I took a bike tour yesterday morning with a company called Bike About Tours. They take you on a tour around a couple of the districts but do not focus on the big sights. It was a fun way to spend four hours and I saw a lot of interesting sites. On the tour were folks from Vancouver, Belgium, New York and of course, Baltimore. Yes, here in Paris on a random bike tour, I ran into a couple from my own fair city - and they lived in Federal Hill. It really is a small world.
Biking gave me a different perspective on Paris - it is an awesome city for biking. The government has created all kinds of bike lanes and even has traffic lights at bike level. The government has also teamed up with a company that donates bikes to the city in exchange for use of billboards - so bikes are now available every 300 m or about every 1000 feet. You offer a credit card for a security deposit and then you pay for each use - with the first 30 minutes free - so in essence if you go to a station once every 30 minutes, you can use bikes to get around the city for free! It is an easy way to encourage people to use an alternative mode of transportation and be green.
In addition to the environmental benefits, I think its a great way to get around the city. Although the metro in Paris is easy, affordable and clean, biking during this time of year is so much more enjoyable. You can see small streets and passages, visit gardens you wouldn't see if you were traveling by metro, stop if you see an area you like, leave the bike, and pick up again after you are done exploring. Imagine biking along the Seine and seeing the back of the Cathedral of Notre Dame as I did yesterday - its a stunning view.
No comments:
Post a Comment