riding along on a pushbike honey (Paris)

And the day dawns, no rain. It's a miracle.

We slept. No parties next door. Despite our proximity to the station and main roads, our room was remarkably quiet.

I headed for the nearest boulangerie. Paris prices, rip off! Will be looking elsewhere tomorrow morning. Back home, made the coffee - we have a Nespresso knock-off machine in our room - then checked the maps for the trip to L'Arc de Triumphe. It was a double purposed trip: shopping and stretching my legs on a bike.

Style and class.

I researched how to hire a Velib. There is a station across the street. For the grand price of €1,70 I had a bike for the entire day. It's not quite what I'm used to riding. It has a basket for your shopping, it's bulky and heavy with only 3 gears - not sure why you'd want 1st gear in Paris, unless you were trying to climb a tree. But, they move pretty well, particularly over the cobble stones.

Thankfully there was a bike lane most of the way, but just like Sydney, half way to my destination it just disappeared. So, I took on the Paris traffic for a while and then decided to pretend to be French and hit the footpath. It was all going well until I almost rode into an oncoming cyclist. He was really French and was totally unimpressed that I was on his side of the footpath. Oops.

Maybe I'll get to Jules Verne next time.

The sun actually came out for a while and I stopped for the occasional photo opportunity. The Tower looked majestic and the Pont de la Concorde provided a spectacular view of the Palais Bourbon. 

I then headed up towards the Champs Elysee and L'Arc de Triumphe. The shop I was heading for was on the other side of the Champs Elysee. The traffic was quite heavy and it was obviously going to be quicker on foot, so at the next Velib station I parked my bike.

The view to Palais Boubon

I walked around the arch and took a photo from almost every pedestrian crossing. Located the shop I was after, made my purchases, headed for the nearest Velib station, picked up a new bike and rode home. All up I was gone for just over 2 hours and rode about 14km. It was an easy ride, but I felt it in my knees. Clearly I'm have some cycle work to do when I get home.

Looks better with bikes around it at the end of the tour.

And how is Jayne? I hear you ask dear reader. She is well, not in any pain, but still confined to bed except for excursions for obvious reasons. Her next big day out is to the hospital on Friday to have the plaster cut in preparation for our flight home.

We'd both like to thank everyone who has expressed their sympathy and kept us in their prayers. Mwah to all of you.