With bakeries, shops and restaurants shuttering for the summer holiday, locals who aren’t fleeing the coop are forced to get resourceful with their August activities. Fortunately, the city of Paris generously takes its residents’ needs and entertainment into consideration (at all moments of the year) by organizing free, open-air cultural events across town. They can’t guarantee afternoons and evenings suffused with light or sans rain but they understand the importance of keeping cultured when the beach isn’t an option.
But these events – Fête de la Musique, Paris Plage, Cinéma en Plein Air (an outdoor summer film series at Parc de la Villette), free concerts and sporting events broadcast on a giant screen at Hôtel de Ville – go beyond entertainment. They foster a sense of community and in many cases, solidarity.
Friday evening, as the sun vanished beyond the horizon, the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) was awash in Olympic fervor. Spectators from all nationalities sat rapt in front of the screen, impatiently awaiting the opening ceremony. I was on a double date – after dinner in the 9th, we made our way to the 4th for gelato at Pozzetto which was immediately followed by…
