Pro Tip: Paris Bike Sharing With Vélib'

(Thug life! There's no way a Parisian driver won't see me)

When the weather's good and the Métros are too stuffily hot or crowded to bear, the absolute best way to get around Paris is in the Vélib'. This clever bike-sharing system makes wheeling around town easy and, best of all, affordable. There are over 1,200 Vélib' stations and 18,000 shared bikes in Paris, making it the world's 3rd-largest bike sharing system. It used to be a hassle to use the bikes for just a day, but now you can take out a bike on a one-day pass for just 1,70€.

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:

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:

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!

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.

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.

La Défense Jazz Festival 2013

(Photo by J. Albertos via Vigoenfotos)

La Défense is not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to have a jazz festival. The sky-scraping mini-city just to the west of Paris is constructed of business buildings and is the home of some 1,500 corporate headquarters, making it Europe's biggest business district. However, each summer, La Défense holds a one-week music celebration dedicated to discovering new and favorite jazz musicians from all over the world.

Cheap Eats: Gyoza Bar

I hesitate to share this cheap nosh with the world, because the place is so tiny and so cheap and so good. But that's also why I have to share it. Gyoza Bar in the 9e arrondissement seats about ten people and whips up the freshest, most savory and non-greasy gyoza dumplings I've ever had. Besides beer and sprout salad, it's the only thing on the menu, so it's pretty much guaranteed that the three chefs in front of you have this down. At 6€ for 8, it's the best deal around for a warm-up snack on a rainy day or a holdover bite before a night out.

For a more in-depth (fawning) review of Gyoza Bar, check out my article over at Girls' Guide to Paris.

Gyoza Bar

56 Passage des Panoramas 75002 Paris

Métro: M8, M9 to Richelieu-Druot or Grands Boulevards

Summer Soldes in Paris

For a Cheapskate like me, the Paris soldes are the most wonderful times of the year. Due to some kind of silly law, retailers are only allowed to have storewide sales twice a year. I know, I don't get it either, but their ridiculousness is our gain, as the relative rarity of the sales drives up competition and pushes retailers to get their end-of-season wares out the door. During this twice-yearly event, shops big (Hermés on rue St-Honoré) and small (Tuxedo in Montmartre) slash their prices in two or three rounds throughout five weeks in both winter and summer. It's the perfect time to stock up on French fashion and find some serious steals on both basics and splurges, depending on your outlook and bank account.

Cheap Eats: Le Barbezingue

(Photo via Foodspotting)

When a fellow expat blogger wrote to me to tip me off about an all-you-can-eat buffet in Paris, I was wary but knew I had to try it. Turns out that Le Barbezingue, a charming little home-style bistro just a few bus stops away from the Chatillon Métro station, is delicious, generous and a great deal at just 22,50€ for an à volonté dinner. They even have a cheese cabinet to raid. And, I mean, all the desserts you can eat. What more can I say? Check out my full review over at Girls' Guide to Paris.

Le Barbezingue
14, Blvd de la Liberté, Châtillon (92320)
Métro: M13 to Chatillon, then take either Bus 295 (direction Velzy 2), Bus 194 (direction Lycée de Chatenay-M.) or  Bus195 (direction Robinson RER) to Paul Bert