www.parisveganday.frParis Checklist
There’s so much to do and see outside the French capital’s major tourist attractions if you take the time to explore.
Make sure to spend time enjoying the city’s many beautiful parks (le pique-nique is practically a mandatory activity), exploring the covered arcades, and getting acquainted with local people and organizations that share your interest in food, animals, and the environment. And if you need to indulge in a bit of retail therapy, there are plenty of cruelty-free options.
Paris Vegan Day
Paris Vegan Day
This semi-annual event brings together thousands of vegans from all over the world in October. Food demos, speakers, dance and music, and lots of food sampling at dozens of booths.
Paris hosts a few big veg events each year, and lots of smaller ones in between. These events have a strong Anglophone showing, and are a good place to network and meet new people while you’re in France.
VegFest
Daylong event near the Georges Pompidou center. A good place to meet local organizations working on behalf of animals. Plus, vegan cupcakes and free food from Loving Hut!
Veggie Pride
This annual event was launched in Paris, but now moves to a different European city each year for the middle weekend in May. In 2014, it returned to the City of Light. A great spot to meet animal rights folk.
Salon Bio
Vivez Nature hosts several organic expos in Paris and throughout France. Not entirely veg, but plenty of interest to herbivores here, including booths selling natural products ranging from skin cream to supplements.
Ashtanga Yoga
40 ave de la République, 11th Cross street: av Parmentier
01 45 80 19 96
One of Paris’s longest-established yoga centers offers one week of unlimited English-led yoga classes for €45. All food-related potlucks and other events are vegetarian.
Sivananda Yoga Center
140 rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin, 10th
Free yoga class every Saturday from 14.00-15.30. They also offer vegetarian cooking classes on Saturdays. (See pg. 44)
There are a million reasons to come to Paris. Here are a few of them:
January/February
Chinese New Year
Retail Sales
March
Le Salon du Livre
Paris Art Fair
April
Paris Marathon
Paris Bridal Fair
May
French Open
Veggie Pride
June
VegFest Paris
Fête de la Musique
Gay Pride
Retail Sales
July
Bastille Day
Paris Plages
Tour de France (below)
August
Rock en Seine
Paris Plages
September
Festival d’Automne
Jazz à la Villette
Les Journées du Patrimoine
Techno Parade
October
Paris Vegan Day
Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre (below)
Nuit Blanche
Vivez Nature
FIAC
November
Salon du Chocolat
Salon Marjolaine
Illuminations De Noël
December
Marchés de Noël
Want to get involved in some vegetarian events while you’re in Paris? Informal and formal get-togethers are hosted regularly by local organizations ranging from animal rights groups to yoga centers. Brush up on your French and attend an event. Many listed below are actually Anglophone events.
Paris Vegan Meetup
Paris’s vegan meetup group has more than 1,000 enthusiastic members who host restaurant outings, picnics, book clubs, and other events. Meet local Anglophones like Elisabeth here, and learn about living vegan in the City of Light. See also the Spicy Vegetarian Social Club with over 700 members
Association Végétarienne de France
France’s largest veg organization hosts lectures, film-screenings, and other events with a vegan focus. A great resource for any would-be herbivore in the Francophone world.
L214 Éthique et Animaux
This animal rights organization organizes leafleting events, protests, and other activities that work to end the suffering of food-production animals. Coming to town? See what you can do to help ‘em out!
Mangez Végétarien
This non-profit organization exists to support people on their quest to become vegetarian. They host picnics and meat-out events, and the website is full of information and resources— in French.
This Belgium-based AR/vegan website and forum offers information in French on subjects ranging from animal adoptions to bullfighting protests.
Association Droits des Animaux
A simple website, in French, with news and information about AR legislation in France and throughout Europe.
Fondation Brigitte Bardot
www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr
The famous French-actress-turned-animal-rights-advocate’s organization is great source of inspiration and information. You’ll find details on the next anti-fur manifestations (demonstrations) listed here, plus animal rights news from around the globe.
One Voice
This national animal rights group works hard to defend les droits des animaux both in France and throughout Europe using non-violent principles to meet their goals.
Societé Vegane
The French arm of the UK Vegan Society works to spread veganism through education, outreach, events, and science-based information.
