Festivals and Events
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The annual circus festival
Takes place in Paris
http://www.circonautes.com -
The Retromobile fair
At the Paris Expo gives the public the chance to discover a century of racing machines – cars, bikes and boats.
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Poets’ Springtime
Paris goes poetry mad for a week, with over 5000 events taking place in the streets, cafés, markets, stations, schools and museums of the French capital.
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The Paris Film Festival
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The French Open Tennis
At Roland-Garros Stadium.
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Fete de la Musique
Musicians from all over the world perform free concerts in venues across Paris.
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Bastille Day celebrations
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Paris Beach
Every summer, two miles of the Right Bank of the Seine (near the Pont Neuf and Hotel de Ville) is turned into a beach, complete with white sand, palm trees, sunbeds and parasols.
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Techno Parade
Dancers, DJs and musicians make their way along a three-mile route.
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Le Salon du Chocolat
Heaven for chocaholics.
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The Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
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The Paris International Boat Show
At Porte de Versailles.
Theatre, Cinema and Opera
Theatre flourishes in Paris – from the grandeur of the Comedie Francaise (www.comedie-francaise.fr) to slap-stick farce and avant-garde drama. The Comedie Francaise is the oldest national theatre in the world and most of the repertoire is classical. Tickets for this and other theatres can be bought at the box office, by telephone or through agencies or your hotel information desk. Opera lovers are well catered for too, with many productions mounted at the Bastille and the beautifully renovated Opera Garnier. Most Paris cinemas are concentrated in several cinema belts, which also contain restaurants and shops. The Champs-Elysees remains the densest cinema strip in town.
Paris has several good listings magazines, including Pariscope, L’Officiel des Spectacles and Sept a Paris. They are published every week and are widely available.
For Children
Paris welcomes young families in hotels and most restaurants. Many sights and attractions offer child reductions while youngsters under three or four enter free. A trip to Disneyland Paris, a boat ride down the Seine and the dizzy heights of the Eiffel Tower will be fun for children, but there are a lot of other funfairs, circuses and impromptu events in gardens and parks. Top of the museum list is the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie at Parc de la Villette. It’s a dull title, but anything but dull inside, with hands-on activities and changing exhibitions illuminating many aspects of science and modern technology. The Musée de la Poupee displays hand-made dolls dating from the mid 19th century and offers doll-making classes for adults and children.
