Paris for free

When you have been travelling as long as us - you start to get a wee bit money conscious when entering cities like Paris. . where a lunch can set you back 30euro for 2 sammies and 2 cokes ( it didn't happen to me I swear.. sigh). So what you need is to fill the day for free.

First you need a map of Paris - with this in hand - you can step out of your door and just get lost - because seriously - most of the city is WALKABLE and really fun to see what you can find.


So we decided to walk to the famous Porte de Clignancourt flea market first thing in the morning.. about 1.5km from our place. We wanted to beat the crowds as they have up to 200,000 people visit in the weekends. Well.. we got there early and the owners got there late.. why.. because Paris is on holiday right now and only about 25% of the stalls actually opened. The ones that did were amazing though, with antiques you can only dream of. They were once very affordable - but this market is so famous now that prices are probably in the realistic region for such a place.



Home for a bite to eat. Now that looks like a cheap sammie ;)

And then off into the city.
The sun is shining bright and strong - so the place to go would be a park - how about the jardin des tuileries.. Ok.
As you entered you are wowed initially by the fun park that presents itself to you. Very classic in some respects.



But.. after a few minutes of people watching you move into the park - which in this light and heat is really quite stunning.

Close by is a pond where kids come with parents to hire toy sailboats that they push around with sticks hoping for the racing line on the right breeze.


By this time you are pretty damn hot. Pretty lucky then that there are chairs positioned for your leisure time - so take a seat with the other over heated Parisians and just take a minute by the water and suck in the scene.


Well - we are relaxed and it is about 7pm - so what are we going to do? How about a walk down to l'Hotel de Ville where in the main square there is a super concert going on with the world famous in Paris 'beat torrents' armed with turntables and matching macbook pros - they are AWESOME!!! below is a clip we recorded of them playing;






The way we found out about this was on our walk in the early afternoon - we were passing this stunning architecture when this incredible noise fired up - it was the beat torrent sound check and they were putting on an awesome teaser show.. louder than I've ever heard any setup before! The concert started at 8 and we knew we had to be there - here are a few shots from light to dark.

This is the gig around 4pm as they are setting it up doing their people attracting sound check;

The people are starting to rock pretty hard as they get into the vibe - especially as they drink hardcore.. on a side note - the guy in front of us decided to sit down and draw a portrait. Anyone had that happen to them at a concert before?



The party is in full swing - these guys are tearing it up! If you click on the image and look close you can even see someone crowd surfing. Shame I didn't take the picture of the girl who bent her boyfriend over so she could pretend she was the DJ and his ass was the turntable.