France-tastic

After a day like today, it's incredible to think that just a month ago it was snowing. Happily, it looks as though spring has finally arrived here in Paris - whether to stay, who can say, but at least it looks like we have a good week in front of us, to continue on from a 4-day weekend that has been equally perfect, weather-wise. Check this forecast for the next week out:


(Hmm, I might have to rename this site "Weather-Tastic" if these posts continue along these directions! But please understand the excitement of being able to wear short sleeves after about 8 solid months of scarves and gloves.)

Anyway, this post is actually to show off our beautiful new bikes that were hinted about in the last post, not to brag about the weather (did I mention it was 25 degrees today?).





So these are our lovely steeds that will (hopefully) carry us halfway across Europe in a couple of months. (More to come about our half-baked ideas about braving the roads of Romania on bike later) The top photo is from the first real outing on the bikes following a canal that runs from Paris northwards, and the bottom one appears to be of Alex hiding behind the bikes, but is actually of Alex fixing or adjusting something or other.

Aren't they lovely? So far we've had them for about a month and they haven't been stolen (we have some pretty hard-core locks this time), nor have there been any falls or flat tyres or speeding tickets! There has, however, been plenty of zipping around the streets of Paris and surrounds and we love them very much! For those of you interested in knowing more about the bikes, click here (that means you Emily!).

While I'm thinking about bikes, I'm going to have a rave about the awesome Velib scheme now in place in Paris, that some of you might have heard about. Basically, this is a network of bikes for self-service rent all through Paris. There are apparently around 20 000 of them, scattered around at stations on average every 300 metres. You get a subscription for a year for 30 euros and then the first half hour rental is free! And the free half hour can be taken as often as you like: if you return your bike after 29 minutes, you can then take another one for another half hour, still for free! Even though we use the velibs a bit less now that we have our own beloved bikes, this is such a fantastic initiative that the council of Paris has paid for and put in. They made the bikes a bit ugly and clunky on purpose to discourage theft!



If only every city were as bike-friendly instead of forcing everybody to get a car and use it to get just about anywhere (hint hint Clover, if you're reading this - though I guess maybe you're not (is Clover Moore still the mayor?))!