Airport Dance - Paris, France
Monday, August 18, 2008 at 3:15AM 
When faced with a layover in an airport this is my general routine: browsing the paperbacks and magazines (rarely buying), checking out the tacky souvenirs (especially the fridge magnets just in case there's a really kitschy one I need), buying something to munch on, usually M&Ms or pretzels, and either a Coke or a bottle of water to drink. All of this takes approximately 30 minutes, at which point I've exhausted all the entertainment options, so I settle down in the bar or at the gate for the duration.
The French, ever conscious of quality of life issues and firm believers in the pleasure principle, know that traveling and layovers suck. So last winter, they offered free UV light therapy to passengers traveling through the capital's airports to lift their spirits and ease their pain.
This summer, they thought it would be nice to offer free dance lessons to travelers at Orly and Charles De Gaulle, the two Paris airports:
Summertime passengers can use their wait time at the airport to learn any one of 15 dances offered by the airport's resident trainers from "L'Ecole des Vacances," including Afro Jazz, Disco, Hip Hop, Mambo, Modern Jazz, Rock & Roll, Salsa, Samba, Tango, Cha-Cha and more. Music and trainer instructions are broadcast through cordless headsets so as to minimize the disturbance to other passengers, and lessons last 10 to 15 minutes each.
How cool is that?
Via Springwise.
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Pamela Poole is a California girl. A writer, translator, and francophile entrepreneur, she has lived on both sides of the Prime Meridian, and from latitude 13°48' to 50°35'. She also keeps a personal blog called, Frogblog.
She now calls Paris home, and plans to stay there.
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Reader Comments (5)
Youtube. Now.
Ooh, that sounds like a great time.
I was stuck at the airport in Split about a month ago (hurrah, flight delays) and a group of acrobats on their way home kept us entertained for over an hour with complicated poses and feats of strength. It made the wait go by much more quickly.
What a great way to stretch out and get your circulation going between flights!
And I have this great, Shall-We-Dance style visual in my mind of a herd of head-phone wearing business travelers silently bopping away to synchronized salsa.
Wonderful!
Sounds like a vacation within a vacation!
Hi, that sounds great! When traveling, another way to relax and fight layover stress is to get a massage at the airport Spa... Unfortunately, I don't think there is any Spa at Paris Orly and Charles de Gaulle airport. Am I right?