I lived and worked in Paris for 6 months last year. I was lucky enough to be right next to a decent gym, but I wasn’t near Versailles; that’s a pretty expensive area so you might have to shell out a fair bit.
I’m guessing if you’re going to be working in Paris you speak at least some French. If not though, what you’re looking for is a “salle de sport”, “salle de gym”/“gymnase” or (ideally for you I imagine) a “salle de musculation”, which is a bodybuilding gym. The French version of the Yellow Pages is the Pages Jaunes (http://pagesjaunes.fr). The area you’re in (the “mairie”) probably has its own website as well, with sports clubs listed - they normally do. Where will you be exactly? The easiest way to find somewhere might just be to ask around - pop down to any old sports club and ask where you can go to do some weights. (“Ou est-ce qu’on peut faire de la musculation?”)
Paris in my experience has a lot of expensive private gyms (like everywhere), but the best deal is the public-funded ones. These are called “gyms municipals”, and are normally part of sports complexes with a swimming pool, (French) boxing, and other sports available too. They’re a lot cheaper (I paid 40 euros for three months, pretty good in my opinion), but tend to be more basic - plenty of machines and weights, but no coffee bar, TVs or other fancy whatsits.
To join a gym (or any sports club, swimming pool or whatever) you’ll need a doctor’s note (a “certificat medical”). You could either bring one over with you (might need to get it translated though) or get one done there. Getting one done in Paris is easy - assuming you can speak French (or someone can speak it for you) their healthcare system is pretty damn good. If you don’t speak French it’s a bit more difficult, but if you go to a Pharmacy (they’re everywhere! Seriously, the country has more pharmacies than anything else.) they can probably advise you on English-speaking doctors (Pharmacies are normally required to have someone on staff who speaks English). You should be able to make a same-day appointment with a doctor, he’ll check your blood pressure, ask you about illnesses etc and anything specific to the sports you want to do, and fill out a form to certify that you’re safe to do weight lifting/fitness/karate/whatever it is you asked him about. It’ll cost you about 20 euros, payable on the spot, but if you’re from Scotland (as it appears from your profile) you can claim back most of that by sending off a form they’ll give you. Personally I didn’t bother since it’s a lot of effort for not much reward. (The French love forms!)
Sorry I can’t recommend somewhere in particular - you’re miles from where I was living - but I’m sure you’ll find somewhere, and if there’s anything I can help with don’t hesitate to ask!
Good luck by the way - and what will you be doing there (other than lifting some iron!)?
[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
PB Andy wrote:
Your best bet is to look through their version of the yellow pages and just search for the French word for gym or fitness club, whatever it is.
Look for the sports facilities/salles de sport (usually near universities there), and cart a doctor’s approval around with you. If you live in/near Paris, you’ll have no trouble whatsoever…and besides public transportation is free/dirt cheap there so you can shop around a bit. “fat acceptance” and “judgement free” or meathead-free zones are american concepts so you will have no trouble finding a good gym with plenty of slag iron, that also allow heavy lifting and heavy metal. Do not expect to get a bench spot unless you speak the language though
I actually just moved to a town around Paris, which is about 5 - 10 min from Versailles. I’ve talked to a few people and been to Versailles looking for a gym. There’s really two, maybe three options in Versailles. The first, which is a gym that I haven’t been to, but is supposed to be really good: Forrest Hills Gym/Fitness (not sure on the cost). The second, Captonic (50 - 60 euros/month). I’ve been to this place, it’s a private commercial gym that has smith machines, barbells, etc, but dum bells only go up to maybe 30 - 35 kg. It has a large enrollment fee, but if you can figure out a day/week when they waive it, you’ll be fine. Third, go outside the region, maybe to a gym in paris. There are two big gyms, which are very expensive (think 100 - 150 euros or so per month if not more) and they’re fitness first and club med gym.
Seriously though, I’m not sure how long you’re going to be here for, but be prepared to pay for the gyms (unless you can find a good public one). Usually the best bet is to sign up for a year, which drastically reduces the cost. Also, a lot of the gyms are focused on having machines and a bench press/incline press/cable, maybe a smith machine, but not so much on dum bells.
Moved into Paris a couple of months ago and need to find a gym desperately.
And I dont want to pay 800 EUR for Club Med or places like that. Was looking for “gyms municipal” in the 14th, 13th, 5th, 6th or 19th and cannot find anything. They either charge 10 EUR per entry or offer only Zumba or shit like that.
