Welcome To Paris

Images by Andrew Peters

The Frenchies on Welcome Skateboards came to LA and stole a piece of our hearts.

With the most infectious energy, we were swept up in their enthusiasm and productivity. When it was time for them to go back to their respective homeland we were left with a bit of a void.

The idea of a trip to France started to float around and this was an adventure I wouldn’t dare miss out on. Flights and Air BnB’s were booked and we were off to see how we fit in with the locals.

Our accommodation was perfectly dangerous. We were situated right at Republique station where the skate friendly plaza is. This is also situated right in the hot zone for restaurants and bars. The Parisian way is very seductive. I wanted to immerse myself in the lifestyle that involved late nights and late starts. It was the end of summer so the weather was still blazing hot for the whole time we were there. Getting out too early seemed pointless and exhausting as all the best weather and light was in the afternoon so if we didn’t  sleep in and have a long brunch or lunch we would be doing ourselves a disfavor. A lot of Paris kinda shuts down in August and the locals abandon the city for their summer holidays. We were there at the end of last August which was probably for the best, at least the first week of our trip. Less people around is good for skating and there were less bars open to entice us. Don’t get me wrong, we still found many bars and would also terrorize a stoop almost every night, but it definitely fired right up when the skater favourite “Che Martin” bar reopened for the last few nights of our stay.

Time Debauche - Boardslide

The infamous Le Dome at the Palais de Tokyo was our most frequented skate spot on the trip, which provided many a clip in the video. Tim Debauche set up this sketchy contraption down the double and set sail via board slide to bring down the curtains on the clip. You gotta watch the whole video before you get to this banger though.

Ryan Townley - Fronstide Wallride

Townley was on a multiple trick a day mission. He had just gotten two tricks on a weird bouncy rail when he noticed a wall he could propel himself at. In between the hustle and bustle of heavy foot traffic he was able to rack up another clip and keep the strike rate on par.

Evan Mock - Beenplant Fakie

Evan Mock was able to join us for the first half of the trip. I honestly didn’t think he would have time in between runway shows and red carpet events to come hang out with us. He has a star power energy that people pick up on quick. It’s pretty tough getting around Paris especially when you want to get out a little further into the suburbs but Evan was able to wrangle his driver from his ‘other’ trips to Paris to take us out skating for a couple of days. It was quite unlike your normal mode of transport for a skate trip, but we welcomed the luxury of air conditioning and door to door drop offs with open arms in the hot summer heat.

Daniel Vargas - Pop Shuvit

You’re probably familiar with Daniel Vargas’s expertise on a skateboard but not only is his name on the bottom of his board, he’s also taken on the responsibility of team manager for Welcome Skateboards. In between making sure we were all fed and taken care of, he was ripping and filming - a true jack of all trades.

Once the limo service had run its course we were quick to realize that we needed a new mode of transport that wasn’t just our skateboards. Pushing from spot to spot is way too much if you want to actually skate the spot once you get to it. I never knew that we would appreciate scooters so much.

Tim Debauche - Wallie Indy Grab

Man, I get a smile on my face whenever I see photos of my nephew Tim Debauche. His skateboarding speaks for itself but I’ll speak on his character, he’s the loveliest, cheekiest, kindest frenchman around. The way these guys interact and adore each other is beautiful. Always up for a good time and a crazy haircut, Tim is a treasure.

Ryan Townley - Halfcab Heelflip

Steady stacking in the heat. Ryan Townley was on fire, like literally nearly burning up in the relentless summer. First out of bed, he had usually packed a days worth of sightseeing and soul skating by the time the rest of us started to rise out of bed. I don’t know where he gets his stamina, skating all day every day, pushing his body to exhaustion and then tying one on in the evening only to wake up and do it all again.

We got introduced to Banana on one of the first days of our trip and he became like a mascot for our whole stay. He would skate every spot and bring the hype and vibes high like swimming across the pond at Palais de Tokyo or tagging his graffiti all over town in broad daylight. Look at the face, you can’t be mad at this guy.

Jake Yanko - 5050

Yanko is a bit of a footage machine. He couldn’t help but get clips and turned it up the whole two weeks. This one right here was light work for the Florida native that was a long, long way from home. His relentlessness continued a week after the trip to Paris where he went on to win the Independent event in Philadelphia and literally break his neck doing so.

The nightlife was typically terrorizing. Bar culture in Paris is rich and inclusive, even the kids can come. If there was any dramas we’d take it to the stoop with a ton of beers and a barrel of laughs.

Ryan Townley - Frontside Boardslide & Boardslide to Hurricane

Going to this rail was a bit of a hail mary. We’d been told that no-one really gets away with skating it as the security is super onto it but we figured we might get some tourist luck and gave it a shot anyways. Foot traffic was hectic and Ryan drew a bit of a crowd but none of which was security or upset about his skating. In no time he had two more under his belt.

Jake Yanko - Nosegrind

There was a day where the crew split up and Jake of course added to his slew of moves. I wasn’t there to shoot it and although there was no shortage of Jake photos I felt guilty not to have this one to go home with. Luckily we ended up in the same neighborhood and Jake was down to do it again and it turned out to be one of my favourite photos from our whole trip.

Ryan Townley - Pole Jam Lipslide

Never really understood how people do all their pole jam combinations to grinds and other magic. Townley gets it. He had this one down every single try, over and over and finally with a shuvit out.

Jake Yanko - Nose Manual

You can’t see it, but there is a massive drop on the other side of this wall that would lead to a horrific death if you fell over the side. The top of the wall is rounded and as sketchy as it could possibly be. Watching Jake try to figure out how to get speed for this was terrifying. It was one of those tricks that you wanted the skater to do as quickly as possible so they wouldn’t have to try it any more.