Nine Free Things to Do in Paris

Monday, Aug. 25, 2008

Read more about France in International Living Postcards —your daily escape

Dear International Living Reader,

Vacations can be expensive, but those with insider information can enjoy hidden treats that don’t cost a dime—even in Paris. Apart from feasting your eyes on the sheer beauty of the banks of the Seine and the Paris skyline, there are other ways to spend time in the most romantic city in the world—absolutely free.

If you’re interested in culture of any kind, you’re spoiled for choice here. The national museums, including the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Art in the Pompidou Center, the Musée d’Orsay, Musée Rodin, and the Picasso Museum, have no charge on the first Sunday of the month; your next free entry is on Sept. 7.

For live modern dance shows and concerts, try the Conservatoire de Paris; the largest music, dance, and sound school has performances by big names as well as students all year round; most of them are free or “entrée libre,” but you’ll need to reserve. Check the website for details.

For an alternative park and history lesson, try Père Lachaise cemetery and look for Jim Morrison’s, Oscar Wilde’s, and Rossini’s last resting place in the northeast of the city.

Not far away, the district of Belleville has more artists’ studios per square yard than anywhere else in Europe, and the artists regularly hold open days or weekends. You can spend a pleasant day exploring the quartier as you go from studio to studio, watching etchings being made, ceramics, sculptures, as well as talking to photographers and painters in their workshops. Find out where the studios are.

OK, this isn’t totally free, but on Fridays, for the price of a beer or a cocktail you can have a free dinner at Tribal Café. This relaxed bar serving cheap drinks (a pint of beer for €3) and simple meals draws a mixed friendly crowd of students and workers, and you soon get talking to your neighbors. On Fridays, the owner serves up a couscous dinner of vegetable stew, grilled meat, and steamed semolina to his patrons. Best to get there early to get a seat, as it fills up quickly. (Address: 3 Cours des Petites-Ecuries, 75010 Paris; Metro: Chateau d’Eau.)

For a more sophisticated ambiance, head for the perfume museum in central Paris. A stunning example of 19th-century French architecture and decoration, it was designed by a student of the man behind the next-door Opera Palais Garnier. Entry and the guided tour of the history and tools of perfume making are free—and there’s also the chance to browse the sponsor’s own products. Fragonard is a perfumery based in the south of France, but with several outlets in the capital offering reasonably priced eaux de toilette and other scented goods. The museum is open Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday and holidays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the boutique stays open one hour later.

For a chic afternoon, why not go for a fashion show? Galeries Lafayette, just a few minutes’ walk from the perfume museum, starts up its weekly catwalk event again on Sept. 19, but you must reserve in advance: e-mail splatiau@galerieslafayette.com.

Paris’ city hall puts on enjoyable exhibitions year-round—all free. It’s best to try to go early in the day as the shows are popular (and have often been prolonged in the past due to demand) and the lines in the afternoon can stretch right around the Renaissance-style building. ( Address: Hotel de Ville, Salle St. Jean, 75004 Paris. Metro: Hotel de Ville.) Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For classical music, check out some of the churches. In the Marais, as well as classical buskers under the arcades of the Place des Vosges, you can hear pieces by Mozart, Bach, Handel, Liszt, and Schubert, among others, in the Cathédrale Ste. Croix des Arméniens, which has been holding a number of free concerts in the afternoon and evening.

And science buffs haven’t been forgotten, either. With French presidency of the European Union Council for the next six months, there are a number of events organized in Paris in partnership with other member countries throughout the EU, including ParisScience, a five-day festival of documentaries and scientific films from the 27 members of the EU, running from Oct. 8 to 12 at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 36 rue Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 75005, Metro: Gare d’Austerlitz/Jussieu/Censier Daubenton.

Leigh Fergus
Europe Editor, International Living

Editor’s Note: If you enjoy getting big discounts or free admission to museums or concerts, you’ll love to hear how one of our writers flew to Italy for a cent. In this special report, you will learn 127 amazing bargains, nifty shortcuts, surprising facts, and cunning tricks our writer discovered in 24 years of traveling the world...dirt cheap.

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- My Favorite Paris Museums—Now Free