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The Grand Palais newsletter |
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n°13 b, June 2009, Skate special |
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Front pageRoll on! Who never dreamed of a playground covering 13,500 m2 (145,000 sq. ft.)? Well now you can have it: the dream is alive! On June 27 and 28, from midday till 6:00 p.m. the Nave of the Grand Palais opens its doors for a week-end dedicated to roller-skating. In partnership with Pari-Roller, organiser of the celebrated Friday Night Fever skate tour in the French capital, the Grand Palais is offering you two days to discover, learn and enjoy the art of roller-skating and braking! 140 pairs of in-line skates will be available for visitors to borrow, and there will be demonstrations, rink hockey and roller-soccer matches, an exhibition on the history of roller-skating, and music: whether you are a skater or just a pedestrian, there will be something to suit your taste. So if you are a beginner, an amateur, an experienced or highly skilled skater, child or adult, you should not miss this fun and friendly week-end in the Nave of the Grand Palais. Entrance and entertainment are free (as far as the capacity of the Nave will allow). The big moment"An avenue in the Nave” The Friday Night Fever skate tour in Paris On Friday June 6: at 10:20 p.m., the weekend will be kick-started in stunning fashion when more than 5,000 skaters zoom across the Nave, transformed for the occasion into a Parisian avenue. Anyone who has been in the French capital on a Friday evening is likely to have run into these roller skaters, all taking part in one of the famous "roller parades" organised by the Pari-Roller association that have become a trademark of the city: leaving every Friday at 10:00 p.m. from the Montparnasse Tower they set off on tours of around 15 miles! For the first time they will be emerging from avenue Eisenhower to power across the Nave end-to-end at a startling speed. They will be back again around 10:45 p.m. for a half-hour musical break. The skaters will be able to take a breather and admire the superb glass roof before setting off again valiantly into the streets of Paris to complete their tour. There's only one way to share this truly unique experience: get on your skates! Access to the Nave on Friday evening is restricted to tour skaters only. Three questions for…Boris Belohlavek, President and founder of Pari-Roller Boris Belohlavek and his skates! Quadriges: Where did you get the idea for Pari-Roller in the Grand Palais? The idea of the Friday Night Fever skate tour taking in the Nave was originally a suggestion by the Grand Palais. Of course we jumped at it and thought "why not go a step further?" by imagining a whole weekend dedicated to roller-skating in the Grand Palais. The Nave is the biggest covered venue in the capital, so the chance to come here to skate and take advantage of such a sumptuous and popular setting is a unique experience. Quadriges: How will the week-end be organised? Two big moments are scheduled: first on Friday evening when the Pari-Roller tour crosses the Nave and takes a break there, and then on Sunday, when the "Roller et Coquillages" tour stops off in the Nave. We'll also be organising skate-related activities like roller-soccer and rink hockey. The accent will be on taking part and on learning how to roller-skate with initiation classes where beginners will be able to borrow a pair of in-line skates and try it out. We'll also be showing the public how to brake and get around safely in the city, so that skaters develop all the right habits. Quadriges: Who do you think is going to be interested in Pari-Roller? Anyone: children from age 7 or 8 who are with their parents or a big brother skating in the tour, to 70 year olds. Anyone can try roller-skating. There's no segregation. People talk to each other freely. So the mood is intergenerational, and fun for the whole family. The tour is a big parade, and skaters can express themselves freely. Some like to come disguised, others have music...There is just one imperative: safety! Fun and gamesA la carte! If you haven't yet tried roller-skating, that's no obstacle. Volunteers from the Pari Roller association, in collaboration with the Roller-skate Brigade of the Paris Police force and the RollerBlade team invite you to try the sensations of in-line skating in the city. 140 pairs of in-line rollers will be available with the protective garments on presentation of your ID. For those who want to sharpen up their technique, workshops on "braking and getting around town" are scheduled for Saturday. For the least faint-hearted there will also be roller soccer (football on skates) and rink-hockey (hockey on skates)! Finally, a photo exhibition on Paris, the capital of roller-skating tells you everything you need to know about the history of the discipline. In other words, whatever your level ─ skilled exponent or beginner ─ there is something in the weekend for everyone! PartnershipPandas in the Nave Did you know that there are only 1,600 giant pandas still alive in the world today? To