Paris Via Velib

Velib and Notre Dame
Originally uploaded by killerfemme

After spending the quietest new years ever (laundry), on new years day we took a bike ride through eastern Paris, ending up at Notre Dame and then the Jadrin de Tuilleries. I love seeing Paris at the pace of a bike, it's a great way to get to know the city and see how it all fits together. Velib is Paris' new bike rental program where the bikes are everywhere. It's not as straightforward as it should be to rent a bike (I couldn't have done it because I have a US bank card without the chip that European bank cards have) and you have to go through several seemingly redundant steps, but once you get the bike, it's pretty damn cool. And people really use them! I also feel like Paris has done a lot to become more bike friendly and I feel safer there than in NYC, but maybe this is just being naive.