i’ve been incredibly pedal deprived for the time that i’ve been in Paris but that’s all changed now because i found that VELIB no longer requires you to have a credit card with a chip to get a velib bike! lucky me! you can subscribe online using any credit card from one day, a week, to a whole year. well, since i’m not going to be in Paris for long i just went ahead with a short term subscription. after you’ve made your online subscription, go to any velib station, they’re everywhere my friends, follow the instructions on the screen, pick a bike, punch in it’s number, wait for the green light and go! c’est tres facile! while i was bike deprived, i would stare at cyclist with great envy because discovering a city on bike is just a whole different experience. although riding through Paris with it’s heavy traffic and crazy roads is sometimes a bit scary, i think it’s a little like san francisco. i’m at least grateful for the experience i have dealing with road chaos in a busy city. velib and i are going to be great friends and have our own little tour de france now. stay tuned…
can't wait to hear about your biking adventures! i love that they have bike stations like that!
xo,
cb
Saw that you followed me on Twitter, have been browsing your blog, it's such gorgeous, inspiring work. Makes me wish I was a.) in Paris and b.) a bike rider who didn't crash into flipping everything unless I'm riding in flat, wide open spaces. Maybe someday I will have balance and coordination 🙂 Looking forward to be Twitter friends!
hi booksaremyboyfriends, something you should know… bicycles are my besties, books are my boyfriends, or at least i like to imagine certain writers or characters as my boyfriends, you understand this! i'm glad someone does. i love reading your blog too, i totally get a kick out of it and am inspired to check out some recommended books as boyfriends. thanks so much. oh, and for now, you are welcome to live balanced and vicariously through me while i ride a bicycle in paris, xoxo.
What fun to wake up California time to such sweetness! I will live vicariously through your Paris biking. My favorite books set in Paris are A NOVEL BOOKSTORE by Laurence Cosse (all about French book nerds) and THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG by Muriel Barberry (follows a lonely desk clerk and a strange little girl who live in the same apartment building). What are you reading these days?
both books sound marvelous, i'm going to get my hands on those books! asap! currently i'm reading THE PURSUIT OF LOVE by Nancy Mitford then i plan on reading TIME WAS SOFT THERE by Jeremy Mercer who wrote about his experiences living in Shakespeare and Co. i've been hanging around that bookstore since i got here. have you been? i'll write about it more in another post. i just love it!