Cool bike parking

Due to the promotion of bikes in Paris, the Town hall had many many bicycle parking spaces built in the streets of Paris. But there are never enough spots! And since there are a lot of bike thefts (there is even a website where you can place an "wanted" post!) people find the most unusual ways to attach their bike to the next solid thing they can find... Needless to say this is highly forbidden, but since there is are licence plates on bikes, the risk of getting a ticket is very very limited!

Paris underground

I know, this is probably the least glamorous photo I've ever posted here, but this is also typical Paris ;-) It's one of the many parkings that you can find underneath buildings - well the ones that have been built after the invention of automobiles obviously! The funny part is that now, it is forbidden to build new parkings underneath buildings as the Paris town hall wants to discourage Parisians from owning a car... BTW, if you're crazy enough to drive a car when you come to Paris, here is a useful sites to find a place to park.

Perpendicular Parking!

I'm sure you know what parallel parking is all about, but have you ever heard of mixed parallel/perpendicular parking?! Well, in Paris, we have and here is an example! Smart Cars are so small that some of their owners think they can park either way. Hence, this example that I took near my home. A Smart Car is 2,50 meters long, whereas an average car is 2 meters wide, so it's not that bad... I'm not sure that the Police agree with that though. That is all I just wanted to show you a bit of Parisian life on this Father's Day (for us).

Free Parking!!

It's hot and stormy in Paris at the moment. Consequence? The level of pollution has jumped from "good" to "poor". When this happens, the Paris authorities declare a "free parking day" where all residential parking (that is only the cars that show a resident parking permit) is free all day. This clever measure aims at encouraging people to use public transportation instead of their car. Parking in many locations (outside the very center) will also be free during August. But it has nothing to do with pollution, it's just the tradition.

Tough day!

Wow, this guy won't like coming back to his car... In fact it's probably a stolen car, because I don't think someone can have that many tickets in one day. FYI, the price of parking tickets is pretty affordable in Paris : 11 € if you're time is up and 35 € if you're parked in a no parking area (like this car, which was parked on a bridge on the Seine!!). ust out of curiosity how much is it where you live? (Please give the name of your town and your country).