Paris is a beautiful city with lots to see, do, and eat, but for us there is an additional perk of visiting with friends. Our second and third nights in Paris we stayed with my old roommates, Guillaume and Marion. It was great to catch up with them since it has been a few years since we have seen them and we got to meet their son, Tiago. Guillaume, Marion, and Tiago thanks for hosting us!!!
The next day we met our friend Clement for lunch in Jardin des Plantes, a beautiful and large garden next to the university he works at. Clement then graciously rented bikes for us. Remy and I had tried to do this on our first day, but the Europeans have a chip in their credit cards which is needed to rent bikes from the Vélib (name of the bike rental system) stations. A big plus of the Vélib' system is the first 30 minutes are free so Remy and I just rode from station to station as we made our way around the city. We were extremely grateful for the bikes because we didn't have to walk miles through the city to see the sights.
First we biked through the gardens behind the Louvre until a policeman made us walk it. Then we had to hustle to a Vélib station before our time expired.
The next day we met our friend Clement for lunch in Jardin des Plantes, a beautiful and large garden next to the university he works at. Clement then graciously rented bikes for us. Remy and I had tried to do this on our first day, but the Europeans have a chip in their credit cards which is needed to rent bikes from the Vélib (name of the bike rental system) stations. A big plus of the Vélib' system is the first 30 minutes are free so Remy and I just rode from station to station as we made our way around the city. We were extremely grateful for the bikes because we didn't have to walk miles through the city to see the sights.
First we biked through the gardens behind the Louvre until a policeman made us walk it. Then we had to hustle to a Vélib station before our time expired.
We then biked up the Avenue des Champs Elysees while Remy sang to me Champs Elysees or at least as much as he remembered. This was a bit precarious since there were TONS of cars and few other bikes. I'm sure we looked like silly tourists. But the real entertainment came when we tried to recreate the National Lampoon's European Vacation and reach the Arc de Triomphe by cutting through traffic going around the roundabout. Amazingly we got across on the first try, but getting back across the roundabout took a little bit of patience. Then it was off to the Eiffel Tower. We planned to climb up to get a nice view of the city, but when we got there the line was extremely long. So we decided to lay down in the grass next to the Tower and rest a bit after our bike adventure.
To end the night we went up to an area called Belleville for another beautiful view of the city. We met one of Remy's friends from Couchsurfing and had a happy hour picnic in another wonderful garden. The French really know how to make many, charming gardens. In France the summer sun doesn't set until around 10pm so for a few hours we chatted over bread, cheese, and beer. The next day, a little sad to leave Paris, we headed to the airport and caught a plane to Spain for our next adventure, running with the bulls.
Click here to see more photos from Paris.
JG
To end the night we went up to an area called Belleville for another beautiful view of the city. We met one of Remy's friends from Couchsurfing and had a happy hour picnic in another wonderful garden. The French really know how to make many, charming gardens. In France the summer sun doesn't set until around 10pm so for a few hours we chatted over bread, cheese, and beer. The next day, a little sad to leave Paris, we headed to the airport and caught a plane to Spain for our next adventure, running with the bulls.
Click here to see more photos from Paris.
JG
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