The "little queen" in Paris
Two links for today about bicycles ("la petite reine") in Paris. The first, on Le Monde's "Un été à Paris" blog, is a mixed review of cycling conditions in Paris. On the one hand, the Mairie has created 314 km of bike lanes but on the other, many of these lanes are shared corridors- buses and taxis can also use them. As the post remarks, until recently, bicycling in Paris was dangerous and only daredevils, hardcore bike lovers, and the slightly batty ever tried it. My impression is that the number of bike-riders has vastly increased in Paris in the past 5 years, though it is still not up to the level of Belgian, Dutch, or German cities.
Luckily the bloggy medium doesn't require actual citation of reliable sources to support one's ramblings and wild claims. I am *sure* I have read somewhere that as of 2005, the number of cars in Paris is stable, while motorcycles are way up and bicycles are somewhat up, but I no longer have the foggiest where I got that from (L'Express? Nouvel Obs?). In any case, the last time I was in Paris was the first time I ever thought, "hey, if I were going to live here for awhile, I'd totally get a bike." One of my friends had a bike. He liked it because he hates the Métro with a passion, but he said that it wasn't the best. For one thing, riding in traffic in central Paris exposes you to all kinds of air pollution (although, if you smoke Gauloises, this is nothing your lungs haven't seen before); for another, Paris is in fact very hilly- Mont Saint Genevieve, Montmartre, Montparnasse, and Menilmontant tend to stand out more if you are on a bike.
The second link is from Libération, about a new type of electric bike. You plug it in to a wall socket, charge it, and the motor provides all the necessary power to get around. The seat is more like a motorcycle seat, rather than a bicycle saddle as, really, there's no need to pedal except to provide a sheen of justification for taking up the bike lanes. Libé says this new type of transport is part of the "urban feignasse" (urban lazyass) movement-- one can be bobo techo écolo branché, just without the ... ugh, work. So, shell out 790 Euros and ride it to yoga today !!!
Le Monde's blog: http://aparis.blog.lemonde.fr/aparis/2006/08/paris_vlo.html
Libération: http://www.liberation.fr/vous/198301.FR.php
Luckily the bloggy medium doesn't require actual citation of reliable sources to support one's ramblings and wild claims. I am *sure* I have read somewhere that as of 2005, the number of cars in Paris is stable, while motorcycles are way up and bicycles are somewhat up, but I no longer have the foggiest where I got that from (L'Express? Nouvel Obs?). In any case, the last time I was in Paris was the first time I ever thought, "hey, if I were going to live here for awhile, I'd totally get a bike." One of my friends had a bike. He liked it because he hates the Métro with a passion, but he said that it wasn't the best. For one thing, riding in traffic in central Paris exposes you to all kinds of air pollution (although, if you smoke Gauloises, this is nothing your lungs haven't seen before); for another, Paris is in fact very hilly- Mont Saint Genevieve, Montmartre, Montparnasse, and Menilmontant tend to stand out more if you are on a bike.
The second link is from Libération, about a new type of electric bike. You plug it in to a wall socket, charge it, and the motor provides all the necessary power to get around. The seat is more like a motorcycle seat, rather than a bicycle saddle as, really, there's no need to pedal except to provide a sheen of justification for taking up the bike lanes. Libé says this new type of transport is part of the "urban feignasse" (urban lazyass) movement-- one can be bobo techo écolo branché, just without the ... ugh, work. So, shell out 790 Euros and ride it to yoga today !!!
Le Monde's blog: http://aparis.blog.lemonde.fr/aparis/2006/08/paris_vlo.html
Libération: http://www.liberation.fr/vous/198301.FR.php
posted by Françoise Villon at 3:05 PM
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