I left Stockholm for Paris to see if the city’s “car-free” revolution and 180km of new bike lanes lived up to the hype. After renting a Ridley Kanzo and consulting with the co-founders of Le Peloton Café, I spent the week navigating the newly completed Plan Velo infrastructure, also popping into La Choutte.
While the bike handled the urban surf with ease, much of the trip was a blur of studio hours. I was collaborating with my friend and Ethnomusicologist, Pierre on a radio documentary about Cambodian music, a partnership born in the Philippines.
After long days in the studio, we found time for rainy night rides.
The journey included some chaos, my phone dropped in a toilet, a “spicy” repair shop experience, and a sketchy Valentine’s Day descent through the stairs of Montmartre. This video captures the grit and movement of Paris in winter, processed with film grain by Dehancer – https://www.dehancer.com/
#parisbybike #cyclingculture #cyclingpov #parisroad #cycling
Timestamps
Intro: 00:00
Le Peloton 00:30
Surfing the bike lanes 00:49
La Choutte 01.31
Commuting 02:12
La Gaîté Lyrique – ARTE Radio 02:29
Interlude 03:08
Surfing the Canals 3:15
Montmartre + Sacre Couer steps 04:22
Descending montmarte 05:22
Louvre 06:04
Night riding 06:17
Outre 07:15
Our podcast from the conference: https://soundcloud.com/decoseas/decoseas-ep1
My first video featuring Pierre:
Film Grain by Dehancer
https://www.dehancer.com/
17 Comments
Great way to see Paris in the evening.
You are legally required to stop or yield your bicycle to prioritize pedestrians. You just keep going, show some respect you are not going tour de france
Le pavé
I just spent several days riding through Paris. It was chaotic and the infrastructure is still developing. And many of the cyclists just treat it like a free-for-all where rules don't apply. Paris could learn a lot from the NL. All that aside, it's definitely an improvement on the past.
Lovely video! Great to see more sides of Paris like that sketchy alleyway. Seems very cathartic
to ride there, the city is YOURS!
Hur fick du med dig din egna cykel till Paris?
love good brioche bun patting
In 91. I'd made few weeks by flight CPH>london>Paris>CPH with my Cycle,
as a 'warmer' for my around-world-with-bike,
didn see other cyclists, somehow better liked Paris, less chaotic, and in 5-lanes round-abouts,
always give prober Sign, and have Eye-contact with other trafficants, it worked very well.
I'd cycled everywhere in CPH since I was 6 year old, so I'd always had the Instinct, and can go anywhere,
with no worries.
Its a great satisfaction to see, that Cycle-Infrastructure has become a Billion-dollar-Industry, inspired by Copenhagen and Holland, latest India, Nairobi and Addis Abeba have come 'on the paths'.
I introduced the Title Cycle-Mayor, toke part in the CPH city-election 01, 05, and 09,
held an exhibition at CPH town-hall, 04, The Modern Transport-Structure (Cykel Logisk Institut)
In my area, Vesterbro, four different cycle-paths toke place, in 25, the last will complete in April 26.
And much more, but keep it short.
Great stuff Fred, heja Svergie!
The sacred stairs of bike hiking are now on your side
Cozy night riding! Feel free to ask us about color grading with Dehancer
Paris is not car free, it is middle class and lower class free. They succesfully kicked out all the people that needed a car coming from the suburb, and replaced the inhabitants by Tourists and millionaires making the cost of living impossible and entire historical neighborhoods disappear replaced by tourist bars/resto, Starbucks and sephoras…
respecte un minimum le code de la route , tu es une vraie catastrophe
7:08
härligt att få en tripp i Paris utan att behöva riskera sin egen nacke. Känns som man sitter bakom ssstyret själv. Kul Fred!
Flyttade precis hit från Stockholm, kan verkligen inte klaga!
Since Hidalgo took office, Paris has become a nightmare for even the most environmentally conscious Parisians: pedestrians. Crossing the street has become dangerous. You have to look in every direction. Strolling is impossible. The bike lanes are poorly designed. Sometimes they're on the right side of the road, then they're on the left. They're one-way, and then suddenly two-way. Cyclists have little respect for the rules of the road. Many ride on the sidewalks, nearly hitting pedestrians. The main thoroughfares no longer help to alleviate congestion in the city center since they are largely closed to cars. Since Hidalgo, the air may be cleaner, but life for pedestrians has become a nightmare as soon as they step outside their homes. Life has become more aggressive.