give an idea of just how slender a lifeline now separates this species from extinction, the Grand Palais has teamed up with the conservation agency, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). On June 27 and 28, 1,600 papier mâché pandas will be installed on the Great Staircase of the Nave. Who could fail to be moved by the smile of such a gentle and friendly animal that is disappearing 1,000 times faster than if nature was running its course unaffected by man? This is an emergency! It is time to react to the planetary issues that will determine the kind of world that we are bequeathing to future generations! Zut, the Grand Palais buzz "Zut" is the Grand Palais' new mascot. Every month, our queen bee, who moved into her own royal quarters on the roof of the Grand Palais on May 7, will be sharing her thoughts with us. Be warned! She stings! Episode n° 2: Zut is NOT impressed! Well, hives alive! Yesterday the journalists couldn't get enough of me! All the top French papers ─ Le Monde, Le Figaro, Le Parisien ─, the radio stations ─ Europe 1, RTL ─, the TV news and even the international press, the buzz was all about me! Now the media scrum has moved on… to what? To bizarre things on little wheels!!! Zzz, do they really think that whizzing around on wheels is so much better than flying? If I were the chief of police, I wouldn't be escorting them, I'd be banning them! I don't know what flea's bitten them at the Grand Palais? Personally I can't see what all the fuss is about. Are they trying to outdo us for speed? It's true: my workers do work fast! There I was, thinking I was going to get a nice peaceful weekend for a change! They could at least have asked me for my opinion. I mean I am the Queen. This is my place! Am I supposed to want all these people racing about under my roof? Don't they realise that we Queens are proud, sensitive beings? I think I'm going to have to make it clear who's boss round here. Zut alors! |
A word from the presidentCould the Nave's emblematic mignonette green be rubbing off? After recently installing beehives on the glass roof as a contribution to biodiversity and a scientific research experiment on the life of bees in the city, the Grand Palais is for the first time in its history devoting a weekend to a sport that is 100% eco-friendly, healthy and pollution-free: roller-skating. At the same time, in association with the World Wildlife Fund, as a sign of our support to environmental conservation, we are installing 1,600 papier mâché pandas on the great staircase to alert the public to the very real threat that this species could become extinct (there are only 1,600 live pandas known in the world today!). Roller skates and pandas: only the Grand Palais could come up with such an unexpected combination. An opportunity to discover a new sports activity and still have our eyes wide open to the world. Yves Saint-Geours President, Établissement public du Grand Palais  Don’t miss thisThe Friday Night Fever skate tour crosses the Nave on June 26 at 10:20 p.m. The Grand Palais will be transformed into an " avenue" for the 5,000 roller-skaters taking part in the Pari-Roller tour, as they zoom across the Nave, entering via the North door and leaving through the South door: an absolute one-off not to be missed. Pari-Roller at the Grand Palais June 27 and 28 from midday to 6:00 p.m. Nave of the Grand Palais Throughout this exceptional weekend, entertainment, workshops, rink-hockey and roller-soccer matches… and on Sunday, a Big Moment: the "Rollers et Coquillages" skate tour stops off in the Nave.  AgendaInternational Antiquarian Book Fair / International Fine Print Fair 19 - 21 June Nave of the Grand Palais For three days, the Nave is to host the World's biggest book shop: thousands of works at prices ranging from 20 euros to 1 million euros, an enormous choice for every taste and every pocket, plus a selection of original old, modern and contemporary prints. Salon du collectionneur 11 - 20 September Nave of the Grand Palais First held in 2003, the Salon du Collectionneur is back in the Nave of the Grand Palais. A key event on the Paris art market, this show, which opens the season, attracts collectors from all over the world. FIAC 22 - 25 October Nave of the Grand Palais 36th edition of this landmark event on the international contemporary market. This autumn again, art will be meeting design in the Nave, where a large number of galleries exhibit major works representative of modernity and contemporary creation.  Practical informationRER : ligne C / station Invalides Bus : lignes 28, 42, 52, 72, 73, 80, 83, 93 Vélib : Station n° 8029, 1 av. Franklin-D.-Roosevelt / n° 8001, av. Dutuit Parkings : Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées, place de la Concorde, parc François-Ier, Alma Georges-V, Champs-Élysées Lincoln, Matignon. Personnes à mobilité réduite : accès avenue Winston-Churchill |
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Executive editor: Jean-Paul Cluzel, President La Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais Chief editor: Marie Senk © Grand Palais, 2011 |
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