Horse Race in Paris October 4-- help pls.

I%26#39;ve read about a horse race on Oct. 4, Sunday. Does anyone know how this will affect downtown Paris, particularly museums, sightseeing, restaurants, etc? The race is in the 16th arr. Advice appreciated. Merci. mark.

|||

Mark - the race you refer to is the Pre de Arc de Triomphe. Run at the Longchamp Racetrack. Although this is the most prestigious European horserace I believe the impact on Paris would be minimal.

I base this assumption on no experience (although I will be there this year) but on major horse races I%26#39;ve attended that are run in other large cities.

I%26#39;ve attended the Breeder%26#39;s cup races in New York and in Los Angeles (three times) and the impact on a major city such as those is virtually non-existent.

I was able to get reserved seats one week ago for the %26quot;Arc%26quot; through the racetrack. (In comparison to say the Kentucky Derby where tickets are only available through brokers and an inflated price. I should also mention that in Louisville, Kentucky the prices of lodging triple for Derby weekend. There has been on such impact in Paris or the other large cities I mentioned.)

I don%26#39;t know the seating/standing capacity at Longchamps but even if it appoaches 100,000 which I doubt it still is not going to markedly affect the venues in a city as large as Paris.

Hopefully someone with recent experience will chime in but I would not be concerned about over crowding because of this event.

I do know that general admission tickets are available the day of the race and for a once in a lifetime experience I would suggest you give it a try!

|||

Hi Mfo...I have attended the racing at Longchamps every October for several years and also visited at other times of the year, the above poster is right it seems to have no major effect on the city. This is also Paris pret a porter fashion week and the city seems to absorb these visitors easily.

The racecourse a Longchamps is very large and comfortable, even with all the crowds. It%26#39;s a great day out and tickets cost around 5 euros. We have never had a any trouble for entry, just buy tickets at the door. Get there early to to hear the military band playing and see the parade of hats.

We get there by metro line 10 direction Bolougne pont de St Cloud and get off at Porte d%26#39;Auteuil. Follow the crowd and there are free buses outside the metro station to take you to the racecourse. These buses return you to the metro at the end of the day.

Sadly we will not be there this year.

Denise

love from england

|||

thanks so much for your helpful comments. have fun! mfo/ aka mark.