Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Want to ride my bicycle?


OK, OK, my bicycle does not look too good... I'm going to have to buy a new model, or... take advantage of a brand new service they are currently installing in Paris. It's called Velib and it allows you to "borrow" a bicycle at one station, drive it for 1/2 hour and give it back at any other station of your choice (eventually there should be a station every 300 meters (1 000 feet). All this is free as long as you pay a yearly fee of 29 euros. You only pay extra costs if you use the bicycle for more than 1/2 hour. Isn't great? All the info is here (but in French only...)

29 comments:

  1. The Velib program is marvellous. I hope it is successful.

    And thanks, Alex, for the site on bridge histories yesterday. Tomate, I knew Pont Neuf was older, that's what I meant. Eric said that in 1789 (before Pont Concorde) it was necessary to take a boat across. Anyway, I appreciate the info, as j'aime les ponts.

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  2. Fantastic idea! Much, much cheaper than getting your bike stolen anyway. Might as well just borrow the damn thing and not have to worry about it. I love it!

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  3. Jeff: Oh yeah, I get it .. "by the revolution" Yeah, OK, I see what you're saying. My bad! :)

    Tomate Farcie

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  4. Hope this idea catches on in the USA! Great way to get from point A to point B (or is it from pont A a pont B, ahem!) Super way to exercise and to conserve resources. Although, I would imagine those narrow streets in Paris get tricky navigating on a bicycle at times. Nevertheless, allons-y americains!

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  5. Great idea - especially for foot sore tourists.
    Would be good if they could attach some sort of navigating device so people could travel with ease past all the tourist sights without trying to read a map with one hand and your teeth!!!

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  6. Yes great idea! Ham recently mentioned it is available in London too. I worry that the bikes will be returned at all!

    I have just heard of the hostages taken in a Paris bank by armed robbers. I do hope it resolves peacefully x

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  7. Oui, c'est "great", on peut dire merci M. Bertrand Delanoe, maire socaliste de Paris.

    Ce n'est pas avec ces trous du cul conservateurs de droite qu'on aurait eu ca. Avec eux on aurait juste eu encore plus de bagnoles.

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  8. This service is very successful in other European cities, but I really do not know which ones... I can't wait to use it next time I am in Paris, although I am no great biker by any means...

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  9. It´s a great idea, hope it works. Although, yeah, I think some people might have the idea of just keeping it permanently.
    Well, let´s just have good faith in people and hope they won´t do it!

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  10. It 's an excellent idea, it will encourage people to use a bicycle...

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  11. Coltrane Lives: shame on you. Well done. Uh, oh, here comes Michael...you've started it now...

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  12. This service already exists in Lyon, since at least 3 or 4 years, and it is definitely useful and successful. There, it is called Velov'!
    And no, most of the users are not foot sore tourists, but lyonnais and lyonnaises ...

    And sure I will use Velib' on my way to work as soon as it is available!

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  13. I like this picture...

    Maybe you have time to visit my new photo site?

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  14. For all those interested, details about the San Francisco PDP get together can be found in the PDP forum.

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  15. I would be afraid to ride a bike in Parisian traffic!!

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  16. Love the idea! When I lived in Copenhagen, they had a system similar to that, except you put a coin into the bike (like a shopping cart) and rode it within the city (there was a map attached to the handle bars) and then you got the coin back after you parked the bike. It was a free ride but to prevent the bike from being free, all the bikes were bright orange (so you would be spotted riding it out of town), the parts were an unusual size that didn't fit any other bike (so no wheels went missing), and the tire rubber was quite thin so it was genuinely uncomfortable to ride it too long (and thus you would return it quickly and not take it to non-pavement excursions). The only problem was that the bikes tended to drift to the edge of the city, and genuinely followed commuter paths...so it was hard to find one. Also, the bright orange bike stands to return the bikes were located in front of the city's major attractions, which was convenient but slightly ugly.
    Certainly not complaining...I thought it was a great idea and showed how responsible the Danes were.
    Cheers.

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  17. There was also a "white bicycle" scheme in Amsterdam, decades ago. I do believe it failed, sorry to say, because of insufficient resources to maintain the bikes. Hope I'm wrong about that...

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  18. Michael: Sorry about the confusion. I figured Le Roi des Puns couldn't resist the challenge of "pont A to pont B". C'est ne pas grave.

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  19. Ahhhhhh....now I get it. I completely missed the pont and didn't bridge the gap. You can see I'm out of it these days and ready to jump.

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  20. As they say, imitation is one of the highest forms of "flat-tire-y." Okay, okay this is where I stop pedaling. I've "spoke"-n too much al-"tready." BTW...I dug Michael's witty reply! It's all downhill from here! :-)

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  21. (just a little side bar for Coltrane_lives, sorry guys)

    Inherit the Wind is one of the GREATEST movie, ever. I saw it very recently and couldn't help but thinking how "à propos" it is, even today. In a way, the fact that it hasn't aged one bit is kind of sad. When I read your profile, I was wondering if you ever saw Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'echaffaud), a New Wave movie with Jeanne Moreau? I imagine you already know about it, but just in case you don't, I have a feeling you might really enjoy that movie, just because of the soundtrack. Check it out:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoQVRyh5aZE

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  22. Yeah, I can't wait to see these things in action, although I'm a bit worried that all those empty cycle lanes which we are used to walking across without looking are now going to become 'death corridors' with constantly pinging bells and irate cyclists shouting abuse at doppy tourists (and Parisians!) not looking where they're going! We'll see...

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  23. Thanks Tomate Farcie for the note on "Elevator..." I am not familiar with it but hope to become soon. I love J. Moreau. BTW, as a high school literature teacher, I show "Inherit" from time to time as we discuss censorship issues. Even today, my students like it...although they tire quickly (as do I) of the campy music at the beginning.

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  24. here in Austin we have communal bikes as well. They are painted white and the theory is you use it and then leave it for another traveller

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  25. (Coltrane_Lives: the only reason I mentioned that movie to you is because of its soundtrack. Apparently, they gave Miles Davis the green light to do *whatever* he wanted to do, and Miles watched the movie once, and then composed what you hear throughout the movie. Miles then went back to the States and did the album "Kind of Blue."

    The other advantage is that the movie was shot on location so you get to see Paris a little bit, just the way it was in the 50's. The rest of the movie, well, that's a question of personal preference and interpretation. :-) But the soundtrack is just magical in my opinion. Enjoy!)

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  26. (Bonjour Tomate Farcie...BTW cool name! Love the story behind it. I thought I knew everything about Miles. Guess I was wrong. :-) I knew there was a great reason to blog this site: there's a lot of informed parties out there. Merci beaucoup! Can't wait to search for the movie.

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