FLASH ON FITNESS
Vélib': Over 10,000 bicycles at 750 stations for quickie use all around Paris! Pick up a bike near the Hotel de Ville and drop it off half an hour later near that restaurant next to Porte Maillot where you're meeting friends. A year-long subscription to the 24/7 service costs 29€, for 30 minutes at a time. For visitors, two short-term subscriptions are available, by the week for 5€ or daily for 1€.. Here are practical details in English.
Paris Respire: It's year-round! The city closes the quais and a number of roads to cars on Sundays, from 9h-17h, opening them to cyclists, bladers and pedestrians.
Weekly bicycle randonnées: Every Friday night, a group bicycle ride through Paris starting at 22h from Place d'Italie, with a different itinerary each week, posted at the website Paris Rando Velo or tel: 06.63.71.20.30.
Yoga for Kids : beginning September 2008 at the Centre de Yoga du Marais. For more information contact Michelle Jacobi, tel: 01.42.74.24.92 or check out the website at www.yogamarais.com.
Roller bladers: the meeting point for the Friday Night Fever skate is at the Gare Montparnasse. Time: 21h45 for a distance of approx. 25kms or 3 hours. Beginners not encouraged, and it's cancelled if raining. For info and route map, see www.pari-roller.com or in English, here. For those less experienced, join the ride on Sunday afternoons at 14h30 at Place de la Bastille - for route map, consult the Rollers et Coquillage site, see www.rollers-coquillages.org. Or check out the tourism office resources at www.parisinfo.com, click on "Excursions".
Parisinfo.com: A good site for Paris activities in general - click here for sports info. Or try calling the city's hotline (French-speaking) by dialing 3975.
New Fitness First facility open, at La Motte-Picquet, 15eme, see www.fitnessfirst.fr.
Looking for a sports partner for tennis, running, squash? Post a short ad by sending an email here, and it will go up below. Or sign up to the Paris Fitness and Martial Arts Meetup Group. Craigslist also has some notices, under fitness activities, see paris.craigslist.org.
Award news : Our favorite fitness prof, Fred Hoffman, has been elected IDEA's Fitness Instructor of the Year, a prestigious award indeed! This annual award "recognizes an individual IDEA member who demonstrates strong leadership skills through community and industry involvement and whose superior instructional abilities and influence as an instructor motivate active and underactive people to commit to healthy lifestyles". See Fred's step workshop at the 2007 IDEA World Fitness conference, here (there are five videos, see me showing off my rear in the Striptease Aerobics workout!).
Rolfing, anyone? The Centre d'Integration Structurelle has just opened its doors, with Jessica Blean and Nicolas Molino offering Structural Integration, rolfing, myofascial/deep tissue massage and outcall visits. For more info see their site: www.rolfmethodeparis.com/ or call 01.43.48.76.50.
Sunday, 1 June
Hip Hop New Style, workshop offered by Jean-Pierre Chandler, 14h30-17h30,
all levels, 40€, at the Centre
de Danse du Marais. To sign up, email info@parisdance.com
or tel: 01.4272.1542.
Saturday & Sunday,
7-8 June
La Fête du Vélo 2008, details to come here: www.feteduvelo.fr/.
Sunday, 8 June
Cool groove attitude, dance workshop offered by Tina Esposito, 14h-16h,
beginners, 30€, at the Centre
de Danse du Marais. To sign up, email info@parisdance.com
or tel: 01.4272.1542.
19-23 June
Dance Grand Prix Italia 2008, dance contest, good excuse to visit Bologna,
Italy, see the website, web.tiscali.it/dancefestival/italiadancegrandprix008.html
5-27 July
Tour de France 2008
The 95th edition of the most famous bike race in the world, this year
starts in Brittany and will be made up of 21 stages, covering a total distance
of 3,500 kilometres.For more information see the site: www.letour.fr/indexus.html.
13 July
Viennese waltz, wedding dance workshop offered by Suki, 14h-17h,
all levels, 43€, at the Centre
de Danse du Marais. To sign up, email info@parisdance.com
or tel: 01.4272.1542.
20 July
Salsa L.A. Style, dance workshop offered by Susan Sparks, 12h-15h,
all levels, 45€, at the Centre
de Danse du Marais. To sign up, email info@parisdance.com
or tel: 01.4272.1542.
27 July
Oriental dance, workshop offered by Fati, 14h-17h, perfectionnement,
55€, at the Centre de Danse
du Marais. To sign up, email info@parisdance.com
or tel: 01.4272.1542.
Monday to Friday, 4-8
August
Mask & Mime, body workshop offered by Violeta Dordevic, 10h-12h, at
the Centre de Danse du Marais.
For more info or to sign up, email info@parisdance.com
or tel: 01.4272.1542.
31 August
Nike Human Race
A 10K race taking place simultaneously in 24 cities around the world,
organised by Nike to benefit among others, Lance Armstrong's association to
fight cancer. See the site and sign up at
www.nikeplus.com. The race in Paris kicks off at 14h at Longchamp, and
finishes with a live concert by Kelly Rowland.
LOOKING FOR A SPORTS PARTNER
Paris Sunday Softball, in its 25th year, looks for experienced players, female and male. If interested, send a note with your phone number to David Curtis at curtis@msh-paris.fr.
The ACBB Rugby club in the Bois de Boulogne is recruiting players. It is a team of 30-something guys who train on Wednesday evenings and generally play one match a month. For more information, see www.acbb-rugby.com or contact binksfamily@aol.com.