By bike through Paris
Relaxed through Paris: cycling in all directions at the metro Stalingrad; Have a look at the Parc de la Villette: bicycle sculpture; Beautifully shady: Boulevard Arago.
As a greeting, the bicycle dealer tells me about the fight between David and Goliath. "You know the rules on the bus lanes? You may ride on it by bike, but do not even think about overtaking a bus, it's life-threatening, you do not have to defeat Goliath in Paris." The dealer, who has his shop in the Marais district, laughs.
I promise not to play David and, as a precaution, lend a helmet as well - far from Parisian elegance, but so be it. A few years ago you were considered a disguised suicide, if you wanted to conquer Paris by bike, I read in a travel guide. Too much traffic, aggressive drivers - just not. Today it is different, drivers take more consideration and do not think cyclists for complete exotics.
The beauty of cycling in Paris is that you can follow your own rhythm, away from the hustle and bustle in the metro or on the bus. That in this grandiose city full of sights and hidden backyards you can see very different Paris films in a short time. A film on my Tour de Paris plays in the East, passing idyllic locks and canals; another focuses on the south with modern architecture to the spectacularly ugly skyscrapers of China Town; the last one plays in the classic Paris - which also includes a beautiful Seine route.
A whole street disappears. Just bend away and is no longer passable. People stand on the banks of the Canal Saint-Martin and watch as the swing bridge on Rue Dieu opens. The cars have to wait, a pleasure boat is allowed to pass and glides gently over the water. Our wheels are leaning against a fence, we can not cross the bridge any more. Traffic is completely thwarted - which is rare in Paris.
Author Franziska Wolffheim on the Canal Saint-Martin.
Our first tour leads to the east, past locks, canals, through large parks. "Overall a relaxed route," says Britta Treede-Cissé, a German who organizes professional bike tours through Paris and knows many back roads and secret paths. The Canal Saint-Martin looks sleepy and romantic, surrounded by trees that reflect in the water, spanned by filigree pedestrian bridges - a touch of Amsterdam. When the swing bridge is closed again, we continue along the shore. In the case of the steamer, which must pass through locks again and again - in terms of speed, we are in this case Goliath.
Cinema in spherical form; Reward after the climb: view of Montmartre; Finish straight with Eiffel Tower.
The ball in front of us looks like a stranded UFO. "La Géode" shines huge in the sun, clouds like airships and a wide blue sky are reflected in the silver walls. We on our wheels would be no more than three small dots, mosquito-sized. Behind the walls, in the belly of the ball, cinemas are housed. We are in the Parc de la Villette, the large amusement park in the north, where once was a slaughterhouse.
We stop at the Fontaine aux Lions de Nubie fountain, and when I get off the bike, an old woman talks to me. Whether the biking in Paris is not too dangerous, she wants to know. She herself had fallen off the bike at the Canal Saint-Martin, because of roadworks, the road had been torn up, since then she no longer drives. She used to work as a waitress at the hotel, now she comes to the park every day and tries to guess the nationality of the tourists. "Just watch your bike," she says. "The Parc de la Villette is nice and quiet, but Paris is not a park." She keeps talking, I have to be careful not to get bogged down.
Riding a bike in Paris: we're already panting
Switch down to first gear. We gasp. Although not on a mountain, but at least on a hill. I did not think that there are such slopes in Paris. "C'est le Tour de France!", Calls us a worker in Blaumann behind and laughs. Okay, we are not very fast. Finally we arrive at the top of the Cité sus-pendue.
A tiny neighborhood in the 19th arrondissement, not far from the Parc de la Villette, originally a working class settlement, now an upscale residential area with many detached houses. A small vineyard, a lush garden with tomato bushes and rabbit stables, where residents can garden together. And a great view of the city and, not far, Montmartre. A summit feeling in the middle of the big city. And the proximity of nature, of village tranquility.I'll remember that if I get stuck in the traffic at some point.
Shopping in the Chinese supermarket; Racecourse: Seine Bridge Simone de Beauvoir; Nostalgic: the fair museum.
