Le Velo! - AngloFiles Number 15
Biking can be the worst way and the best way to see
Paris. In this issue, get tips about how to get around on
two wheels, favorite rides around Paris, and how to rent
bikes. Learn about what Paris is doing to build bike
paths, and meet bicycle activist Audrey de Nazelle.
AngloFiles
is a publication of the Anglophone Community of Paris.
Copyright (c) 1996 AngloFiles - Used with permission.
Le Velo!
BIKES & PUBLIC TRANSPORT
You can't always take a bike with you on public
transportation. Here's some pointers.
-- Metro: Forbidden.
-- RER: Tolerated, with some important exceptions.
It's forbidden within the city on RER A, B, and D lines.
On RER A that means between Nanterre-Ville and
Vincennes, RER B between Gare du Nord and Cite
Universitaire, RER D between Gare du Nord and
Chatelet. There's no restriction of this kind for RER C.
It's also forbidden weekdays at rush hours, between
6:30-9:30AM and 4:30-7PM. There's no restrictions of
this kind on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
-- Regional Trains: Most trains accept bikes.
-- Grandes Lignes: Two options here: 1. take it with you
or 2. send your bike ahead in baggage. Local trains are
more likely to allow bikes on board than are long-
distance ones.
1. Look at SNCF train schedules for a bicycle icon to
find out which trains allow you to stow bikes. While
waiting for your train on the quai, ask the conductor
where you can stow your bike. You usually have to load
it yourself. This is FREE. The club MDB occasionally
prints a very helpful schedule listing just those trains
that take bikes (See clubs list below.)
2. You have to put your bike in baggage 1-4 days ahead
of your trip to ensure it gets to your destination when
you do. The price is about $40 per bike. Beware: some
baggage checks at smaller stations aren't open on
holidays. If you run into a problem, ask the chef du gare
or the conductor of the train you want to take. A
conductor in Alsace let us stow bikes on a train that
wasn't supposed to take them.
-- TGV: Forbidden. Send your bike ahead in baggage.
FAVORITE RIDES AROUND PARIS
1. Bois de Bologne and Bois de Vincennes. These parks
flanking Paris are havens for serious and leisure
bicyclists of all ages. Serious bicyclists do laps on
dedicated bike lanes around hippodromes that can be
found in both parks. Leisure cyclists can take advantage
of miles of dirt and asphalt paths.
2. The Quais on Sunday. The mayor of Paris has
decided to again suspend traffic on the voies sur berges
on the Right Bank and Left Bank, Sundays from 10AM-
3PM, until the first Sunday in December. Great for kids
and leisure cyclists.
3. Hidden Paris. This is one we didn't do ourselves, but
through Paris a Velo, C'est Sympa (9 Rue Jacques-
Coeur, 4th, 48.87.60.01) This 10-mile guided ride in your
choice of English, German, Spanish, Dutch or Italian
takes you from the Bastille to the back streets of Paris in
the 19th and 20th. (The company has other rides,
including a night ride through Paris -- quelle idee!) Price
of 150-190F includes bike rental. Paris a Velo also rents
bikes (see rental section).
4. Foret de St. Germain-en-Laye. Ride or take the RER
to this town west of Paris. The forest ride starts behind
the chateau. Note: If you ride to St. Germain from Paris,
crossing the Seine can be difficult. We cross at the south
end of the Bois de Bologne at the Passerelle de L'Avre,
that go northwest toward Rueil-Malmaison and then to
le Vesinet.
5. Versailles. See the note above about crossing the
Seine. After crossing the passerelle, head southwest
through the Parc de St. Cloud.
6. RER D line to Melun. This new RER line sets you off
in an area rich in ride possibilities, including the
Fontainebleau forest. Here's our favorite: Head northeast
out of Melun to the beautiful Vaux-le-Vicomte chateau,
then due south through Maincy and the dirt roads of the
Buisson de Massoury. At Chartrettes, cross the Seine
and ride along the river on a gorgeous bike/pedestrian
path back to Melun. Catch the RER D at Gare de Lyon.
RESOURCES:
There are bicycle guides in English at the English
bookstores in town. But the best set of guidebooks I've
found is the French "La France a Velo." The Ile-de-
France book, actually a binder, has 90 rides in the Paris
metropolitan area. Handy, since each ride is on a card
that you lift from the binder and put in a plastic
envelope that is included. FNAC has them, so does
Decathlon.
Even if you have a good guidebook, don't leave town
without an equally excellent map. We used the Michelin
No. 12 for Paris itself; it notes all the one-way streets.
The IGN (Institut Geographique National) also has great
maps. We use Nos. 8, 9, 20, and 21 for detailed routes in
metropolitan Paris. Find all these maps and more at the
IGN bookstore at 107 Rue La Boetie, 8th.
On Minitel, call up 3615 VTT for the calendar of VTT
(velo tout terrain or mountain-bike) rides and other
activities. Go to 3615 FFT to learn more about bike tours
and associations.
BIKE RENTAL
There are many companies in Paris that offer bike
rentals. I've only listed the ones here I know and trust.
-- La Maison du Velo, 11 Rue Fenelon, 10th,
42.81.24.72. Manager Scott Inman, an American, rents
new 18 to 21-speed mountain and hybrid bikes at 150F a
day or 575F a week, racks and locks included.
-- Paris a Velo, 9 Rue Jacques-Coeur, 4th, 48.87.60.01.
Price: 24 hours, 95F; weekend 160F. Three- and five-
speed Holland-style bikes with built-in lock. Open every
day 9:30AM-7:30PM.
BIKE CLUBS
Federation Francaise de Cyclotourisme
8 Rue Jean-Marie Jigo, 13th
Telephone: 43.08.48.66
Prints guide to cycling clubs in Paris region: Annuaire
des Clubs de la Ligue Ile-de-France. Also publishes
calendar each year listing all rides by all groups.
Mouvement de Defense de la Bicyclette;
32 Rue Raymond Losserand, 14th;
Telephone: 43.20.26.02;
Works to make Paris a better place for bikes. Sponsors
Sunday, weekend, and week-long vacation rides in Ile-
de-France and elsewhere. Ride are listed in its magazine
Roue Libre. Fees: annual membership 50F; Roue Libre
subscription 110F nonmembers, 70F members; ride
participation fee 50F.
SAFETY
Although most French people don't wear helmets, this
doesn't mean you can't. Remember that most bicycle
fatalities result from head injuries. It may not be as
dangerous to ride in Paris as you think. French statistics
show that in 1995 there were 374 bicycle fatalities, up
16.5% from the previous year. But most of the deaths
were persons 60 years old and up struck by another
vehicle on a departmental road, weekdays in small
towns of less than 5,000 inhabitants. (Source: MDB
May/June newsletter)
BIKE TRAILS
As part of his clean-air initiative, the mayor of Paris has
in January launched several measures to make bicycling
easier in Paris. One priority is to build two "grands
axes," one going north-sourth from La Villette to Hotel
de Ville and on toward Montparnasse, and an east-west
axis between the Bois de Bologne and Bois de
Vincennes. Bicyclists also will eventually be permitted
to use widened bus lanes. Use of the bus lanes now is
forbidden (although many bicyclists use them anyhow.)
PROFILE - Audry de Nazelle
Audrey de Nazelle, 23 years old, is a Franco-American
bicycle activist here in Paris. (She also finds time to
study, having received her master's in mathematics at
the Sorbonne last year.) Audrey started protesting three
years ago when, riding her bike, she got a traffic ticket
for not stopping at a pedestrian red light. At that time,
the monthly pro-bike demos she participated in at the
Bastille sponsored by the group Ecolo-J attracted about
30 people. (Ecolo-J has just merged with other youth
ecology groups and is now called Cliche!) Audrey now
organizes the demos and get about 3,000-6,000 people
each month. She also represents Cliche! (Let's Do It!) on
the major's new bicycle advisory commission. "This is a
big step forward," she said, but still "they won't really
listen to us." Audrey also represents Cliche! at
international youth ecology meetings. She invites you to
come with your bike to the next demonstration 2PM, 6
July at the Bastille. Participants ride to the 14th to place
Victor Basch. Good luck Audrey!
