Once again we are back in the Paris and we are edging into spring. The weather has eased enough for the lovely young things to be venturing out in their new fashion for the spring: skin tight hot-pants over tights. No doubt many regretted it, not just because the cold and rain hung on but because the fashion does not work on anything other than bulimic young models – if it works at all. Others were blissfully ignorant of just how silly they looked. Some things never change.
Even though the distances between docking stations are relatively short and the stations are everywhere, the system has not cleared out enough of general congestion on the streets and sidewalks. The specially declared cycleways were less effective because the private vehicles are still plentiful and the walkers even more plentiful. An interesting twist is that in African immigrant areas, people stand around the streets so they can meet and greet others. Not harmful, but the Parisian streets and sidewalks can barely take the load of people movement and this new habit while all very colourful, does not help.
We had set a single day target of Eiffel via the Seine and back along the Champs Elysees, but soon found that negotiating the milling crowds on yet another French holiday was hard work. It was the fourth in May, almost as unpredictable to the traveller as the rain storms.
We had both passed through the stage of being tourists in Paris more than 30 years ago, so the great sights passed by in much the same way as buoys in a yacht race or orienteering control points. The real interest was the challenge of getting there and what you see incidentally along the way rather than the icons themselves.
No better example was when we did Versailles on a circuit organised by a cycle tour outfit. Versailles is more than just a huge and almost obscenely ornate palace; it has around 715 hectares of garden and grounds tended by around 200 gardeners. This topped the 24.5 hectares of the Parc du Champ-de-Mars around the Eiffel Tower we had seen the day before. It had a mere 38 gardeners and cleaning agents. The huge cross of the Versailles Canal was a journey of nearly six kilometres on Fat Tire Bike Tour bikes. Apart from the other bicycle tourists like ourselves and the odd hiking group, only a few ventured away from the palace itself. The ease in cycling the space and the order of Versailles' paths and woods created by Royal decree contrasted strongly with the extreme concentration it required to negotiate the teaming masses moving around in Paris. The Parisian mobs may be relatively wealthy but they still do not have the living space.
In one hideous but telling Parisian moment I saw three Porsche Cayennes triple-parked in front of one of the upmarket cafes of the Trocadero circle waiting for the valet parking service. They forced a Lamborgini to find a double parking spot further away. Even the rich and privileged have difficulty travelling in Paris.
After fighting around much of our Paris circuit, we gave up on the velos when we got to the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees—no room for cycling there with all the space taken up by motor vehicles and a press of pedestrians.
At Versailles the crowds were just as miserable in and near the Palace. Everywhere had a queue: the one for entry into the building snaked for a good 400 metres. The most stressed out queues were for the toilets. Even at the well-appointed Versailles McDonalds, people were queuing use the loos.
However, don't let me put you off. Paris has got to be one of my favourite places on earth, not just because of its history but the energy of the city authorities in constantly re-examining and renewing the city to cope with new pressures as they appear—to make it over for the benefit of the people who live there. The beggars and gypsies are still a problem, the crush everywhere a serious issue but Paris is more Paris than ever now that thousands use the Vélib' cycles every day (the system has expanded to encompass around 18,000 bicycles and 1,200 bicycle stations) or private bikes, and on a weekend whole city blocks and extensive Seine-side roadways are blocked to all but pedestrians, skaters and cyclists.
We had set a single day target of Eiffel via the Seine and back along the Champs Elysees, but soon found that negotiating the milling crowds on yet another French holiday was hard work. It was the fourth in May, almost as unpredictable to the traveller as the rain storms.
We had both passed through the stage of being tourists in Paris more than 30 years ago, so the great sights passed by in much the same way as buoys in a yacht race or orienteering control points. The real interest was the challenge of getting there and what you see incidentally along the way rather than the icons themselves.
No better example was when we did Versailles on a circuit organised by a cycle tour outfit. Versailles is more than just a huge and almost obscenely ornate palace; it has around 715 hectares of garden and grounds tended by around 200 gardeners. This topped the 24.5 hectares of the Parc du Champ-de-Mars around the Eiffel Tower we had seen the day before. It had a mere 38 gardeners and cleaning agents. The huge cross of the Versailles Canal was a journey of nearly six kilometres on Fat Tire Bike Tour bikes. Apart from the other bicycle tourists like ourselves and the odd hiking group, only a few ventured away from the palace itself. The ease in cycling the space and the order of Versailles' paths and woods created by Royal decree contrasted strongly with the extreme concentration it required to negotiate the teaming masses moving around in Paris. The Parisian mobs may be relatively wealthy but they still do not have the living space.
In one hideous but telling Parisian moment I saw three Porsche Cayennes triple-parked in front of one of the upmarket cafes of the Trocadero circle waiting for the valet parking service. They forced a Lamborgini to find a double parking spot further away. Even the rich and privileged have difficulty travelling in Paris.
After fighting around much of our Paris circuit, we gave up on the velos when we got to the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees—no room for cycling there with all the space taken up by motor vehicles and a press of pedestrians.
At Versailles the crowds were just as miserable in and near the Palace. Everywhere had a queue: the one for entry into the building snaked for a good 400 metres. The most stressed out queues were for the toilets. Even at the well-appointed Versailles McDonalds, people were queuing use the loos.
However, don't let me put you off. Paris has got to be one of my favourite places on earth, not just because of its history but the energy of the city authorities in constantly re-examining and renewing the city to cope with new pressures as they appear—to make it over for the benefit of the people who live there. The beggars and gypsies are still a problem, the crush everywhere a serious issue but Paris is more Paris than ever now that thousands use the Vélib' cycles every day (the system has expanded to encompass around 18,000 bicycles and 1,200 bicycle stations) or private bikes, and on a weekend whole city blocks and extensive Seine-side roadways are blocked to all but pedestrians, skaters and cyclists.
But our self imposed “Tour de l'Europe” mission was to get the most out of the Parisian Vélib' public bicycle tickets. Not that they were expensive: 1.70 Euros a day--so long as we kept finding a destination docking station every 30 minutes. This is the same as Brisbane's CityCycle as installed by Campbell Newman so we had little trouble in adapting. The closeness of the systems made for some interesting observations about the differences between two cities and the utility of the cycle hire system. Vélib', although better appreciated than CityCycle, is not a universal panacea.
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| Versailles by bike. Yes, that's our lunch in the wooden boxes. |
Vélib' is part of the answer—a relatively easy part of the jigsaw puzzle that is needed to green Paris, The harder bits are underway and we noted everywhere the drive to turn vehicle traffic snarls into public space. They are rethinking every intersection, every narrow street and looking for ways to make it more habitable.
We should take a lesson.
