Short Ride on a Two Wheeled Machine

I cannot believe even now that I managed it. I actually cycled on a Parisian street, a real one, where cars go, with incomprehensible foreign road signs on it. Negotiating the traffic as a pedestrian here can be a scary business. The combination of cars, buses and scooters vying for your attention is enough to make your head spin. Add to this the Parisian tendency for people to hurry about and pay no attention to crossing signals and you have a recipe for calamity. In the midst of all this, however, are bicycles. An awful lot of tempting bicycles.

Vélibs are robust yet curvaceously beautiful, somewhat like an army tank wearing a basque. They are city bikes for hire, like the Boris Bikes in London but predating them by several years. You can register with your credit card to use them for a day, week, month or year, pick one up at one of the abundant roadside bike stations and cycle off into the wide blue yonder. Signing up for a day costs the same as a single bus or metro journey, and if you return your bike to a station within thirty minutes, there's no additional charge. The idea is that you make your way around the city in little half hour bursts, picking up and dropping off different bikes along the way, but if you can't be bothered with that the charge for additional time is fairly modest. The whole idea has been intriguing me for some time but I hadn't quite been able to envisage myself actually sharing the road with everybody else. Little me felt rather vulnerable on the city streets, but time, perseverance, maps and an enthusiastic husband led to the discovery of a wonder of wonders – a traffic free Parisian cycle route!

Like the Vélib, the Promenade Plantée combines a practical aesthetic with something more conventionally attractive. Created along the viaducts of a disused railway line, it is a space resplendent with flower beds and graceful arches of climbing plants that winds its way between tower blocks and over bustling streets from behind the Opéra Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes. Reserved for pedestrians at its start, it is very popular with joggers and families. Just beyond the lush, well-tended lawns of the Jardin de Reuilly the route returns to street level and it is a little way on from here that the cycle path begins. Getting my hands on a Vélib for the first time at this point was a little nerve-wracking. It was a sturdy beast in the extreme, heavy and difficult to heft around when not being ridden. The notice on the handlebars warning of “Danger de Mort” when overtaking vans did nothing to instil confidence either. As my husband cycled off into the sparse but intimidating traffic of a one-way street, I tried desperately to look Parisian, slinging my handbag into the front basket and wheeling my machine purposefully along the pavement. Only when we were properly off the street did I have the courage to mount up, wobbling my way into the dark coolness of the cave-like tunnel beneath the road, past the waterfall and on to the dedicated cycle path beyond.

There is a particular style of Parisian cycling that I completely understand now. The legs move with an almost exaggerated degree of effort, pumping with great gusto to maintain maximum forward movement. The posture must be upright and dignified, no Tour de France style sloping back and smooth racing lines, and the face must express determination alongside the faint hint of a smile at the feeling of liberation and enjoyment that cycling on a city bike brings. Travelling like this in the fresh air and the sunshine is such a contrast to being down in the métro tunnels amongst the clammy heat. Gradually I mastered the gears, easy to change with a twist of the handlebar grip, but I must admit that turning gracefully was not easy. At one point I received a very gentlemanly “thank you” in French as I gave way to an old chap coming towards me. Little did he know that I was not being polite, I just knew that I needed the full width of the lanes in both directions in order to negotiate the corner. By the time we reached the edge of the Bois de Vincennes I certainly felt more confident on the bike, but I grew somewhat nervous when the track passed close to the road and signs declaring “Carrefour Dangereux” began to crop up. I needn't have worried, though, as there was a dedicated cycle crossing protected by traffic lights which let us cruise gracefully straight into the park. We thumbed through the useful Michelin “Paris par Arrondissement” guide to find the nearest Vélib station and parked the bikes, sliding them back into their metal stands with a satisfying clang.

After a pleasant stroll and lunch in the park I was looking forward to the ride back home again. I was no longer a Vélib debutante. I set off in high spirits, my skirt flapping in the breeze, handbag and map in the basket and sun at my back. Approaching the end of the cycle path proper held no fears for me now. Out onto the street and over the speed humps I went, recalling my student days when a bike was my only form of transport. But on approaching the Vélib station – quelle horreur! No free spaces for bike parking! I could feel the beads of terror sweat pricking the back of my neck. There was nothing for it. I was going to have to set forth upon the wider boulevards, amongst the lanes of buses and cars, in search of another station at which to park. I set off, following my gung-ho husband with trepidation and gradually realised that it wasn't actually that bad. We didn't have to go far. I'm not suggesting that I careered onto the Place de la Bastille and faced down bus drivers with a glare. Far from it, but I did manage to go out into the traffic with relative ease. Once you're out there, the cycle route is clearly marked and quite often protected from motorised vehicles by a kerb. As long as you're sensible and remain aware of what's going on around you, it feels safe. There are, somewhat surprisingly, streets in Paris that have light traffic, and for those that don't there is usually the option of dismounting and wheeling your bike carefully across pedestrian crossings. Best of all, Vélib stations are everywhere. You're never really far from one, so finding somewhere to park within the free half hour is not difficult. And so it was that little me managed to cycle in the big city. It was a quick, highly enjoyable way to get out to the Bois de Vincennes and I definitely look forward to doing it again.