by Ric Erickson

Number 1.32: - Metropole Paris - Monday, 30. September 1996:- A thoughtful reader has suggested that Metropole do some features about the 'Generation X Parisians.' For some years now I have noted a magazine on the stands, named 'Generation X,' but when I looked at it last - say, about three years ago - it seemed to be about electronic games.

I am pretty sure this is not what the reader has in mind, since he added, 'or the club life a bit.' I did this - the club life - a lot, a long time ago. I have never done much of it in Paris for several reasons: I've had my share, I live out in the 'burbs, I can't afford a babysitter, I don't like crowds and I don't like noise - and I don't think I'll like the music much, if there is any.

Don't get me wrong - I think the reader is right. I'm not sure of the 'age slice' that Generation 'X' falls within - but when I think of it, Metropole has not being paying much attention to the Paris attractions that may suit readers from 15 to 25 or so. This age group falls into a 'slice of life' that is the transition from school grind to young adulthood - from drinking beer to the best cocktails of life.

Just how Metropole will cover this scene remains to be seen. I will have to find somebody who is young and robust and crazy and can write, who is not afraid of the dark - who whistles in graveyards, spits into the wind and is ready to jump in, tune up - and bring back live reports.

I will read the 'situations wanted' classified ads in today's newspapers

The Big Car Show

Paris' and the world's first international car show was held in the Tuleries in 1898 and it attracted 140,000 visitors. They were there to admire the 232 cars, trucks and buses that made the round-trip Paris-Versailles-Paris successfully.

Since 1976 the Paris show has been a biannual event, held on even-numbered years, alternating with the Frankfurt show, which is on odd-numbered years. Starting in 1988, the official name has been 'Mondiale de l'Automobile,' and this years' version opens to the public on Thursday, 3. October.

784 vehicles, 428 of them foreign - from 30 countries - will be on display, until Sunday, 13. October. Metropole coverage of this event is planned. Next week's issue will feature some of the more interesting examples of mobility, and the following week's feature will show visitors to the salon kicking tires, or whatever it is that people do at auto shows.

Open daily from 10:00 to 22:00, buildings 1, 2/2, 4, 5/2, 6 and 8 - open from 10:00 to 20:00, buildings 2/1, 3 and 5/1.

Entry price - 50 francs

Parc des Expositions de Paris - Porte de Versailles Métro - line 12, stop Porte de Versailles, or line 8, stop Place Balard. Bus - lines 39, 43 and PC Air - some airlines have special reductions for round-trips during the salon, and there will be direct shuttle buses running from Orly Sud, gate H; and from Orly Ouest, from gate G. Train - the SNCF has a special 'Congress' reduction of 20 percent.

There is a new travel agency service available for visitors, that is offering price reductions for immediate reservations. Tel.: 33-1 40 95 91 22 and Fax.: 33-1 41 23 76 68.

Fete des Vendanges de Montmartre

Begun in 1935, the wine festival of Montmartre has become an annual event, that turns around the harvesting of 2000 square metres of vineyard, located in the arrondissement. This is accompanied by parades, speeches, events, and sampling of the wine from the previous years' festival.

The parade - on Saturday, 5. October - starts about 14:30 at the Hôtel de Ville of the 18th and winds up and around the 'butte' to the vineyard at the corner of the rue des Saules and rue Saint-Vincent - where the mayor, local representatives and all sorts of other people make speeches, sing songs and inspect the grapes. According to the program, Sunday's events are of a more general nature, more generally spread across the whole arrondissement.

Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe

On Sunday, 6. October, horse racing starts around 13:30 at the Hippodrome de Longchamp, in the Bois de Boulogne. The big race - The Arc - will be run about two hours later. This is France's number one flat race, run over 2400 metres, for three year olds and up. Last year's purse was seven million francs.

There is a free shuttle-bus that runs from the métro stop at Porte d'Auteuil, starting at 12:45 - and return runs begin at 16:30 and run until a hour after the last race of the day. The bus stops at Longchamp at the Grille d'Honneur, and if you want free entry to the grass infield, the 'Suresnes' entry is the one to use.

Entry Pices for the Tribune : (the following is information from last year)

Entry price : under 18 - free Ages 18 to 25 - half price Ages 60 and up - half price

Restaurant 'panoramique' : menus at 245 F and 355 F; the menu enfant is 85 F. Reservations Tel.: 42 88 91 38. Brasserie 'Gladiateur' : menus 128 F, 138 F, and 168 F. 'Grand Bar' - starting from 50 Francs.

Infos Minitel: 3615 TURF