Free wifi in Paris

Wifi In the Park
Originally uploaded by malias.

The Marie de Paris has installed free wifi in all the gardens, publc squares, libraries, municipal buildings and even museums.

The initiative covers Paris and the ile de France. In total 260 different locations have been provided with free wifi hotspots.

Given that many cafes already offer free wifi I think we can finally say that Paris is a (free) wifi city.

I travel to London a lot and most of the hotspots there you have to pay for. So for once Paris is a step ahead of London.

For more details of the free wifi hotspots in Paris (in french) follow this link Paris free wifi hotspots

Paris Free Museum Day

Watching the People watching the Pictures
Originally uploaded by malias.

Every regular visitor to Paris knows that all the national museums are free on the first Sunday of each month. So this includes all the major galleries such as Musee d' Orsay, the Orangerie, Musee Picasso and the Louvre amongst others.

Unfortunately, this means that that the places get clogged up with art deprived tourists and frugal locals. I know that it would be so much easier just to pay the 7 or 10 Euros entry fee and enjoy a more pleasent, stress free visit but sometimes you just get caught up in the momentum. So you ended up straining your neck and standing on tiptoes to peer over a crowd on the off-chance of getting a glimpse of the arse of one of Rodin's statues.

However there is a principle at stake too. In London all the major museums are free. It is believed that the great works of art should accessible to everybody rich and poor and not jut the culture loving middle classes.

Furthermore, much of the work in the Louvre was. shall we say, acquired under dubious circumstances. It seems odd that a Greek or an Egyptian should have to pay to gain acces to view works of antiquity taken from their own countries.

Sarkozy has stated that he would like to make the national museums free in France. I hope he does this before I do myself an injury.

Paris Free Event

Chilling out
Originally uploaded by malias.

If your in Paris on Saturday 28th July between 6pm and 9pm you might want to trudge over to the Pont des Arts as I'm organising another free event taking place there. The idea is simple. It's aimed at anybody learning a language who would like conversation practice with a native speaker in English or French or any language. In return you have to help them with their English or whatever is your mother tongue. If in addition you want to sign up to some English or French classes then that's fine but there is no obligation to do so. The event is called Parler in the Park (even though it doesn't take place in the park). Check the website for details.

Wifi in Paris

This is my recently acquired Belkin Skype wifi phone. It works on wifi hotspots. It's not a mobile as it doesn't use telephony. The advantage of a phone like this is that I can use it anywhere in the world and wherever I am I can receive calls on the same number (and I don't have to pay termination charges) . What's more I can contact anyone on the Skype network for free.

I tried it out in Paris and have been surprised to discover that on almost every street somewhere there is an open network. If it catches on mobile phones could become under threat from these. However, I tried it in London and didn't have so much luck. Most networks were secured and even in the pubs and cafes you had to pay for access. Ho hum!