Pari Roller

Just came back from another trip to Paris and another go at the Paris Roller.
Whereas the last time was a little quiet, tonight was busy, a race on Sunday in Paris meant that there were a lot of visitors, nearly all of them experienced. They weren’t the problem though.
The issue I had was with the locals and the way the skate is run. Honestly, the skate was all over the road, pavements, street, it made no difference, oncoming cars had to stop as the skate flowed around them and there were almost no staff to keep control. We had to contend with the constant stopping again, and at times it seemed like the staff waited until we stopped before trying to get back to the front to deal with the next section of road.
For me the worst part of it are the guys who like to go fast, weaving in and out, doing stupid jumps on kerbs, off kerbs, over traffic islands etc. Some of them are really good skaters, others are out of their depth but still trying to do it. I saw a lot of people tripped up by these guys and it’s not good for the image. And then it happened to me. I had a guy clash legs with me as we went past and was taken out. An arm and leg scrape later and I had picked myself up and carried on going. He was nowhere in sight, but I saw him now and again on the skate. We didn’t interact until he went into me again on the second half. This time I saw him coming and gave him a shove away to which he responded in French. Absolutely no recognition that he was in the wrong judging by the tone which got his message across.
Sorry Pari Roller, but until you control your pack a little more and have your staff take a slightly more active role in policing it, I give you a thumbs down. You’re all really nice in the bar afterwards (Le Falstaff) but not that impressed with the organisation.

Tous les vendredis soir, Pari Roller organise une grande randonnée nocturne: près de 30 km de roller dans les rues de Paris ! L’itinéraire change toutes les semaines, des milliers de fanas du roller s’y retrouvent et c’est parti pour une balade dans la capitale, avec des arrêts assez fréquents pour reprendre son soufflé et surtout resserrer les rangs, qui ont tendance à s’allonger sur des centaines de mètres ! (et à faire râler les automobilistes !).
La rando est totalement gratuite, il suffit d’être à l’heure au point de rendez-​vous pour le départ (à Montparnasse). En cas de fatigue, on peut arrêter quand on veut. A noter: la balade du vendredi est plus corsée que celle organisée le dimanche après-​midi par Roller et Coquillages.