Wanna cycle away in the streets of Paris so that you can go back home not only speaking French but also showing off those sexy legs of yours? Or maybe you just want an easier way to travel through France’s beautiful capital city. Well, you can do that with Velib!
What is Velib?
Velib (Vélo En Service Libre) is a city-wide self-service system by which you can rent bicycles at a very cheap rate. Pretty sweet. Say ‘thank you’ to Delanoe, the mayor of Paris who encouraged these environmentally friendly public transportation initiatives.
To use the Velib, you have to buy a daily or weekly pass, but the service does accept Navigo cards and now American Express. Even better, the first first half hour is free, which is often enough time to get from A to B. Don’t try to cycle up and down the mount of Montmartre within that half hour though – unless your calves perfectly fit the occasion!
Rental Info
All the rental information/tickets are available at the Paris Velib site. But to sum it up, you can just grab a bike at any ‘velib station’ any time of day or night, and start discovering Paris by bike. Just watch out for traffic! Paris has lots of bicycle lanes, but it can still be dangerous to bike in some places with trucks on the road! Better safe than sorry (or as the French would say “mieux vaut prévenir que guérir”)!
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