Skateboarding
Take a tour through the cosmopolitan skate life of the French capital as we reveal some of the greatest Parisian spots past and present.
The eyes of the world will be on Paris in the summer of 2024, and with skateboarding one of the disciplines that will take to the global stage, we scoped out the Parisian skateboard scene to uncover which spots to watch skaters do their thing – or even skate yourself.
Paris has a deep skateboarding history, which makes the French capital a must-visit city for any skater looking to collect footage or just have a good time. The skate scene there has also gone through a renaissance in recent years. The rebuilding of Place de la République, the skate/fashion explosion and the will of the city to make more public spaces accessible to skateboarders have all been factors that make it a great place to skate.
01
A skate history that began in Eiffel Tower territory
Paris's skating history is storied. The city has a skateboarding story dating back to the 1970s, both at the Place du Trocadéro near the Eiffel Tower, where slalom was all the rage (as immortalised by the 1978 short film Trocadéro Bleu Citron, and at the Beton Hurlant skatepark and Bassin de la Villette. It wasn't until the mid-1980s however that skaters began to explore the city streets beyond the Trocadéro, discovering new playgrounds like Le Dome, Châtelet, La Défense, Créteil, Bercy and many others now familiar throughout the skating world.
In the 1990s, there was the memorable Spike Jonze footage of Mark Gonzales, Jason Lee and a young Danny Way ripping the infamous Eiffel Tower ponds. Towards the end of the '90s, La Fontaine des Innocents in Les Halles and Le Dôme (AKA the Palais de Tokyo) became the go-to street spots and Stéphane Larance was the face of the French scene.
Fast-forward a few years from there and you might have witnessed a then up-and-coming Andrew Reynolds Kickflipping Bercy's Big Five or Marc Haziza 50-50ing Le Dôme's kinked hubba.
In recent years there has been a boom in France and new kids have come out who are skating incredibly
02
Paris's iconic skate spots
Watch filmer Guillaume Perimony's dreamlike tour of his city and her diverse skate scene in the Greetings from Paris video at the top of the page, and then scroll on below for some of Paris's most famous contributions to skateable urban architecture. Take note!
La Vague
Opened in 1989 on the north side of the Jardin des Halles, artist Henri de Miller's iconic undulating structure, called La Vague, was actually a sundial with a bronze monolith. Graced by many of the greats over the years including Jason Lee, it has sadly passed into skateboarding lore through redevelopment.
Bercy
The great ‘proving-ground’ spot in Paris, the Bercy 5 became an international benchmark of big gap skating.
Le Dôme - Palais de Tokyo
Le Dôme – or Le Palais de Tokyo to give it its official name – is a place not to be missed. The first person who skated here was Marc Haziza, many moons ago. The height of the ledges in this spot are incredible and athletes like Florentin Marfaing and Eniz Fazliov have made their mark here.
Spanish skate athlete Danny León comments: "It's a kind of square that has three stairs, then a flat area and at the end three more stairs, where the skaters themselves have placed railings and curbs in a do-it-yourself plan. It's pretty cool. There is a lot of skating there."
La Maison Fond, Gare du Nord
The 'melting house' by Argentinian sculptor Leandro Erlich was created as part of Paris’ 2015 White Night arts festival to highlight global warming. Located near to the Gare du Nord train station, from where the skate spot takes its name.
Quais de la Seine
This hybrid spot pays homage to both the famous riverside banks, which prevent the Seine from flooding, and the treacherous shin-height ledges synonymous with the modern Place de la République skate spot.
Curb du Luxembourg
This quintessentially Parisian curved-ledge spot requires some people-dodging, as it's located on the bustling Boulevard Saint-Michel.
The most iconic skate spots in Paris were reproduced in each of the obstacles and ramps of the Red Bull Paris Conquest held in 2021 in the Trocadéro Square at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You can relive the best action in the video below!
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What's the skate scene like in Paris now?
Just a few years ago, the city collaborated with Volcom and installed skateable obstacles at Place de la Bastille for three months over the summer. The experience proved such a success that this was then expanded to Place de la République, which today has become one of the most famous street spots in Paris. It's featured heavily in many video productions over the past few years.
"In recent years there's been a boom in France and new kids have come out who are skating incredibly. Suddenly, the level rose a lot to become one of the most powerful skating countries in the world," explains Danny León . "There are many French skaters who are skating very hard, like Aurelien Giraud and Vincent Milou, who are very strong on street, and also Vincent Matheron on ramps."
If Paris offers a lot of street architecture to skate, there's little in terms of skateparks in the central parts of the city following the demise of skateparks in Beton Hurlant and Bassin de la Villette.
On the upside there, Vans collaborated with Cosanostra Skatepark and the city of Chelles (roughly 18km east of the city centre) to build a brand-new Vans Park Series Bowl, which remains in situ for skaters to use daily.
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Skate shops in Paris
Several skateshops continue to thrive in Paris, including Nozbone, Day Off, Odilon and Snowbeach, all of which collectively help to keep the Parisian scene's fires burning on a daily basis.
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