August in Paris was just wonderful. Last year I missed most of August as I came back towards the end and went straight into my new job to start training. I was also still finding my feet so didn't know Paris as well as I do now. This year was entirely different and I'm about to tell you why.
Ils sont partis en vacances
The best thing about Paris in August is the distinct lack of Parisians. Everyone leaves to go on vacation in August and not just for one or 2 weeks but normally for an entire month (if not longer)! Paris is calm, quiet and full of 'the rest of us' who stayed behind in the city. No one is stressed, angry or pushy. The metros and trains are so quiet you could hear a pin drop and everyday without fail I had a seat on both the train or the metro. Even the roads are quiet, riding the Velib (below)was such a pleasure because there were barely any cars and even the buses were less frequent than normal (so no fear of being squashed)! It was such a pleasure to experience Paris during such a quiet time, it's just a shame it's not always like that. If you are ever thinking of coming to Paris, August is the time to do it, not only is it quieter than usual but the weather is great too!
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| Velib fun |
Paris plage
In the summer between the 20th July and the 19th August Paris creates a beach. Yes, that's right, you didn't misread the sentence they 'make' a beach. They import tonnes of sand and build a beach just next to the seine and the canal with umbrellas, deck chairs, sunbeds, water fountains, drinks and ice cream bars. The sunbeds were so comfortable I almost fell asleep several times on the beach with Rachel, Ilana and Dave. The weather was so so hot (around 34 degrees on one of the days we were there) but luckily we did have home-made showers/water fountains which we had to go under around every 20 minutes because the heat was so intense. The mayor had also worked together with Paris Plage to provide free water and monin syrup so we drank mint and syrup all day yum. It was so nice to be able to experience the beach without going away (as it's not easy for me with my lack of holiday time) so paris plage really made a difference, I can't wait until next year!
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| The beach layout (one side) |
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| The advert |
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| The beach |
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| The fountain |
Cinema plein air
Cinema plein air means literally 'outdoor cinema' and every July-August they are set up in a few places in Paris such as Trocadero and Porte de la Villette. Big screens are set up on large grass areas and movies screened every Wednesday to Sunday after the sun goes down. And the best thing is it's completely free!!! This year there were several films (French/English/American and others) including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Superman (the original), Gran Torino, District 9, Potiche, Un homme un vrai and many many more. Below you can see the agenda from this years Cinema plein air at Porte de la Villette.
Unfortunately I never got chance to go to this as there always seemed to be something else going on...or the late start of the movie meant finding our way back was going to be really difficult. Next year I will make a point of going because from what I heard it's something not to be missed!
FNAC LIVE
Last but not least the council gave us another free thing - all day music concerts! I went to the FNAC Live festival on a Saturday at Hotel de Ville. It was brilliant with live bands, a great atmosphere and lots of people. I really enjoyed Revolver a French band I hadn't seen before and I just couldn't believe that everything was free. Nothing like that is really organised in the UK...concerts are organised but you always have to pay.
Paris seems to do so much for the people who stay behind in August with so much being free and so much being created for people's pure enjoyment. It's just another reason why I love Paris in the summer.
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