(Biking in the city)
We got a nice night and crossed off one of the items on our touristy Paris list, a bike tour. Paris is filled with cyclist which is kind of nuts considering how people drive here. Lanes are a very fluid thing I don't mean changing between them, I mean actually lanes. On the same block you can see a single car, two cars side by side, or some very pushy third car driving across, lanes are not marked.
So we meet up at the South corner of the Effile Tower with the Fat Tire Bike Tours for their 7:30 evening ride. No reservations, once they get 20 people for a group they just call in another guide for the next 20, we were group seven of the night. For those of you who followed my blog last summer and remember my My bike ride to Calf Pasture Beach post you will realize how far I have come, that I was up for a bike ride through the city streets.
Getting ready to head out, learning about Ninja Mode and Domination Mode... ie how not to get mowed down in traffic. I chickened out and got the girl bike so I wouldn't worry about crashing while stopping the bike at intersections. No helmets were issued, Paris does not do helmets, but I did get this snazzy vest.
Max our tour guide
Despite Max being a Parisian the tours are done exclusively in English. Max was adorable in his frenchiness, and his english was excellent and heavily influenced by the other American and Australian guildes. A lot of french that speak english well often speak with a strong British accent.
Daniel has his jeans rolled up that is how you know he is a for serious cyclist.
And we are off.
We ended up riding from the Eiffel Tower down to Notre Damn and Isle de City, where we stopped for ice cream, this is not exactly an intense ride. Then the Louvre and some of the bridges. I laughed that we got to take a tour of our own neighborhood, but it was nice to have all the historical facts that we have missed out on not doing much in the way of tours but just living here.
We were on Pont de Artist for one beautiful sunset.
I'm safety vest and I know it
As part of the bike tour we took a boat tour down the Seine for an hour during which they served us a bunch of wine, really not a serious ride. Max happend to be pushing the wine making us feel guilty that he would have to carry it back if we didn't drink it, we weren't exactly a hard sell.
Because you know you love them.
Daniel remounting his bike after our booze cruise.
I shared little hesitation about getting back on the bike after a few drinks and one of the other girls was like it's fine don't worry. I then explained how I was only a year back on a bike after a 10 year hiatus, she got a little concerned and offered a few suggestions about refinding your balance... worked out fine.
Visible at night... check.
We made friends with Paul on the tour. He was by himself as his wife was at the hotel watching their baby, the plan was next night they would switch, we suggested a bike basket. And of course we stopped for another Eiffel Tower photo opportunity, you can't prove you are in Paris with out it.
Bike station at Fat Tire at the end of the day.
Getting in a few minutes to midnight we were the last group in, which was thankfully not my fault. I rode at the middle if not the head of the pack the entire night. The key to dealing with traffic seems to be just don't care, you stick your hand out they won't hit you. I don't know if that is true individually but it does seem to be true for when there are 20 of you.
I had a great time and felt quite confident in my cycling skills, like I said huge jumps from last summer.
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