Hours later, the time has come. We picnicked in the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and watched the life artists of Paris, who have spread large blankets and laze about the afternoon with baguette, cheese and wine. We visited the Père Lachaise cemetery, where bikes have to stay outside, as well as dogs. On the way back to the bike shop, on the Place de la Bastille, I'm stuck.
The traffic roars, cars and motorcycles pass us by. Britta drives ahead, turns left, I try to follow her, extend my arm wide, but can not get on the left lane. Finally a VW bus lets me in, I turn off, done. I think of the little town on the hill. Paris on the bike is adrenaline rushing and letting go, often in quick change.
We whiz over the curved bridge, I have the feeling of driving through a hilly landscape. And in the middle of Paris. Once over the Seine and back, from the 12th to the 13th arrondissement. And back, because it's so much fun. I can understand the children who have scurried around us with their bikes and explained the bridge to the racetrack. The Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir is an elegant bridge for the "soft" traffic, so for pedestrians and cyclists.
It consists of two curved levels and looks like a lens. In 2006, it was inaugurated, the first Parisian Seine bridge with a female name, explains Britta. Our tour this time goes to the south of Paris, with a lot of modern architecture and a trip to the nostalgia of the 19th century. Right on the left bank, the L-shaped towers of the National Library, opened in 1996, look like open books. The walk-in base of the library is huge, we push our wheels over wooden planks, cycling is prohibited here. One of the towers is called "Tower of Time" - how long he will stand? And how long do the towers even belong to modern architecture? Before you know it, they have become classics.
Stop at the Parc de Bercy; Slide in the Rue du Square Montsouris: author Franziska Wolffheim; Exciting: the towers of the National Library with its green courtyard.
The skyscraper district "Les Olympiades" is from the seventies and is grotto ugly. By the way, high-rise means "gratte-ciel" in French, literally translated "skyscraper" - these are already quite old. Here in the 13th arrondissement lies the Parisian Chinatown. We cycle past Asian restaurants and shops where red lanterns are hung. Inhale the scent of spicy curry sauces.
We wonder how quickly we landed with our wheels in this other world. And get hungry. Britta turns off and heads for a huge shop. "The largest Chinese supermarket in Europe," she says. "The owners are two brothers and are called Tang." In front of the supermarket is a Chinese snack, where you can eat cheap and good lunch. We queue, I order beef with lemongrass. Opposite are benches, we sit down, the plastic bowls on our lap. Skyscrapers are around us, the wind whistles, empty plastic bowls fly through the air. Large families with fully loaded shopping trolleys get out of business. I eat slowly and feel like in a documentary film that has its charm, because I am in the middle of this strange world, in which not a single Paris cliché is served: la Capitale beyond Seine and Notre-Dame and "Café de Flore ". Before we go on, we buy a few spices and a small bottle of Tsingtao, Chinese beer in the supermarket - nothing more fits in the backpack.
Like in another century
Flying bike change. I'm sitting on a nice red wheel that was built in 1897 and runs over a rail. I kick and kick, the other cyclists as well, and squealing, the carousel begins to move. It is decorated with mirrors, with pictures of vintage cars, trailing flowers. The more we pedal, the faster we turn. We are in the fair museum "Les Pavillons de Bercy", one of the most unusual and beautiful museums of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine.
The halls, which were built at the end of the 19th century, once served as a wine warehouse. In the green courtyard huge chandeliers dangle from the chestnut trees. In the gloomy halls, old carnival horses hang under the covers, one of the glittering carousels is more beautiful than the other. Small boats are bobbing up and down in front of a panorama of Venice - nothing but pure! The fair museum, which has been stocked by a private collector, is pure nostalgia, a magical place. If you have enough money, you can throw your birthday party here, explains Diane Gentilhomme, the young museum guide who tells us so enthusiastically that the visit never ends - so much the better. Later, when we drive back to the bike rental shop due to the roaring traffic in Paris, I feel like I'm hanging somewhere between the 19th and 21st centuries.
Better with a helmet: cycling at Place la de Bastille; Inviting: Brasserie on the Île Saint-Louis; Start: free ride for cyclists.
