Author: iscottharrison

When I visited Paris the last two times, I noticed these grey, almost drab looking bikes everywhere. They were part of the Paris Velib bike sharing scheme, run partly by the city. It had proper docking stations that locked the bikes up when not in use. This was a major success and copied globally. The London “Boris” bikes are a good example of this.

It was very different to the ghastly share system we ended up with in Australia where companies just left shared bikes all over the city without proper docking stations to store them when not in use. They ended up in people’s way and as a surprise to almost no one in Australia, most of them ended up at the bottom of the harbour. It was mentioned that this must be a fault with Australians, I don’t think so as they also have those terrible share systems here in Paris and most of the bikes I saw were just as trashed as the ones at home.

I was determined to try the proper system here in Paris, however I’ve sinced learned the original much loved system has been replaced with a newer one that’s not been as successful as the original and the Parisians are not happy about it. It’s become a major political issue here. And in a city with a history of revolutions the mayor is getting a little worried….. You can read more about the debacle in the links below.

Link one  Link two

None the less I still wanted to try it out so I paid my €5 online for a day pass and started looking for a bike after I’d had my morning coffee. There were a few right near the apartment but I wanted to ride by the river, so looked down that way. I found a bike but then hit a snag getting it unlocked, just as one of the article describes and as it was the only bike left I had to search for another docking area to try another one. A few minutes away I found another place with heaps of bikes, even a rare blue electric one, but alas it had a flat tyre and was thus useless. Another bike was fine, it unlocked ok, and I was off.

Apart from the €5, the first 30min is free, then something like €1 every 30 min after that. I got a text when I’d been using the bike for an hour just reminding me I was paying extra for this. The bike was easy to ride, the brakes worked well and they have three gears you can use. I didn’t take the bike anywhere hilly. I discovered after an hour of riding I’d left my water bottle at the apartment so had to buy one from a bar along the river. €4 for a bottle of water, a bit of idiot tax factored into that…..

The bikes have an inbuilt lock so you can leave them in places temporarily without having to put it back in a docking station.

The share bikes neatly locked up, plus an electric one (a rare sight).

You unlock them buy keying in your account and PIN number on the bike. You can also some how use your metro tap and go card, but that didn’t work for me. This first bike just wouldn’t unlock, so had to find another

An ofo share bike getting the same treatment they do at home.

Paris traffic signals just for bikes. It’s hard to see in this but the light is green

Here is a screenshot of my Strava that shows were I rode

Finally a coffee in Paris that is worthy of its own coffee report. Strada Café. Maybe the French win in the World Cup game over Belgium last night has shone a torch of coffee goodness over the city of light, or maybe I just fluked a good discovery. One of the universes little mysteries I guess.

I left Sharon and Emma at La Foodist this morning whilst they undertook a French baking class (which will earn its own post later). I thus had a few hours to wander and do whatever. I had thought of doing another bike tour but decided against it and would try the Paris bike share, which in its own way started a global revolution on bike sharing.

What is it with the French and revolutions ?

Thought I’d wander up to the river, hire a bike and go for a spin in a relative traffic free safe area. On the way started looking for coffee and breakfast. Only 100m from La Foodist I saw this place, it looked ok but given it was the second one I’d seen in a minute I was inclined to keep moving until I saw the evolution of coffee chalked on the window.

This screamed at me : this place knows coffee! And the fact they had the flat white on the board which is an Australian gift to the world, they must know something (Sorry NZ, I know you beg to differ on this one, but the flat white is ours…)

The coffee was a lovely 9/10, and given this is the first near perfect one I’ve ever had in Paris I’ll give it a 9.5 as a bonus. I’m almost sad I have to leave the cafe now as I probably won’t get back to this one before we leave. But you never know.

Check the photo below they even do proper takeaway coffee in cup sizes I’d see at home.

Given the poor state of coffee in the French Republic I was keen to understand how the beacon of coffee par de excellence came to be. The Barista is from Panama, one of the biggest exporters of coffee beans in the world, so you could say he doesn’t just know coffee, he is coffee. It’s pulsating through his veins.

