Bois de Vincennes and the Foire du Trône

[Deleted]

Since the weather was obscenely nice on Sunday, I decided that a visit to the Bois de Vincennes was in order this afternoon. I took the very circuitous bus 46 from the Gare du Nord and finally arrived at Porté Dorée about an hour later. Frankly, by the time we arrived at Porte Dorée, the bus resembled a can of sardines. The metro and the tramway were exactly the same.

For most people, it was still picnic time.







Quite a few people were already trying to row away the excess food and drink on the lake.









The swans seemed quite happy to receive visitors particularly if they were bearing food.





The weather could very easily be qualified at "hot" -- 27°.

[Deleted]

Okay, the Foire du Trône was right there next to the lake. How could I not go and take a look?



Security is always extemely strict but it has nothing to do with terrorist events. About 5 years ago, it was the theatre for suburban gang wars with knives.



Time to watch how people try to shake their boring lives out of their brains.





For people who don't crave motion sickness, there were other ways to scare the shit out of themselves.



A few warnings just so that people will know that this is really what they are craving.



Here is your host.



People were supposed to enter in chains of 4 for maximum effect.



This Muslim couple went in as a VIP group of 2.



Everybody seemed to speculate about what was awaiting them. Maybe I'll find out some day.

[Deleted]

But fun fairs are for having fun and for winning grotesque stuffed animals!





Coloured liquids and foods are also supposed to be ingested.



I think it is delightful how happy people are before subjecting themselves to a house of horrors.













For some reason I am immune to junk food, even in this sort of environment. I bought absolutely nothing.





Getting ready to fly.



Yes, they're up there.









Is it possible to make a profession out of the ridiculous coin-push games? This person seemed to think so.

[Deleted]

This is the very first game that got most of us hooked on fun fairs at a very early age.



People shriek, but they really like this on a hot day.













I would have left earlier, but this thing is so huge that it took me forever to find an exit.



People were on their second picnic session -- "afternoon snack."









People played cards, smoked chichas (hookahs), they bring half of their house with them to the Bois.





A bit of detritus is created on such days.



Some people were not as hot as others.





One last look at the Porte Dorée fountain before I jumped on the tramway.



And here is a bit of the afternoon in motion...

[lagatta]

Confess I preferred the families and friends picnicking. And I'd have preferred that at 19; it isn't because I'm an ageing boomer. I remember such a perfect day visiting the Toronto islands (in Lake Ontario; one takes the ferry) with a long-forgotten beau.

Now, I presume the lake is artificial, but was it a solution to the many small rivers heading to Paris? There is such a lake at Parc Jarry, the closest large park to where I live, and it was a mare aux canards emerging from a half-covered stream. Our island had many streams, including the one beneath our street - some will remember the structural work we had to endure a few years ago.

I like the fact that the grass is fairly long on that lawn, except for the inevitable trampled spots near the lake. Some of the more melanin-challenged visitors have a bit of a sunburn...

I don't like that full-on junk food either. There are some semi-junky as in a bit fatty foods I do like and might give in to, such as kebabs. But not too often, as although they are more "real food", they are often too greasy. When I was younger I could handle a merguez-frites, but doubt I'd eat that now. Better the Tunisian sandwiches.

[htmb]

It looks like the people of Paris have really needed this good weather. What crowds!

[bixaorellana]

Well, this is just great! Since I am a person who does not partake of what fairs have to offer -- scary rides and scary foodstuffs -- but who does love the fair atmosphere, I particularly appreciate this brilliantly photographed thread. I've already been through it several times, I like it so much.

I notice you have several double portraits, all of them superb. I particularly love the one of the two young women in the pink chef hats. Other winners are the stuffed animals, also the woman with the mike in the next picture. The ride photo just after the CrazyMouse/Poker picture is about as good as it gets, ditto the whirling seats on chains. But the one of the feet dangling in front of the riders in the brightly colored seats is truly a triumph!

Lovely to see all those people out to enjoy the sun and to luxuriate on the grass -- happy! You really captured everything so beautifully, but the video at the end is a much appreciated icing on the cake as well.

[htmb]

You really do have some very interesting photos in this report, Kerouac. Nicely done.

I have recently read the City of Paris is strongly considering a "nude zone" for naturists in a city park. There was a reference to a lake in the Bois de Vincennes as a suggested spot. When I read the report I wondered if this could be the place.

[Deleted]

The Green party has requested this and the municipal council is in favour, but no location has been chosen yet. Berlin, Barcelona and Munich already have such zones. The Greens would like it to be in a central location, possibly along the banks of the Seine, but that is quite unlikely because the municipality has become rather touchy about what might annoy certain groups in view of recent events. In the 1980's there was plenty of nude sunbathing tolerated along the Seine, notably along the quay below the Louvre and also the tip of Ile Saint Louis, but it disappeared. I don't know if the authorities put an end to it or if it just went out of fashion. Public nudity in an "inappropriate" place can carry a fine of up to 15,000 euros but as far as I know, people get off with just warnings. France has more than 100 nude beaches and more than 20,000 nude campsites in addition to famous towns like Cap d'Agde, the largest nude town in the world with nude supermarkets and shopping malls, so Paris really needs to do something.

Meanwhile, one thing that has been confirmed about the Bois de Vincennes is that a portion of the lake will be open to swimming starting next summer. For the next six months they will be cleaning and developing part of the lakeside area for that. The lakebed is probably almost as bad as the Canal Saint Martin was before it was cleaned.

[htmb]

Thank you for the information.
I had read about plans to open part of the lake for swimming. It seems to me that, unless they clean the majority of lake, the water qualify may not be as clean in the swimming area as it should. It is, after all, a lake.