Biking around Paris
Last time Svavar was here we went on a biking tour that I can highly recommend. We explored the city on electric bikes and I saw many other sides of Paris than I’m used to. I also tasted the best (and thickest) hot chocolate I have ever tasted. More about that further below.
I went to the gym the other day and got a bracelet, much to my surprise, that you scan to get in. Which is great, I’ve been carrying the contract around since I signed up, and I needed to show it to them each time I came. It would’ve sucked to lose it and have to deal with that. Apparently the gym messed up my membership period in their computer system and apparently my membership is valid until the end of August! “This never happens, that they accidentally add one month - it usually happens the opposite" way! You’re so lucky!!” the receptionist told me when she took a horrible photo of my to add to my account linked bracelet. Really lucky I thought, supposed to go home on the 1st of July and wont be able to benefit from this luck. But it would’ve been excellent. The Universe is being nice and for that I’m thankful.
While Svavar was here we got stopped in the metro by the guards, while they were checking if people had paid their fare (a lot of people don’t actually). They take your tiny paper ticket, if you have one, and scan it to check. In my case they just check my metro card. It all went well for us, probably because I’ve said so many times “don’t throw it away, don’t fold it and don’t rip it” until we’re literally out of the metro station. These guards lurk around in the stairways to check and the fine can be high. So, keep it in mind when visiting Paris!
At the restaurant Le Chalet
On Svavar’s last day we went for lunch with my aunt Shadia and her daughter Nadine from Cairo. They have great taste in food and picked a lovely fondu restaurant in the west side of Paris. We ate way too much of fondu and raclette, but I think it was the first time for me and Svavar to try it. The food was great - and the company even better.
The weather lately has been very Icelandic. Windy and raining. Well the wind is very French, it’s not as strong as Icelandic wind. The same day we went on the biking tour there was a “yellow warning for wind” in the city and we never really noticed any wind while biking around. I wondered if the scale of “yellow” was different between countries.
The bicycle tour was excellent. The company is called Paris Charms and Secrets and we met the guide at Place Vendôme. There we heard about Napoleon’s victory at the battle of Austerlitz. I’m no fan of wars but I thought it was interesting to hear how Napoleon beat the enemy’s armies by blowing up a frozen laked he had tricked them out to, so they all fell into the water. Then he took all their cannons and cannon balls and melted them into an enormous copper statue that is now on Place Vendôme.
From there we went to Palais Royal and learned about the partying of king Philip, Louis XIV’s brother. He was the talk of the town apparently which made his brother jealous. Also learned about the party monk Dom Perignon who is often credited with discovering champagne. Having googled that story after the tour I’m not sure if all the details we heard were exactly correct, but people are apparently divided on whether he’s responsible for adding the bubbles to the wine (It could’ve been the British, but don’t tell the French that..).
But anyway, he showed up at one of Philip’s parties at Palais Royal, brought the wine, let everyone taste it and it because so popular we still drink it when celebrating today!
From there we briefly passed by the Louvre and then rode our bikes up to the latin part. There we saw an old Roman amphitheatre, Arènes de Lucerne. From there we went to a small church inside a monastery, which was spared from looting during the French Revolution due to the commitment of one nun who gave the revolutionaries so much wine that they got drunk enough to forget to loot the church.
Having seen that, we went to the nice chocolate place I talked about before. It is located in the small pedestrian street Cour du Commerce Saint-André, as well as one of the oldest restaurants in Paris. The chocolate place is called Un Dimance à Paris and the restaurant is Le Procope. They are quite close to the metro station Odéon. Finally we explored the cathedral Saint-Sulpice, but many walls are painted by Delacroix, most of which have hidden symbolisms à la Da Vinci Code.
This cycling tour was excellent and the electric bikes helped making it an easy breezy experience.
