SETTLING IN - CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette: France - page 132

CYCLING
There has been a revolution in France since the last edition
of this topic. In the summer of 2007, Paris introduced a
bicycle rental programme called Vélib'. While it stands for
Vélo Libèration, it has freed up a lot of people to experience
city transportation by bicycle. With over 20,000 bikes at
750 stations around the City, Paris quickly became the City
of Bicycles.
While not the i rst city in France to offer cheap, short-
term bicycle rentals (that was Lyon and they call it Velo'v )
the Parisian programme is by far the largest attempt to get
people to abandon their cars. These bikes are FREE for the
i rst half hour and just 1 euro for the next, but for daily or
weekly rentals you are better off with services such as Roue
Libre (tel. [phone]). Even with the Métro and the
excellent bus system, and very high parking rates, Paris is
jammed with private automobiles.
With hundreds of kilometres of bicycle paths now
established throughout the City, the jury is still out on whether
the summer's boom in bicyclists is more good than harm.
In the i rst months after the system was introduced, I saw
several minor accidents involving oblivious pedestrians
wandering into bicycle lanes while they were focused on
something else. Les piétons naturally assume that if they are
out of the way of cars, they are safe. They are not. So be
careful, when walking.
Happily, Parisians have always been kind of cyclists, but
the increase in our numbers (I'm a devoted cyclist, too) may
try their patience. Especially the patience of taxi drivers. By
the time I left in September 2007, bicycles were everywhere,
about half of them Vélib's. Trafi c was choked at the major
intersections as cyclists weaved through. Something will have
to give, but perhaps it will just be winter. Then sadly cycling
will lose its charm.
Regardless, the bicycle was invented in France, and
nearly every Frenchman follows the sport of bicycle racing,
especially the Tour de France, which gives every follower
a tour of the country, as well as marking the beginning of
summer holidays.