I love France (and a return to e-bikes)

I’m 50 and I’ve never left North America.

Until last week. My wife got a great deal for a four-day stay last weekend in Paris, and away we went.

We stayed near the Louvre, and luckily it was off-season in the city. I guess all the Americans were back home. Lucky us, because I had zero interest in being around other Americans.

I’ll get to the e-bike part in a minute.

The first thing that struck me was how polite the French are, which is quite the opposite from what people often say. But I figured they would be polite because their culture is a lot more mature than ours (especially these last couple years). I wouldn’t be surprised if many Americans think the French are rude because most Americans are actually rude. The few Americans I did see looked out of place, which means they didn’t do their research or bring their manners.

The three things I learned about a successful visit to Paris:

1. Dress like they do. Put in the effort. It’s not to try to fit in or fake it so much as it is a sign of respect. You’re in their home as a guest. Dress nicely.

2. Always greet them in their language. A simple bonjour.

3. Ask (in your language or theirs) if they speak English. Don’t speak on English after saying bonjour. Ask first.

I learned that these three simple tips is all it takes.

The French are absolutely wonderful people.

THE BIKES:

The Velib Mobile app was a bit tricky at first, and the rental bikes are mostly used by tourists, but the French use them too, so you won’t seem that out of place. Some are mechanical while others are electric assist. The electric assist ones were awesome. My wife (a notoriously poor bike rider) had a great time on the bikes. They helped us get to places a bit further out (like Jim Morrison’s grave and the Arc de Triomphe).

The bikes were inexpensive and the docking stations were always within a quarter mile at any given time. We paid about ten bucks a day. Not bad.

About transportation in general: I saw a lot of electric bikes, electric scooters, and quite a bit of those electric unicycle things. The French love their two-wheel options; that’s for sure. There were also a lot of 125cc and 250cc scooters and small-engine motorcycles. I loved it.

There were plenty of cars, of course, but most are quite small. A typical 4-door Mercedes is a big car in Paris. Smart cars are common.

It’s hard to fault the French on much. They are considerably better behaved and have better manners than Americans, except in one area: driving. It’s like Mario Cart. I liked it and thought it was fun, but it definitely took both halves of the brain at all times to ride or drive. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any accidents the whole time. Wait. I take that back. There was a group of four Americans rising Velibs and they were drunk and obnoxious. I didn’t mind the drunk part. It was the loud and obnoxious part that bugged me. I told my wife “I’m not riding anywhere near them” as I slowed to let the group pass. She said they looked like they were having fun. Well, sure enough, one of them continued acting stupid and cause a wipeout.

They weren’t laughing after that.

Now I know why I love both electric bikes and the French: they’re quiet.

MikeFairbanks said:

The first thing that struck me was how polite the French are

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France is amazing, and if you have a Canadian Flag on your backpack they ask if you know French, because of the province Quebec speaks French. When I landed and had the flag on my backpack I was always asked questions, so I decided to take the patch off. Paris is even more amazing.

I'd sure love to do a ebike tour over there. I knew of a British lad that was motorbiking across Europe and he told of some stories of the different hoops he had to jump through for some countries, and yet another fella I met in a Vienna hostel with a bar in it and I was on a tear ever since Oktober Fest. Well my memory has never been the greatest with people and faces and names, but people do recognize me. Short story - A few yrs later (or 4 yrs) I am in a grocery store in Calgary and this guy looked at me a little too long in passing the cereal isle, 5 minutes later he comes up and says were you in Vienna at so and so hostel, yes I have. Well some chit chat later, he's in town trying to get a job on the ski slopes or was working there. Which has always been a thing, aussies, brits, travelers, work the ski hills for extra cash while parting in Banff or Calgary, or passing through to Vancouver or wherever.

I'd sure love to do an extended trip but Eastern Europe as its much cheaper. Better memories sober I will tell you that much :lol:

I don't like dealing with drunks neither. No one does. Reminds me of a Prague Hostel and a bunch of 20 somethings with accents that were quite drunk in the room. Prague was awesome late night just walking around, when I came back I had to turn on the light to get into my locker and wow did that upset them. One punk was quite up in my face.

Definately off season is the only time to go. Landed in Gatwick England at the peak of tourist season. Never again!

I carry a tiny flashlight for maneuvering a dark room when someone else is there I don't want to wake up. At the moment I turn it on, I cover the LED bulb with my thumb and only expose the bare minimum to accomplish my task. When I was a young man in the Navy, I found out that some people are quite angry if their sleep is interrupted, especially if they have not been getting enough sleep.

also if you can use a red filter on the flash light its much better than full spectrum to avoid disturbing others helps not (over) expose the cones and the rhodopsin which helps people see, i.e. doesn't kill your night vision.