Paris, Day 2 - Velib Bike Ride

So Paris has this wonderful public trasportation system of bikes called "Velib." Pierre told us it took them a couple years to get the system figured out, but boy did they figure it out. They are genius. There are stations of them all over the city and it's free for the first half hour (which is all it really about all takes to get from one side of Paris to the other on a bike) and cost an extra Euro for each additional half hour. They work so well because Paris is almost completely flat and not that big. But the BEST part about these bikes is that you actually get to see the city as you travel through it, unlike the metro which is underground. The metro also has a bunch of stops and is usually crowded. Not to mention the smell when there are crowds of sweaty people with their arms up, holding on to the railing and you're stuck standing right on top of them.

Driving with the traffic in Paris is insane. Tons of people on bikes ride right along with the cars. There is no rhyme or reason to the traffic in the streets of Paris. There are no lanes. There are more 6 to 12-way stops than 4-way. The round abouts are huge with people merging in and cutting across 5 lanes to turn right or left (my imaginary lanes, because remember, there are none). Lots of one way streets and tiny alleys so you can't go back the way you came if you get lost. It took some time to gain confidence on bikes, but it was worth it.

Disclaimer: sorry this little video is so shakey. It's hard to film and ride. You can't really tell how beautiful it was to be riding down the cobble stone streets with the seine river on your right and the eiffel tower on your left. And yes, I wore a skirt, scarf and sandals on a bike ride. If the French women can do it, so can I. During this bike ride I had an I can't believe I'm actually here experiencing this right now moment. It was so surreal.