Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Cinema Au Clair de Lune 2013

(Film still from "Midnight in Paris")

This week the awesome film house Forum des Images begins their annual Cinema Au Clair de Lune, a 10-day film fest that hops locations around the city each night. As with the film fest at Parc de la Villette, grab a blanket and some refreshments and head over to the corresponding location by sundown for this fun and free event. Full details on the Forum des Images site, but here's the complete schedule:

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Free Movies in Paris: Cinema En Plein Air 2013

(Photo via Tourisme93)

This week kicks off the monthlong free movie fest Cinema En Plein Air at Parc de la Villette. Every few days, the lawn will set up a scrim and screen a crowd-pleasing flick for free at sundown. It's fun, good for groups, dates or just to go by yourself, a fab excuse for a picnic, and it's one of the only things to do in August. All movies are in their original languages with French subtitles when applicable. Here's the full lineup:

Friday, July 19, 2013

Paris Cheapskate + Google Field Trip


Super exciting news - Paris Cheapskate has partnered up with Google as a contributor to their awesome new Field Trip app for Android and iPhone. Field Trip is like having a slew of personal tour guides to show you around a new city (or even your hometown), culling material from blogs and websites dedicated to the city you're in. It shows you recommendations for things to see, places to go, and the city's best restaurants, bars, museums, you name it, from the city's hippest insiders. Best of all, it remembers your preferences so if you are particularly interested in saving money while traveling to Paris, well, you'll see a lot of Paris Cheapskate pop up on your Field Trip. It runs in the background of your smart phone and when you approach something it thinks you would like, it alerts you with details about the awesomeness nearby.

This is one of the best apps you can get for discovering a city, and I don't say that just because I'm a proud partner. I'd recommend downloading Field Trip whether or not you're in Paris, because the app works in cities all over the world, and, of course, because it's FREE. Download Field Trip now and let's explore!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Free Concerts: FNAC Live Festival 2013

(Photo via WorldRedEye)

This Thursday begins the FNAC Live Festival, otherwise known as the best set of free concerts in Paris. Get your fill of indie bands playing in front of the Hôtel de Ville from 5:30pm-midnight every evening through Sunday. Check out the full schedule to make the most of the fest, but I'm particularly excited to see indie power-rockers Palma Violets (Thursday, 7:30pm), charming Italian jazz pianist Raphael Gualazzi (Friday 7:30pm), and definitely, definitely excited to see dirty/sexy hipster DJ Breakbot (Friday, 9:50pm), whose insanely danceable beats and long-form mixes are usually my summer soundtrack.

Monday, July 1, 2013

New Paris Lit Mag: Belleville Park Pages


As I've mentioned before, Paris still has quite a lively and interesting literary community of expats, many of whom read their work at open-mic nights around town, like Paris Lit Up on Thursday nights. Now, two poets from this community, James Bird and Will Cox, are bringing the scene to readers all over the world with the just-launched literary publication Belleville Park Pages.