Enjoy Sand and Sun on Paris Plages

Posted by Henk Bekker Jul 12, 2008

For summer 2008, Paris will again convert the banks of the Seine in the La Villette canal basin into a free summer beach to citizens and travelers to the French capital. Paris Plages 2008 will see the beach area double in size compared to 2007.

This year, the Paris Plages Beach project will have more added attractions than ever before while two events will mark the opening of the beach:

• A free performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony by the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, conducted by Sian Edwards and accompanied by a 120-voice choir, in front of the Paris City Hall at 6 pm on July 21.
• A 3-km (2-mile) long picnic in the Voie Georges Pompidou to formally kick off the beach opening also on July 21 at 7 pm.

Modern music will feature in free concerts in the Fnacindétendances festival series held on various evenings between July 25 and August 16 near the Pont de Sully Bridge at the heart of the beach area.

Although Paris is not as deserted in summer as it used to be, even the high number of foreign tourists do not make up for the great exodus of locals to the beaches of the Mediterranean. Paris does not close down for the summer but it is worth checking in advance if specific sights, restaurants, or concert venues will be open in summer.

Booking Parisian hotels is often a gable – some are simply too outrageously expensive while others are suspiciously cheap. Play it safe by checking out some of the following hotel reviews before making reservations:

• Hotel Louis II
• Familia Hotel
• Eiffel Park Hotel
• Hôtel Kléber
• Hôtel Brighton