Real Naturists of The Year 2018: Association des Naturistes de Paris

France and naturism have gone well together for a long time.
Even as long as 50 years ago, when naturism was not so well known and little seen, many people knew that in France, there were islands and remote beaches where you could throw off all your clothes and swim and sunbathe nude without having to pay a price for it. Then Brigitte Bardot came along, the Cannes Film Festival, and taking your clothes off in France became a glamorous thing to do.
Over the past decades, naturism in France has attracted thousands of people from all over the world, not just to remote beaches, but to huge resorts as well, though its identification with the Cote d'Azur and the Mediterranean has largely remained.
All of that is changing again now. Naturism is moving inland, or more precisely, into the cities, and into the mass urbanization of one of Europe's and the world's largest cities, Paris.
Because of the impressive list of activities to turn naturism into an urban phenomenon, we name the 'Association des Naturistes de Paris' (ANP) the Real Naturists of the Year 2018.
If you look at their events' page, you will note more than just the usual swimming outings or nude sports contests, but you will also find items that made the world news just a few months ago.
Cases in point are the opening of a naturist space at the Bois de Vincennes, giving naturists in the region as well as tourists an opportunity to relax in a safe atmosphere, and the nude visit to the Palais de Tokyo arts museum. Both made headlines around the world.
In addition, the ANP has also been frequenting the nude restaurant O'Naturel, part of an expanding trend of restaurants around the world where guests can take everything off and enjoy good food without having to worry about their privacy.
Nude theater and outings as far as Belgium are also part of their agenda, and we're sure that over the following years, we will hear more in the mainstream media about their endeavors.
For their efforts to promote what we should call 'urban naturism,' the Association des Naturistes de Paris are the Real Naturists of the Year 2018.

We'll always have Paris ... at least until October 15

A world where you don't have to wear clothes.
It's hot today, the sun is out, you don't have any clothing ready, and you don't really need any because it's not cold, so you step out the door and walk to the baker's, the grocer's, the supermarket, or even your work, without any clothes on.
Science fiction? I have often thought of writing such a story myself, a novel or a screenplay set in a world where being naked anywhere anytime is absolutely normal and acceptable. Or it could be the other way around, a world oppressed by excessive clothing where a handful of rebels and innovators take the lead to change the ruling mentality and 'free the masses.'
In the meantime, in the real world, there are small steps that help us in that direction. The worldwide naturist movement, the opening of naturist beaches and free beaches in more and more countries, naturism in parks in Germany, the topfreedom or Free the Nipple movement.
Paris, the capital of one of the most naturist-friendly countries in the world, is finally following the example of German cities like Munich.
A park area in the Bois de Vincennes has opened daily for use by naturists. As an experiment, it will only function in that role until October 15.
Naturism in the open air  in Paris in September and October, I hear you say? Sure, most of that time might be rather chilly, so they should have launched the project in spring and keep it going all through summer.
But it's a start, and if it works out well, if there are enough true naturists, if there are no incidents with harassment or fake nudists, then the experiment will become an example, and hopefully next year already, be expanded, both in time and space. One of the problems of naturism is often that you have to find really remote places, such as isolated beaches at the end of unmarked rocky paths, before you can enjoy the practice.
Inaugurating naturist spaces in or near major cities is a positive move forward, so I wish the Bois de Vincennes tryout  all the best.
Actually, earlier this year, another European capital, Brussels in Belgium, also faced a proposal to open an urban naturist space, but it went the other way from Paris.
Naturist beaches are already a feature of all European countries, the top equality movement is making headway in the United States, so why not join forces and campaign for more non-sexual nudity in society, not just at the edges?
(Photo courtesy of ANP, the Paris Naturists Association).