Paris is mostly flat and home to a public bike sharing system (Velib). Does it work to join Velib for a day or a week and use the service? Given the fearsome reputation of Parisian drivers, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to get around Paris by bike. Although the city is nothing like Copenhagen (see “Danish happiness: bicycle infrastructure”) there are marked-off bike lanes on a lot of streets. Sometimes cars waiting for a red light block these lanes but usually it is possible to weave around. Thus at rush hour a bike is actually somewhat faster than an Uber.
The Velib kiosks have instructions in English.
One nit is that if you’re over about 5’9″ tall it is likely that the seat can’t be raised high enough for long-term biking comfort and efficiency.
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Back in the 1980s, fresh apricots were only a tiny bit more expensive than other stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums, etc.) at the French markets & supermarkets (same bargain for apricots in Italy & Switzerland), whereas about twice per lb. here in the US. Flash-forward to 2016 and “abricots frais” are 4.95 Euros/kg versus 3.95 Euros/kg for the less delicate stone fruit, so a negligible 25% differ. Food in France is simply better, but I am wary of the bicycling conditions since many of the streets are narrow, with cars parked straddling the curb.
Biking around NYC is also much easier and more pleasant than is commonly assumed. Citibike has a lot to do with that, but so does the creation of many bike lanes and the willingness of residents to ride. The Strava Global Heatmap shows where the most trips happen: http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/.
Well, August is the month when Parisians are mostly on holidays, so everything is much more friendly and less hectic. Try biking there when everybody is back 😉