Skate culture in Paris

At a friend's wedding this weekend, I met two kids ages 10 and 14 who spend every summer in Paris with their dad. They are into skateboarding and told me about the site Paris-Skate-Culture . As the name implies, it includes descriptions of skating sites in and around Paris. It also serves as a platform to call for more skate parks in Paris, especially a covered park. The two skaters (sorry, guys ... I seem to have forgotten your names) said that they particularly liked the Palais de Tokyo, the Bercy skate park and the steps around the Palais Omnisports, and the steps in front of the mall at the Place d'Italie. Those sites are described in the website, and there are some good pictures, too!

I knew about the skate park at Bercy but as the site says, it tends to get crowded on weekends. From the earthwork on the Seine side of the park you have a great view down into the skating area, which is fenced off from the rest of the park and kind of tucked into a corner. Dozens of kids on rollerblades and skateboards, and I think a BMX bike or two, were swooping up and down the ramps.

The site gives you an idea of the good and bad of skating in Paris: contemporary sites like Bercy or the Place d'Italie sometimes tolerate skaters, but several spots listed on the site have installed anti-skating barriers or have banned skating outright. I wonder if the regulations about changes to historic monuments are what have kept the Trocadero and the Palais de Tokyo free of such barriers.