The weekly, 13-mile skate organised by Pari Roller & Mobilités was established during the late 1990s.
Photograph by Pari Roller, Guillaume Ombreux
Free, fast and famously good fun — join hundreds of skaters each week for one of the largest city takeovers on wheels anywhere in the world.
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Few travellers to Paris will have concerned themselves with the precise quality and condition of the tarmac snaking along Georges-Eugène Haussman’s late-19th century boulevards. But as I tighten the Velcro on my wrist guards and propel myself into a throng of rollerbladers on a darkened street, it’s top of my mind. The Friday Night Fever skate tour organised by Pari Roller & Mobilités is one of the largest meet-ups of its kind in the world. The weekly, 13-mile urban skate, established during the late-1990s craze for inline skating, regularly attracts upwards of 800 participants. It’s fast-paced fun — and I’m determined to stay upright, come cracks or cobblestones.
I can feel the texture of Paris vibrating up through my shins as I gather pace alongside a middle-aged woman. She’s twinkling in portable fairy lights, French pop seeping from a speaker tied to her backpack. Clearly this isn’t her first rodeo. It’s not entirely mine either; I’ve been skating in London for a few years and can turn and brake effectively — the latter being a key prerequisite for participation. Safety gear, I notice, is entirely optional and unpoliced; this meet-up has the spirit of liberté at its heart.
The energy is electric as we pulse forward en masse, streets transformed into a large-scale playground. Pro skaters swoop between junctions and down underpasses, snaking backwards and slaloming around lampposts. Setting a steadier pace, groups of friends laugh and chat, and several sets of parents are in the mix with off-road prams. Marshalls in high-vis jackets whizz up and down to block traffic, offer a steady arm and shout safety instructions, occasionally blowing a whistle. Passersby stop and stare.
Periodically, the procession pauses, allowing stragglers to catch up. These moments give me time to soak up my surroundings: I watch a glittering bateau mouche glide along the Seine as we congregate on the Pont Royal; marvel at the lit-up art nouveau marvel of the Galeries Lafayette; and enjoy being part of a wild, fleeting spectacle amid the pavement cafes west of Pigalle.
A gruelling incline sees me and a few other first-timers fall to the back, where a merry gang of cyclists, e-scooters and longboarders brings up the rear. In the blink of an eye, the carnival disappears over the hill. The skaters have outrun me this time, but there’ll be other nights to earn my stripes.
How to do it:
Friday Night Fever departs Place Raoul Dautry at 9.30pm each week and lasts 2h30m. For a slower pace, try the weekly Sunday Skate, departing Place de la Bastille at 2.30pm and lasting 3 hours.
Rent skates at Nomade.
Published in the June 2024 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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