VegActu
This vegetarian news site (in French) keeps you up-to-date on all the veg-oriented news happening both in France and around the world.
Vegedia
A social networking site for vegans and vegetarians. Even if you don’t join (it’s free), you can access the event calendar and forums, which includes a section on ride-sharing to and from AR/veg events.
Les Vegans de Paris et d’Ailleurs
www.facebook.com/groups/124458674285594
Organized by a pair of friendly French women, this organization is working toward the goal of veganizing France through festive events and outings, partnerships with other organizations, and food lobbying.
Love food and want to enhance your cooking skills while you’re on holiday? Cooking classes have become the de rigueur vacation activity for adventurous types in Paris, and the possibilities are vast and varied—think macrobiotic, ayurvedic, and shojin ryori—for vegans and vegetarians alike.
10th
Sivananda Yoga Center
140 rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin
Cross street: blvd Magenta
01 40 26 77 49
Métro: Gare de l’Est
Learn to prepare Ayurvedic-style meals at these monthly, affordable (€30) bilingual classes. Once a year, the center also offers four day stages (training sessions) in the vegetarian culinary arts.
11th
La Cucina di Terresa
Exact locations vary
www.lacucinaditerresa.com
lacucinaditerresa@gmail.com
Every cooking class and market tour is a full-day experience that takes you from Paris’s lively marchés and into a private home where you’ll learn to prepare divine veg(an) organic meals with the help of a culinary master. Friendly, warm, and engaging, Terresa inspires with her fabulous recipes and expert skill. Set aside between €125-330 for a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience. See also pg.34, 144, 215.
Culinary Messengers
3 rue Ternaux
Cross street: Oberkampf
06 10 24 06 53
Métro: Parmentier
Learn to cook shojin ryori, or Japanese Buddhist temple cuisine, with Valerie Duvauchelle at her monthly ateliers. Valerie, who lived in Japan for 20 years, also works as an independent instructor and caterer, and writes books and articles on vegan zen cuisine. Her blog (lacuisinedevalerie.blogspot.fr) features recipes and food photos. Classes, like the recent Japanese pastry-making workshop, cost €30.
11th
Centre International Macrobiotique Ohsawa (CIMO)
8 rue Rochebrune
Cross street: Parmentier
01 48 05 91 35
Métro: Saint-Amboise
Paris’s macrobiotic center hosts twice-monthly vegan cooking classes—in French—where you’ll prepare a multi-course meal with a small group of fellow students. Fee: €25.
Chocolatitudes
57 rue Daguerre
Cross street: rue Gassendi
01 42 18 49 02
Métro: Gaîtéor Raspail
While technically not a cooking class, you will develop a taste for chocolate and learn to tell the difference between 70 percent and 82 percent cacao with friendly experts at this vegan-owned chocolate shop in southern Paris. Monthly ateliers last 2 hours, average 6-8 students, and cost €45. Sampling including.
See also pg. 168.
18th
Cook’n with Class
6 rue Baudelique
Cross street: rue Ordener
01 42 57 22 84
Métro: Simplon
Always wanted to know the secret behind a crunchy, chewy baguette? Take a bread-making—in English—class at this little culinary school on the backside of Montmartre and learn how to make French breads at home. Instruction costs €125 and you get to take home the fruits of your labors.
18th
Super Naturelle
34 rue Ramey
Cross street: rue Custine
06 99 63 67 49
Métro: Jules Joffrin or Chateau Rouge
Learn how to prepare a gourmet vegan brunch or a multi-course Indonesian feast from scratch at this vegan cooking school in the north of Paris. Workshops are held throughout the week and on weekends, and cost between €60 and €80 per session. Half the time is spent in the open, airy kitchen preparing your meal, and the other half is spent savoring the flavors at a sit-down experience shared with your fellow students.
20th
Vegga Bio
Locations vary
06 60 93 20 55
www.vegga-bio.com
veggabio@gmail.com
Roving chef and cooking instructor Sébastien Briant teaches vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free cooking classes throughout Paris. For €50, you’ll get three hours of class time and come away with skills that will support you on your quest to create tasty meals at home.