Paris’s first Maker Faire took place in late June at the Centquatre Center.
ShopBot had a presence there, thanks to Sallye from ShopBot putting a Handibot in a suitcase and flying it over for the event and leFabShop from San Malo bringing their Desktop. LeFabShop has a variety of digital fab tools and classes that are available for the public to partake in.
Other than the conversations taking place in French, it was much like a Maker Faire in the US, with lots of 3D printing 
Both the Handibot and the Desktop received a fair amount of attention from people of all ages. Both machines were set up to demonstrate how one would use CAD (computer-aided design) and CAM (computer-aided machining) to create a part file that could immediately be cut out on the ShopBot.
John Bacus from SketchUp was able to play with the new feature where a file created in SketchUp can be imported into V Carve Pro and machined on the ShopBot. Why the umbrella? Well, the light from the overhead skylights was too intense to see the screen, so we had to improvise. 
Next to leFabShop booth was a learn to solder station, part of a mobile FabLab sponsored by one of the major bricolage (hardware) stores in France. Hmm, those tables and stools look remarkably familiar. 
It’s great to see that the Maker movement is spreading across the world. Merci to all who helped to make this happen: David for the cage to put the Handibot in a suitcase and transport it as luggage, Bertier for letting ShopBot be a part of the leFabShop booth, and Omar and John from SketchUp for teaching me new ways to use the ShopBot.