Paris

I’ve had a lovely day out by bike in Paris.  The traffic here is nowhere near as manic and dense as in London. Where as in the UK I feel I always have to ride defensively, here the drivers seem to anticipate my movements. Apart from mopeds. They’re a law unto themselves. 

I cycled along to the Eiffel Tower. Just because it’s there. The first part of the journey was through the tranquil Bois de Boulogne and then into the slightly more challenging city traffic. The base of the Eiffel Tower is a bit of a building site with what I suspect are anti-terror measures being put in place. I moved on and decided to go and check out the Arc de Triumph. That was its usual traffic ribboned self and so next, I cycled down the Champs Elyse for a bit - still pretending I’m in the Tour- on the pavement.  I parked up, looked round a few shops, got the last veggie sandwich in the shop (after refusing a variety of fishy ones) and watched the world go by. 

That’s all the queue. I had to switch to panoramic to fully capture it. I didn’t see any other cycle tourists. 

I then decided to take myself to Notre Damme having remembered that was the official end of the route I have absolutely failed to follow.  I found the expensive part of Paris filled with designer names and a closed off bit which I assume was governmental. At Notre Damme the crowds were significant.  After looking from afar (I remain very queue adverse) I explored the Rive Gauche. I stumbled upon Shakespeare & Co and obviously was in seventh heaven. I sat and read in the library next to a heat exhausted cat. I limited my purchases to one book but noted several others. 

Reading and coffee. Can you guess why this one caught my eye? It’s proving good so far. 

That done I wandered back by bike. A man kindly explained - as we cycled along, him talking and distracting me especially as my French isn’t good in conversations - that cycling in Paris is dangerous. Wasn’t I scared? I should be careful. I kindly explained that I had cycled from Edinburgh and that Paris wasn’t too bad, he should try London. He again reminded me that it was dangerous. I wished him good day and wondered if my cycling in a dress had anything to do with his dier warnings. Incidentally, I was cycling in a dress because it’s a very easy way to wear cycling shorts and I had tootled around Paris for 20 miles by that point. 

Back at the hotel I Netflixed away their WiFi for a bit before exploring the veggie potential of the local restaurants. Six menus down and I found something that wasn’t goat’s cheese salad with the bacon removed.  Looking forward to another day of Parisian exploring tomorrow.