my French and to justify the next time we have to go save the French from an extremist dictator. Three of my grandparents were born in France, so my bloodline has handed me the effrontery to dislike with the best of them.

However, judging from my previous pleasant visits to France, I won’t accept that your caveat is the consensus of all French citizens. Pretentious people are the same regardless of their nationality or where they live. As you know, France is like America – a melting pot of migrants. The same things that teach French citizens to dislike are the same things that teach Americans to dislike.

Which, explains why I prefer to travel solo. My only arguments are with the person I see in the mirror every morning.

By the way, I love your music.

coldplay

I like your karma.

suze

I truly don't think the French give a hoot about visitors one way or the other.