Happily caffeinated moi :-

Sharon covered so much with the food tour she was booked on. It deserved its own complete blog entry.  I asked Sharon if she would write a blurb on the highlights of the tour, so here it is :-

Today I went on a food tour of the Marais district in the 4th Arrondissement. This is one of the things I have most been looking forward to on this trip, especially after hearing from both Dad and Scott how fantastic their tours were. It definitely lived up to expectations!

Met the guide, Christophe, just outside Temple station, named after the Knights Templars. First tasty morsel was consumed- little cabbages (the English translation). Little puffs of choux pastry with sugar- light as a feather and absolutely delicious! On to our first stop- coffee and croissant for breakfast! Discovered that the French can make coffee!! Definitely had my doubts on that after our first trip! Lots of interesting little snippets of information- always look for straight croissants, as these are the ones made with butter. The curved croissants have margarine instead.

Next stop was the boulangerie for that staple of every French household- baguette! Baguettes are an authentic Parisian recipe, and are even called parisians in other parts of the country.

On to a fresh produce market – Le Marche des Enfants Rouge (named after orphans from the orphanage originally on the site) for cheese and wine tasting. The market is the oldest in Paris – 400 years, and still operating on the same site today! We tried 4 different cheeses – Brebis Basque, a soft and creamy sheep’s milk from the Basque Country north of Spain. They can only use the milk of one particular variety of sheep to make this cheese. Just beautiful! Next a goat’s cheese with raisins- very sweet and often served with pineapple?!

Not convinced on that combination! The 3rd cheese was one of the greats of France – Comté. This cheese has been made since the Middle Ages, and had an intense flavour. All perfectly paired with the Loire valley Sauvignon we were drinking with it.

On to the red wine cheeses next. What tasting would be complete without Rocquefort! It is one of those cheeses that you either love or hate- I’m definitely in the former camp!! Intense, creamy and a taste sensation. Paired this with a Cotes du Rhone Syrah Grenache. Grape varieties that we certainly have in Australia, but completely foreign to the Americans on the tour. Makes you realise how lucky we are in the variety of food and drink available to us. Last cheese was a “ super Brie” ( triple cream with a layer of truffle). Gorgeous!! To “change the palate”, little pieces of chocolate eclair. In France, whatever is on the top of the eclair will also be the filling eg chocolate and chocolate or coffee and coffee. No chocolate icing and vanilla custard here! Christophe was absolutely horrified at the thought!

Wandered the streets of Marais a bit more and went past the Picasso museum. Our guide was also an an architect, so the tour was a mixture of food and architecture. Next stop was a brasserie for saucisson ( 2 varieties), pate, cornichons and croque monsieur with cold beer. Definitely welcome, as the beautiful summer weather is still continuing here in Paris. Croque monsieur is like the best ham and cheese toastie you’ve ever tasted- absolutely divine! Moved on to the Pletzl (Yiddish for little square) which is the Jewish neighbourhood of the Marais.

It was “secret food” time! Falafel with tahini! Again, absolutely delicious. There were queues down the street at several of the falafel stores (especially the one which is Lenny Kravitz’s favourite!). Here falafel (and in New York according to the Manhattanites on the tour) is very much considered to be a Jewish food. Very different to home and the local Turkish or Lebanese takeaway. Again, totally spoilt for food in Australia. The falafel was excellent with a beautiful tahini dressing, but have probably had equally good in Australia.

Last stops and it’s time for dessert! First macarons (how can you have a foodie experience in Paris without them!) and then chocolate. To Damyel for macarons – light, crunchy shell and oozing ganache inside. My choices were coconut and lemon, but it was a hard decision- so many delicious flavours. Our final stop was Maison George Larnicol, an absolutely exquisite chocolate shop. Our apartment in Montmartre 2 years ago was across the street from the flagship store, so I knew that this was going to be very special. The scent of chocolate is overpowering when you walk in the door, but in a good way! Truffles, squares, little eggs of all sorts of flavours, and the most exquisite creations in chocolate. They didn’t have the massive sculptures of the Montmartre shop, so I think another visit there might be in order!

Sadly the tour then came to an end. 3 1/2 hours of total absorption in food! One of the best experiences of this trip, and one I would definitely recommend to any one coming to Paris. In the words of Miss Julia Child “Bon appetit”!