Arènes de Lutèce

Long lost Roman arena? My two boys couldn't wait to see this.
As we sat in the almost empty park, we read online (free Wifi) about the arenas discovery and preservation.
Oh and gladiators fought here-really nothing more to say.

I love that an ancient Roman amphitheater that dates back to the first century and would be considered a must-see in most cities is now just a quiet park tucked away in the Latin Quarter. I don't think it's a sight many people stumble upon because it's tucked away and unless you know what you're looking for - you would just walk on by it.

The arena now seems to be used as a park by the locales, when I visited, there were a few guys in their twenties kicking around a soccer ball and a few groups of elderly people playing a game of boules.

I recommend grabbing a sandwich or other yummy goodies from Eric Kayser and coming here for a quiet and relaxing picnic lunch if you feel you need to escape the usual crowds of the 5th.

I have been looking for free things to do in Paris on my lowly assistante de langue pay, and saw this on coolstuffinparis.com. Since it is really close to where I live (about a 5 minute walk), I wandered over today after work. I can't believe I can walk for a few minutes and set foot in a relic of Roman culture right in the heart of Paris. Now it functions as a park, and apparently even has WiFi according to a sign inside. Walking among the children playing football and climbing the stars around the arena, I cannot believe that gladiators competed here long ago. I noticed a couple of cages built into the stadium being used for storage, and Wikipedia confirmed (yes, I know, reliable sources and all that, blah blah...it's technically "peer-reviewed"...) that they were used to contain animals for the fights. How cool is that? In fact, this site has some amazing history. It was demolished so the materials could be used to help reinforce defenses around Île de la Cité in 240 A.D., and was then used as a cemetery before being filled in and "lost" until sometime in the 1860's when it was rediscovered and VICTOR HUGO himself led preservation efforts. Sometimes the rich history of Paris absolutely dazzles me, and this is one of those times. And did I mention that it's FREE?! Go check it out!