Paris: Outdoor Recreation

Sometimes you can have too many museums... When the weather is good why not enjoy some great outdoor activities, there's plenty to do in Paris, from bicycle tours and taking a ride in a hot-air balloon (the Montgolfier brothers did it first right here!) to rollerblading, riding a wave, yachting, golf and all kinds of water sports.

Here are some links to various outdoor recreational activities:

Rollerblading | Ice Skating | Parks | Hiking & Walking | Bikes & Cycling | Water Sports: Boating & Yachting | Flying, Gliding, etc | Climbing | Golf.

Rollerblading

This is a BIG deal in Paris. Every Friday night around 12,000 to 15,000 people (really!) take to the streets and zip round the city from 10 pm to 1 am. The meeting point is at the bottom of the Montparnasse tower (metro Montparnasse Bienvenue) but you can join anywhere en route.

There's every level of proficiency catered for in Paris, with arenas for beginners and special skate parks for the lethally skilled. Specially designated areas are set aside for skaters both in the centre of Paris and in Ile-de-France,  and there's a whole different world of fashion going on - to be seen without the right Ipod or beanie is social death (no, just kidding...).

For more information on skate parks and tracks: 

• Pari Roller
• Paris Ile de France (PIDF)

Aquaboulevard Water Sports/Fitness Centre
http://www.aquaboulevard.com

Aquaboulevard is the biggest Water Park in Europe: 7000 sq.m. , tropical surroundings: air and water at 29°C all year round, it's a large indoor aquatic recreational park on the edge of Paris. There's a wide variety of activities : wave pool, against-the-current river, spas and Jacuzzis, whirlpool, geysers, water cannons, walls of water, waterbed with bubbles, waterfall, water mushroom, swimming and aqua-gym pool. Various accessories (canoes, mats, balls) are available for you to use and the littlies can have fun in a safe environment in the "Baby jungle". Eleven giant slides, with different levels of difficulty. Try out Aquaplouf (80m downhill) or Aqualooping (six seconds downhill) if you dare...

There are also tennis and squash courts, a fitness centre, 14 screen cinema complex and other facilities, but the water facilities are the reason to go, tremendous fun, especially for the kids.

4, Rue Louis Armand 75015 Paris
tel: 33 (0)1 40 60 10 00 Access
Métro: Balard on line 8 or Porte de Versailles on line 12
Buses: 39, 42, 126, 169, PC1, stop at Balard
Parking for 900 cars.
Open Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, from 9am to 11 pm. Fridays from 9am to 12 pm. Saturdays from 8am to 12pm. Sundays, from 8am to 11 pm.
Entry: Full price (age 12 and above): €20-25 Children: €10

How about a balloon ride?

Take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and drive out towards Fontainebleau to the Loing Valley. Moret-sur-Loing was where Alfred Sisley and his Impressionist friends used to paint, and France Montgolfières (France-Balloons) will be take you up from there in one of their balloons "to discover rivers and villages, châteaux and century old forests teeming with wild boar and deer..." (obviously they have good eyesight!). They carry over 7000 passengers a year and are fully certified for passenger transport by the Civil Aviation Authorities.

It about an hour away by road, but it's easy to get to by train from the Gare de Lyon or they can organize a taxi transfer.

- Adult refundable ticket 230 €
- Child refundable ticket 150 €

You can book online and in the event that a flight is cancelled due to unsuitable weather conditions, you simply send back your unused ticket to obtain a refund.

http://www.franceballoons.com/
63 bd Menilmontant (Arr 11)
Tel: 01 47 00 66 44 

Ballooning links:

• Air Atmosphere Dirigeable Montgolfiere
  14 rue de Sevres, Boulogne-Billancourt.
  Tel: 01 46 05 91 25  
  
  
• Montgolfieres Nacelle et Coccinelle 
  81 les Bois-du-Cerf, Etoilles (91).
  Tel: 01 60 75 79 68