Triomphe de l'Auto?

Generally I found Paris to be a very bicycle friendly city. However, the (probably) biggest road in Paris, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is still invested by cars. They are loud, stinky and the come in large numbers. I walked along the whole 2 km stretch, from the Place de la Concorde to the Place Charles de Gaulle (with the famous Arc de Triomphe).

Paris is more beautiful on a Vélib'

Vélib' is the popular bike share program in Paris, France. Vélib stands for "vélo liberté" (bicycle freedom) and "la ville est plus belle à vélo" (cycling makes the city beautiful) is their welcoming slogan. End of August I stayed in Paris for two weeks, and luckily I also had the time for a spin on a Vélib'. Here are some of my impressions...

Me on a Vélib' near Paris 6 University

Painted-on bike symbols in Paris

I've only been in Paris for a week, but gathered more impressions than I can deal with. It's even harder to sum it all up. Paris is many things I love -- stunning, green, multicultural, open, relaxing and (within the last days) also sunny. Despite its size, I walk most of the time or use the metro. Throughout the week I work, but I try to catch hold of some special features that Paris offers. Well, among many other things, Paris is famous for the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Let's have a look at some other paintings today...

What I particularly like are the cycle paths and bike lanes throughout the town. They are really wide and clearly marked. Some of the bike symbols are boxed in green. Can anybody tell me the meaning of that?

  

Segregated two-way cycle path and bike lane in Paris

To Paris by train

Since beginning of this week I'm in Paris, France. Not for a holiday, but that doesn't matter. I still intend to enjoy it as much as possible :).

I was traveling by train all the way from Vienna, which took me about 12 hours (including a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany). Some might say that this is too long for a train ride and prefer to fly. I love train rides. According to my grandma I already enjoyed my first big train ride without parents at the age of 3 (we moved houses between two towns in Austria). My granny feared that I would start to cry because I would miss my close family, but instead I happily looked outside the window, pointed at sheep and giggled.

IC (Intercity) train of the German railway company DB at Frankfurt train station

Lingerie on bikes

Earlier we already discussed whether there is something called "bike fashion". Well, there is, in some ways. But these days also the "usual fashion" is proudly presented on bikes -- even underwear! Here's a picture of the lingerie collection "Sonia Rykiel pour H&M" presented on beautiful old-style bikes in Paris: