Vélib Vibrations

Posted in activity, bon plan, City of Paris, Fun, inexpensive, low cost, Outdoors, Paris, parisian by pretemoiparis

My dad on Vélib when he visited Paris a few years ago.

I remember when Vélib was born in Paris… just over four years ago. At the time, I had recently bought a used bike, because I loved the idea of getting around town above ground and on my own time. As convenient as it is, the metro can get depressing. The view is that of long drawn faces and billboards on the platforms. On the contrary, riding a bike means seeing Paris during the commute!

So I was happy about my used bike, but it was rather inconvenient to lug it up 5 flights of stairs and store it on the balcony of the little studio in Belleville that I occupied. If I had left it on the street it would have been freed from its bonds sooner or later and would have been taken off my hands.

And that was around the time Vélib was launched. But I felt that it wasn’t for me. It seemed like something that the youth from the chic-er neighborhoods were taking advantage of, and the prices seemed a little high, even if the first half an hour was free. I snubbed Vélib for months. I told all my friends that I was refusing to join the Vélib craze.

But one day, curiosity got the best of me. I went to a Vélib station near my home, and got myself a day pass, except when I tried to get a bike something was wrong. The system wouldn’t let me. So I walked to the next nearest station and tried to take a bike. Same error. Figures. I immediately felt smug about being right in thinking this bike system was not as great as it was all cracked up to be. Pshaw! I was just fine with my used bike (which I had incidentally left locked up at work because I just didn’t feel like dragging it up those five flights of stairs that evening.) Well, back to the Vélib issue, I called the customer service number that was posted on the machine in front of me, and was surprised to have a human being answer the phone! I explained my problem and the person on the other end of the line pleasantly asked for my pass number. I read it off the receipt card that the machine had spit out at me, waited for the agent on the phone to finished tapping on her computer keyboard, and then she said, “ok, you should be able to get a bike now in about five minutes” i nearly fell off the sidewalk. That was painless and simple. I employed those five minutes walking back towards the Vélib station near my home, chose a bike with inflated tires and a working gear chain, typed my code in the machine, chose the bike number, pushed the button on the bike’s stand to unlock it, and voilà!

I had not gone five minutes on the bike before realizing why they call it Vélib (“vé” for vélo – or bike- and “lib” for liberté – or freedom-). It was freedom being on that thing! I didn’t have to worry about chaining it up with two different chains, nor did I have to haul that thing up 5 flights of stairs! And I realized that a half an hour was plenty of time to get halfway across Paris (really it’s not that big).

It was love at first ride. I have been with Vélib ever since. And my place of work has moved since then, but I bet that old used bike is still locked up over there because I never used it again.

Vélib has grown since then into a well run service, but it still keeps its personal touch even though their equipment has become more advanced. In the beginning the part-time workers would ride around on Vélib bikes with a heavy backpack of tools weighing down the front basket. Now, they have all sorts of vehicles to drive around town. Like this giant bus, that is a mobile bike repair station!

Now you can also sign up for a Vélib account online. If this service gets any more convenient I’m going to start expecting a coffee machine at the bike station!

29Apr2011

Friday en Français : Les Retrouvailles

Posted in Outdoors, Paris, parisian by pretemoiparis

Le concept : traduire un ancien billet et français, déjà pour pratiquer mon français à l’écrit mais aussi pour faire un geste envers mes lecteurs et lectrices francophones! N’hésitez pas à me corriger mon français.

The concept : translate an old post into French, first in order to practice my written French, but also to be a bit more welcoming to my francophone readers! Don’t hesitate to correct my French.

(Original Post in English)

Ce billet a été posté le 27 Août 2010 :

Quand on quitte Paris, on respire un peu mieux. Plus profondément. On sent ses poumons devenir un peu plus propre, plus rose. Le tête se vide. Les yeux, ayant soif d’une vue loin, loin sur l’horizon, sont apaisés sur des visions de la mer, des montagnes, des grands champs… Mais quand on est parti pour un bout de temps, on a l’habitude de regretter Paris un peu, et ceci, juste avant qu’on refasse ses valises pour rentrer. Et on réalise qu’on est ravie de pouvoir retourner à Paris.

Je me souviens de mon premier voyage hors de Paris une fois que j’y ai été installée. C’était pendant les vacances d’hiver. Et dans le train du retour, j’ai réalisé que j’étais en train de rentrer CHEZ MOI à PARIS. Quooooi!?! C’est une petite révélation. Et à chaque fois, je suis ravie de rentrer à cette ville que j’aime qui est devenue mon chez moi permanent.

Ne vous trompez pas, je me plains avec tout le monde du trajet en métro, des crottes de chien sur les trottoirs, les travaux inconvénients qui semblent être partout, les chauffeurs qui klaxonnent à 7h30 le matin juste avant mon reveille, ou les gens préssés et impolie dans la foule… mais je suis toujours heureuse de revenir.

Lors de notre retour des vacances d’été, j’ai pris un jour pour me balader dans les rue main dans la main avec mon chéri, pour me renouer avec notre ville. (On n’était pas partis si longtemps que cela, mais bon…). On voulait prendre le plaisir de flâner à Paris sans souci pour au moins un jour avant de reprendre le boulot, l’agenda trop rempli et la répétition du quotidien.

Nous avons pris de vélos vélib et sommes allés vers Bastille, puis le long du quai devant la Gare d’Austerlitz, puis derrière le Jardin des plantes. Nous nous sommes arrêtés au Sugarplum Cake Shop dans la rue du Cardinal Lemoine pour un petit verre de jus frais et pour s’étonner sur leurs gâteaux incroyables; et puis nous sommes allés à pied vers le quartier d’Odéon passant par la Sorbonne, puis dans la rue de Buci, nous avons mangé un petit encas et puis avons pris les vélibs pour rentrer dans le 12ème (dans un effort déjà de perdre un peu du poids pris je ne sais comment sur une chaise longue à plate sur la plage pendant les vacances…)

Paris était toujours là, parfaite et brillante sous le soleil doré de l’après-midi.

Paris sera toujours là. Et moi je serais toujours heureuse d’y rentrer.

27Aug2010

Les retrouvailles – The reunion

Posted in City of Paris, Paris, parisian by pretemoiparis

When you leave Paris, you exhale a little more. You breathe deeper. You feel your lungs grow a little pinker. You clear your head. Your eyes are quenched on long distant views of ocean, mountains, prairies… But when you are gone for a little while, you tend to miss Paris, just about the time when you have to start repacking your bags. And you realize that you are excited to be returning home there.

I remember my first trip away from the city my first year in Paris 8 years ago. It was during the winter break. And on the train home, it dawned on me that I was returning HOME to the city of PARIS. Whaaaat!?! That was a mini revelation. And it never fails to excite me to return home to this city that I love and have adopted as my own.

As much as I gripe with the rest of them about the métro commute, or the crottes de chiens on the sidewalk, the inconvenient travaux that are everywhere, the chauffeurs that lean on their horn at 7:30am just before my alarm, or the pushy people in the crowds… I am always thrilled to return.

Upon returning from summer vacation, I took a day to wander the streets hand in hand with my chéri, to reacquaint ourselves with our city. (It wasn’t like we were gone very long but hey…). We wanted to enjoy Paris in a strolling-nonchalant-carefree way for one day before the onslaught of work and tight schedules took over the daily grind.

We took some vélib bikes and rode past Bastille, along the quai pas the Gare d’Austerlitz, behind the Jardin des plantes; stopped at the Sugarplum Cake Shop on the rue du Cardinal Lemoine for a refreshment and to oggle at their incredible cakes; headed by foot towards Odéon passing the Sorbonne on the way, strolled the rue de Buci, had a snack and then took the vélibs back home to the 12th (trying already to work off some of that vacation padding that somehow attached itself to my body…).