Yoga Studio Review: Yoga Bikram Paris
When in Paris, I thought it would be fun to check out the Bikram Yoga studio there. After all, it’s nice to see a new place, Lin is no stranger to Bikram yoga either and doing that 90-minute grueling work-out meant we could eat more afterwards. Win-win-win, and wine with lunch.
I emailed the owner Marine if she would be okay with two bloggers checking out her studio Yoga Bikram Paris for a class. In exchange for the class, I would write a review about her yoga studio. She liked the idea and when I asked her if we could take a class on Saturday (in French!) she notified the teachers we would be attending and everything was set up.
Come check out Yoga Bikram Paris.
Backstory: Lin and I both woke up with a massive hangover. After breakfast and lots of tea we did feel a bit better, but the idea of the Bikram class ahead of us was not the most exciting prospect of the day. However, we have both taken enough classes to know you’ll always feel better afterwards, so we went despite the headache and dry mouth.
There are two locations: Grand Boulevards in the second arrondisement, and the Marais location, right behind Centre Pompidou! Grand Boulevards was only a 15 minute walk from our hotel, so we decided to take the 10 AM class there. In French, although the studio also offers English classes: 11 AM (Marais) or 4 PM (Grand Boulevards.)
STUDIO Yoga Bikram Paris is located behind a big green door, but there is a plaque next to that green door so you at least know that you’re at the right place. When you walk through the door you come into this adorable hidden path and the yoga studio is at the end, on the left.
This is the original Yoga Bikram Paris location that opened its doors 11 years ago. The studio is quite small, but that makes it very cute and cosy. Plus, everything was clean.
Lin and I introduced ourselves to the teachers, got towels, mats and a coin for the lockers (YES!) and moved into the dressing room to change. Warning, the dressing rooms aren’t very big either. You really have to move around people changing, drinking, talking to get your stuff or get dressed.
The hot room was the smallest one I’ve seen thus far, but our class was about 20-25 people and everyone still had a lot of space to move around. The smaller size of the room may actually serve to create more group synergy, which can really help your yoga practice, as well as make sure the humidity and heat are optimal.
CLASS Even though the class was hard after a night of champage and cheese, I really enjoyed doing the routine and listening to the French version of the dialogue.
Thanks to my high school French it was a lot easier to follow than Hungarian, I can tell you that. Our teacher was lovely to listen to and whenever necessary she would throw a short instruction in English our way.
During class you were allowed to drink water, which I’ve been taught not to do in Rotterdam and which I will not do anywhere else either. Lin did like having the option to drink water during class and so did everyone else in there, so opinions vary.
The great thing about a small(er) yoga room is the humidity levels get perfect, making your practice more intense and more beneficial. By the end of the class I was almost completely cured of the hang over I had woken up with, and desperately craving some green juice. But more on that later.
INFORMATION
- ADDRESS 17 Rue de Fauborg, Paris OR 13 Rue Simon Le Franc, Paris
- RATES 25 for one class, which has to do with how expensive things are in Paris, especially rent. I do like their auto-debit of 109,- a month for unlimited yoga. See the rest of the prices here.
- DRESSING ROOMS Small. When we came out of class it was super-crowded with people who just had class and people who were going to take class.
- LOCKERS YES, and you get a coin for it at the front desk.
- SHOWERS 4 showers, but I didn’t try them because we showered back at the hotel.
- HEATING Ventilation, and the heating/humidity there is good.
- YOGA ROOM FLOOR Carpet, but everything smelled nice and clean. I think it had been cleaned with tea tree oil.
- EXTRA You can check out their website for more information and FAQS!
(Maybe this should be a thing too, next to this whole visiting-yoga studios business: me Standing Bowing all over the place.)
So there you have it. Bikram in Paris. Next time I’m there I want to see the Marais location. For now, thumbs up and Namaste!
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