Everything around me is in motion, it rolls and slides and pushes and rings. Joggers, skateboarders, unicyclists. Roller skaters pushing their prams in front of them. Grapes of cyclists, among them also children, which you rarely see during the week. Half Paris is on the Seine today. On Sunday, the quays are closed to the cars, and in good weather, popular festival mood breaks out. No gasoline tank anymore, no honking - I take a deep breath and hang my helmet on the handlebars.
Paris classic: Île de la Cité with Notre-Dame
Today I am alone on the road, drive through the "classic" Paris and have no problems turning left. It's wonderful to glide along the Seine, count the flowerpots on the houseboats, and think about what the bridge is meant to be. At the Pont de Sully there is dancing on the shore, tango, five couples are swaying in the afternoon sun, the music comes from the ghetto blaster. Hopefully none of the dancers will step into the Seine. On the bridge between Île Saint-Louis and Île de la Cité, two young men improvise a jazz concert, piano and double bass, with the audience bobbing along. In the end enthusiastic applause - and I ring my bicycle bell. Continue along the Seine to the Tuileries, the Place de la Concorde is now almost empty.
Even on the Champs-Élysées no tedious stop-and-go, I'm kicking up, and it makes me hot. A bicycle rickshaw drives past me, I accelerate and cling to the back of the rickshaw, the driver does not notice anything, then he turns around, grins and lets me ride generously to the Place de l'Étoile. Merci! Once around the triumphal arch, then the Champs-Élysées down again, I let myself just roll, without stepping, only at the traffic lights I have to remember to hold. That could go on forever, but then I would eventually collide with the obelisk on Place de la Concorde.
Like in the movie: Dance on the Seine
I get through to the Marais quickly, and here too many roads are closed to cars. Pedestrians criss-cross, cyclists ride snaking lines. In the Rue des Rosiers something of the Jewish life is reflected: kosher pizza shops next to butcheries without pork and delicatessen. The street is completely blocked even without cars, I gently meander towards bicycle shop. Many shops are open, from the wheel I look into the shop windows of the galleries and boutiques. I'm so slow that I could easily buy a bottle of red wine while driving.
I imagine the Marais and Quais would be closed to cars forever. Then Paris would be a Vélo paradise. And no bicycle dealer would ever tell me anything about David and Goliath again.
Paris by bike: information and addresses
hotels: Hotel Paris France. Charming Belle Epoque house, centrally located in the north of the Marais. DZ / F from 110 Euro (72 rue de Turbigo, 75003 Paris, Tel. 0033/1/42 78 00 04, Fax 42 71 99 43, www.paris-france-hotel.com.
Enjoy: La Cave d'l? Os à Moelle: Very good traditional French cuisine at reasonable prices in the 15th Arr. Nice, open atmosphere. Upon request, the restaurant also arranges picnic baskets for the bike ride (181, rue de Lourmel, tel. 45 57 28 28, at www.selectionrestaurant.com). La Rose de France. Nice restaurant on the charming Place Dauphine. Classic French cuisine of excellent quality, menu 26,60 and 33,90 Euro (24 place Dauphine, Tel. 43 54 10 12, www.larosedefrance.com). Le Grand Mericourt. Excellent restaurant in the 11th Arr., Fine French cuisine, also very good lunch (22, rue de la Folie Méricourt, Tel. 43 38 94 04, www.legrandmericourt.fr)
Info: Office du Tourisme (25, rue des Pyra-mides, Tel. 49 52 42 63, www.parisinfo.com). In Germany: Atout France, French National Tourist Board. (PO Box 100128, 60001 Frankfurt, www.franceguide.com).
Guides: The guided tours by the German Britta Treede-Cissé (www.britta-treede-cisse.com, Tel. 0033/622 37 70 65) are offered by the organizer Natours (www.natours.de). For example: 5 days incl. DZ / F, three guided bike tours, transfers according to the program 349 Euro. Britta Treede-Cissé also offers other programs for individual Paris travel
Bike rental: Paris bike tour. Centrally located in the Marais. Tel. 0033/142 74 22 14, www.parisbiketour.net
Read "Paris". A clear, up-to-date guide, with ten exciting city tours and a large city map (14.95 euros, Dumont travel paperback). - "Paris, love, fashions, tête-à-têtes". New illustrated book with unusual photos and current texts (24,95 Euro, corso)