HOTSPOTS
Cyclevents offers inexpensive U.S. cross-state and
international rides. Their TOTA -- Tour of the Alps --
ride 7-20 July, for example, takes you 60-100KM a day,
starting from Geneva and ending in Munich. Price: $850
includes camping, most meals.
http://www.cyclevents.com
Pariscope offers a selection of practical biking info on
their web page.
http://pariscope.fr/Pariscope/Magazine/Velo/Welcome.F.html
If your going to the south for vacation, Beyond the French
Riviera provides some helpful hints.
http://www.beyond.fr/sports/velo.html
No biking guide in France would be complete without
the Tour de France!
http://www.letour.fr/tour96/
Looking for a used bike?
http://www.sdv.fr/pampac/LIBCP2/28/
Bike tours in the Pays de Savoie
http://lapphp.in2p3.fr/users/www_dromby/velo/cyclotourisme.html
Nature's France Luxury Bicycling Tours
http://www.webstore.fr/naturesfrance
For mountain biking enthousiasts there's VTT Evasion.
http://pierrot.fit.fr/PIERROT.BIN/affiche_html.cgi?6+000000000+loisirs
Bicycle Beano offers organized cycling tours in England
and Wales. Holidays available include staying at a
fantastic Elizabethan castle on the Welsh border,
a Georgian ex-stately home in Herefordshire cider
country, and a real-ale tavern in Mid Wales.
Bicycle Beano, Telephone +44 1982 560471,
Email: bicycle@beano.kc3Ltd.co.uk
http://www.kc3Ltd.co.uk/local/beano/bicycle.html
The Global Cycling Network, VeloNet, has a selection of
biking sites, mailing lists and directories.
http://www.cycling.org/
TIDBITS
'60s Party at the American Church, 65 Quai d'Orsay, 7th,
7-10:30PM, 4 July. Live music. Entrance fee includes
American Hot-Dog Platter with all the trimmings. Price:
Adults 100F, Children 10 and under 50F. Tickets go on
sale 23 June at the church (advance purchase
recommended.)
The American Library of Paris is presenting Nancy du
Plessis, an American-born artist performing her prose
poem "Notes From the Moroccan Journals, " 8PM, 19
June, 10 Rue du General Camou, 7th, FREE.
Club Pour la Vie, a Franco-American cancer support group, is
looking for volunteers. Approved by the board of the American
Hospital, this group focuses on offering emotional support
for cancer patients. If you are a cancer patient, a family
member, a friend and/or you want to help Club Pour la Vie in
any way (as a volunteer, facilitator, contributor...) please
write, call or fax Elizabeth de Vulpillieres. 4, avenue des
Joncheres, 78121 Crespieres, Telephone: (1) 30.54.94.66,
Fax: (1) 30.54.94.67.
The theater in Bobigny schedules regular programs in english.
From 18-30 June they are showing the musical production
Shameless! from the English Company, Opera Cirucs. Directed
by David Glass, this production was inspired by short stories
from Bertolt Brecht. Tuesday-Saturday 8:30pm, Sundays 3:30pm.
100FF, Blvd. Lenine 93000 Bobigny Tel: 41.60.72.72
Boulevard Magazine, the English language publication which
focuses on French life and culture, is holding a wine tasting
event on 20 June in connection with its gastronomy club. For
more information call 44.78.82.82
Americans Against the Death Penalty is organizing a
demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, 2
Avenue Gabriel, 8th, 6-8PM, 2 July. Amnesty
International and Actions des Chretiens pour l'Abolition
de la Torture will also be there. Leave a message at
69.28.66.30 if you plan to come.
AngloFiles
- a publication
of the Anglophone community of Paris - is managed by Stephanie Kidder
and Rose Burke, Americans who met at
Alliance Française in Paris in 1995.
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