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About Me
Born in Manchester (UK) more years ago than I care to remember and now living not far from that there London. By day I work in HR, by night I am a culinary goddess (in my head anyway!). From mid-June 2015, I will be travelling to Paris where I will spend 6 weeks' learning all the basics of French pâtisserie - I'm preparing to take on some pounds!-
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Tag Archives: Velib
My first Vélib ride
I thought that as I would be eating cakes and pastries all day, I needed to find a way to keep the weight off whilst I was here in Paris. P suggested that we bung his personal trainer a few extra Euros when he comes over to the house and we can train together . . . mmm interesting, I promised I’d think about it, but I may well have found a solution that solves that – my Vélib.
Those of you who know me well, know that I am a big fan of a ‘Boris Bike’ as a way of getting around London and I love feeling the wind in my hair whilst freewheeling around Green Park. I thought this would be ideal for me in Paris, the Métro ride from P’s place to my classes is a bit of a schlep, this way, I could keep fit, save some money and avoid taking the dreaded Métro when it starts to get really hot (I’ve never been a fan of having someone’s sweaty armpit pressed up against my face).
So, today was my own personal ‘Orientation Day’. Being super organised, I had already downloaded the app, ordered my card in the UK and I just needed to activate it at one of the many pick up points around the town. They are indeed a very popular method of transport here in Paris, as I had to go to three points before I found a bike that I could actually take away (I got very excited at the second point only to realise that the pedal was missing, although someone had thoughtfully place it in the basket!).
A special mention goes to Le Mairie de Paris here, (I’m assuming it was them) who decided to paint these bikes a practical shade of camouflage green, making it really exasperating to locate them in the street. At least they were bright blue (now red) in London so you could spot them a mile off – maybe the French would not like something quite so vulgar in their streets. . .
Anyway, I tapped my destination into my phone and off I go. Picture this, I’m cycling along trying to hold my phone whilst listening to the directions, reading the map (my phone has an American bloke reading French street names and I had no idea what he was saying) and trying to cycle on the right hand side of the road. I was doing quite well until I got to the Boulevard de Sébastopol; this is a large one-way street in Paris that has a separate lane for buses and cycles. I was just cycling along nicely wondering whether there was a code as to which side I should be on when a taxi driver rather helpfully shouted “Mettez-vous à droite!” (“Get on the right!”) – that’s me told then.
On arriving at my destination I popped my bike back in it’s slot, waited for my green light and 2 beeps and it was just like that scene from Absolutely Fabulous where Edina gets off the bike and her legs just give way – well, I had been cycling for 40 minutes! After a quick sit down and a bottle of water in a lovely park, I headed back. This time, I thought I would use my sense of direction and tried to get back without a map. Success, back home safe and sound just in time for a lovely lunch.
It was only when I got home that I wondered how far I had actually cycled – 8.5Km or 5.3 miles each way, making a grand total of 17km or 10.6 miles. If I keep this up, I’ll have a very firm backside – I just hope I can walk tomorrow ready for day one of my course.