BackParis, France: When man made the beach
On the Paris-Plage, sand, water, ice cream, Hemingwayeverything except the sea
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Many years ago, on a blazing hot Saturday morning, Ashif Panakkat and I sat on a little brick culvert outside the main gates of what then used to be called the Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli. We sipped on tea from a roadside stall, dragged on cheap cigarettes, and wondered what to do with the weekend.
The sun in Tiruchirappalli is not so much a distant star that throws heat and light, as much as the heating element in a celestial grill oven. It switches on in the morning, quickly attains maximum power, thoroughly desiccates the earth and people beneath, and then briefly switches off at night for daily maintenance and upkeep.
That Saturday morning we woke up to discover that our hostels had run out of water. There wasn’t enough to brush our teeth, let alone take a shower.
“We can’t spend the weekend like this," he said. I agreed. “Let us go somewhere where there is a lot of water," I suggested.
The next morning a dozen or so of us trooped past the turnstiles of the Black Thunder water park at Mettupalayam, in the foothills of the Nilgiris. Here there was, to our satisfaction, copious amounts of water. It poured and gushed and swirled all over numerous rides and slides and the ecstatic visitors in their canvas shorts and carefully chosen opaque churidars.
The members of my parched group of engineering students almost cried in joy (but we did not because we had no moisture for the tears).
There were very many aquatic amusements at Black Thunder, but the one we spent the most time in was the ride that emulated nature most closely: the wave-pool. We just stood in the little fake sea for hours, waiting for the synthetic waves to rush up the pool and knock us off our feet. It was a delight that was both ersatz and primeval at the same time.
There is something about the sea and the seaside that seems to fill an inevitable hole in the human psyche. Perhaps it is an extension of our humanness itself. Perhaps our craving for the sea and the succour of moist sand under our feet is some instinctive remnant of evolution—after all, we were all sea creatures once.
For centuries, millions of people all over the world had only one way of periodically renewing this ancient bond with deep waters—they went, if they could, to the nearest beach. But this was rarely an option for people unfortunate enough to live far away from the sea. You could be living on a mountain in Dzungaria in north-west China. A trip to the nearest beach for a Dzungarian is at least 2,600km away.
These days, the seaside is not all that far away.
The first such beach, or Paris-Plage, stretched 3km from the Louvre to Pont de Sully. Truckloads of sand were brought in, along with deck chairs, boardwalks and ice-cream vendors. It was a crazy idea. But over the last decade or so the Paris-Plages—there is more than one now—have become one of the most successful summertime holiday events in any major city anywhere in the world.
A couple of years ago, I stumbled across a bit of Paris-Plage entirely by accident. After noticing the long lines for the Pompidou Centre, I retired into a café for a quick terrine lunch and then walked south down the Boulevard de Sébastopol. The idea was to reach the north bank of the Seine and then walk across the bridge to the Notre Dame Cathedral on the Île de la Cité.
I was walking along, fully expecting to see the river, and suddenly there I was staring at a man sitting in a deck chair on a sandy bank. It was like a scene out of one of those Narnia films, except with concrete, adipose tissue and sweat.
Once you deal with the strangeness of it all, the Paris-Plage is a tremendous idea. Especially when you look at how much it has transformed and grown in the last decade. Today it is a four-week-long opportunity for residents and tourists to lounge, sunbathe, kayak, build sandcastles, eat, drink, even swim.
Though the last is arranged in special temporary swimming pools. The Seine does not shine when it comes to water quality. And besides, in August 2013, a South American fish called the pacu was found growing in the Seine. The pacu has a reputation for swimming beneath male swimmers and gnawing on their testicles. This, any male will tell you, is always a botheration best avoided.
The Paris-Plages have been so successful that they have since inspired other man-made urban beaches in cities globally. The Camden Beach in London is one of the more recent ones. In 2014, Camden Beach featured 900 sq. m of beach created from 150 tonnes of sand.
Yet for all their imitators, the Paris-Plages remain the gold standard for urban seaside fun. The beaches are long, the activities varied, and the organization enthusiastic.
After my serendipitous discovery I sat by the “beach" eating an ice cream and reading a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s Moveable Feast that I’d bought from Paris’ famous Shakespeare and Company book store.
As memories of a wave-pool by the Nilgiris came gently lapping by, I was thankful for modern ambition. These days, if Jean-Claude can’t go to the seaside, the seaside will come to Jean-Claude.
Getting there
Paris is well-connected to Indian cities; airfare starts at around ₹ 35,000-40,000. Keep an eye out for the excellent rail connectivity with European cities as well. Paris is easy to reach by train from London and most places on the continent. Tickets can be cheaper and more convenient than planes if booked in advance.
Places to stay
Paris is well-equipped with tourist accommodation to match all needs and budgets—hotels, youth hostels, and bed-and- breakfast accommodation. It has a cheap and convenient Metro system. So pick somewhere close to a Metro station. Keep two things in mind. First, some hotel rooms don’t have air conditioning. And the summers can get very hot. Second, larger groups and those planning longer trips may be better off with furnished apartments.
Things to do
Paris is unmatched when it comes to activities, sights and amusements. The Paris-Plages are easy enough to find and enjoy. But it can be a chore to pick and choose from the rest. Why not start your trip with a bike tour of the city? The Fat Tire Bike Tours company offers good value. Get a sense of the city and ask your friendly guide for advice on everything.
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