Story by Linda DonahueWhen I was a young teen growing up in the suburbs of New York City, all of my friends would gather every weekend at the local roller-rink. We’d show off our real moves during the reverse skate, or our current squeezes during the couples skate. Skating was the center of our social universe back then.So when I was invited to go skating with a friend in Paris a few years ago, I fully expected to find myself in a self-contained rink with a bunch of teens. I was wrong. On a Friday night, I found myself skating the streets of Paris with thousands (yes, thousands) of other skaters.
Photographs courtesty of www.pari-roller.com
This was the weekly Pari Roller, which began in 1994, just might be the biggest weekly skating event in the world. This Friday Night Fever-filled activity attracts as many as 25,000 skaters, depending on the season. Since 1997, the Paris police has been involved to insure safety for skaters, motorists, pedestrians and spectators. Today, some of the French inline skating officers actually participate in the tour.
The weekly skate begins at 10pm on Friday nights (weather permitting) at Place Raoul Dautry in the 14th arrondissement, right between the Montparnasse office tower and the train station. It lasts three hours, taking skaters on an 18.5 kilometer trek each week through Central Paris and along the Seine. The route changes every week, with the new map posted the night before. There’s a break for wine and snacks before everyone turns around and heads back to Montparnasse.
Another weekly Paris skating event is held by Rollers et Coquillages on Sundays. This Sunday (July 12, 2009), the group is celebrating summer by partnering with the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau at the end of its 18.5 kilometer voyage to have its skaters form a giant human smile. The tour starts at 2:30pm at the Place de la Bastille. Skaters will cross the Seine several times to tour the Latin Quarter, Saint Germain, the Ile de la Cité and the 1st arrondissement before taking a break at the Place Vendome. Then it on through the 8th, back over the Seine to the 7th, through Saint Germain and the Latin Quarter before ending up back at the Place de la Bastille.
Philippe Moulié, who has led the 12-year old association Rollers et Coquillages for the past two years, says that you don’t have to be a pro at skating to join the Sunday tour. “Absolutely not,” says Moulié. “There are in fact many families on the tour; parents accompany new young skaters. Beginners of all ages also take part, each having the possibility of skating at their own pace: it is not a race! Nevertheless it is necessary to have at least a basic level and wearing protective pads is recommended for everyone.”
Moulié adds that Paris is an easy city to get around on rollerblades, noting that some Parisiens actually use rollerblades as their means of transportation to get to work. He recommends several places for those who either want to join the Sunday tour, or just rollerblade throughout the city. “There are two leading addresses for rollerblading fans in Paris,” he offers. “The first, Nomades, is a few steps from the Bastille. It stocks a wide range of rollerblades and has an area for trying them out. The second, Hawaii Surf, is at Ivry and proposes eclectic products from the world of skating. Associations offer rollerblading classes in the daytime, open to everyone, and particularly foreigners passing through the capital. Some examples are the Roller-Club de France and the Roller Squad Institut, whose headquarters, RSI, is in the district of the Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand.”
So if you’re in Paris this Sunday and want to take part in the skate with Rollers et coquillages, head over to the Place de la Bastille. Or start off your weekend with Pari Roller’s Friday night skate in Montparnasse. The best part is that both weekly events are absolutely free.
