TOUR

Paris by Bicycle

By Giancarlo La Giorgia

With a borrowed bicyclette and a baguette in your basket, the City of Lights is yours to discover.

Pedal power to the people!

This past July 15, the morning after Bastille Day, Paris awoke to a revolution: at every other street corner, gleaming rows of new bikes were waiting to be ridden for as little as €1 a day. Several months and well over a million rides later, the self-serve bike rental service known as Vélib’ (from vélo libre, or free bike) has changed the way Parisians – and visitors – traverse the city.

Pay and go

You can rent and return a bike – complete with front and rear lights, handlebar basket and bike lock – at any of Vélib’s 1,451 stations. Unlimited rental passes are €1 for a day and €5 for a week. The first half-hour is always free, while each additional half-hour incurs an extra charge, from €1 up to €4 – an incentive to keep rides short and keep Vélib’s 20,600 bikes in circulation.

Ça roule…

Start your vélo voyage by renting a bike at the Pont Neuf, Châtelet or Hôtel de Ville metro stations. Take the nearest bridge south onto Île de la Cité, where you can explore the Conciergerie, the palace-turned-prison where Queen Marie-Antoinette literally lost her head, as well as the majestic stained glass and flying buttresses of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.

Continue south into the heart of the ever-trendy Latin Quarter, where intellectuals of the nearby Sorbonne University debate philosophy between sips of licorice-flavoured pastis liqueur at hangouts like Café Panis. As lunchtime nears, fill your basket with a few local goodies. From west to east, check out the sumptuous brie de Meaux and other artisanal cheeses at La Fromagerie 31, the assortment of the world’s finest chocolates by master chocolatier Patrick Roger, bargain-priced bottles of Bordeaux at Nicolas wine shop and Paris’ best baguettes at boulangerie Maison Kayser.

Heading south on Boulevard Saint-Michel, leave your bike at the station beside the Luxembourg metro stop and find a cozy spot in the stately Jardin du Luxembourg for a garden picnic. Once you’re done noshing and strolling around, pick up where you left off and continue down Boulevard Saint-Michel. Hang a right on Boulevard Montparnasse toward France’s tallest office tower, the steel-and-glass Tour Maine-Montparnasse. The skyscraper itself is rather ordinary, but its 56th-floor rooftop observatory boasts the highest and arguably the best view of Paris’ skyline, complete with the Eiffel Tower.

Next continue west on Boulevard Montparnasse, which becomes Boulevard des Invalides and leads to the spectacular gold-domed building Les Invalides, where you can find the tombs of many of France’s war heroes – most notably Napoleon. From here, cross the Seine to the famed Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Take a seat at sidewalk bistro Le Madrigal and, as you nurse a café au lait, marvel at the parade of impossibly fashionable Parisians ambling by. Before heading home, do your sweet tooth a favour and pick up a box of assorted macaroons at world-renowned pâtisserie Ladurée.

(Giancarlo La Giorgia is a Montreal-based freelance journalist and author of the non-fiction bestseller Canadian War Heroes: Ten Profiles in Courage.)

Useful information

Café Panis, 21, quai Montebello, 33-1-43-54-19-71
La Fromagerie 31, 64, rue de Seine, 33-1-43-26-50-31
Patrick Roger, 108, boulevard Saint-Germain, 33-1-43-29-38-42, closed Sundays
Nicolas, 5, rue Monge, 33-1-43-54-86-26
Maison Kayser, 14, rue Monge, 33-1-44-07-17-81, closed Mondays
Le Madrigal, 32, avenue des Champs Élysées, 33-1-43-59-90-25
Ladurée, 75, avenue des Champs Élysées, 33-1-40-75-08-75

TOP PHOTO: GIANCARLO LA GIORGIA
NOTRE-DAME: CRISTINA CIOCHINA / ISTOCKPHOTO
PATRICK ROGER: ALAIN BÉGUERIE