Paris
Transport
Velib Bicycle
Paris public transport - fantastic solution!

For Paris transport Velib is the flavour of the month. The Vélib is a fabulous sturdy grey
bicycle which Parisians
can hire
from 300 Metro stations, and it has become a common sight on the
city's
streets.
Since
July 2007, one in five Parisians have used the Vélib
bicycles, and have
made more than 3 million Vélib journeys so far up to
mid-September -
that's amazing! At any moment in time, approximately 14,000
Vélib
bicycles are available, and their popularity has given rise to an
entirely new subculture.
To be honest, a few problems
have arisen -
there are too many bikes dropped off in the south of Paris and too few
are returned to hilly Montmartre [for obvious reasons - who wants to
ride uphill?] but vélibobos [those
who ride Vélibs] are readily exchanging various tips on
websites which have now cropped up, to help each other out.
Just in case you're wondering,
the word VELIB comes from the French words VELO and LIBERTE [bike and
freedom].
New
words are appearing in French slang ...are you a vélibeur or
vélibiste?
The new VELIB website is
currently working on providing info in English
and Spanish as well as French, but those pages aren't quite ready yet:
French :
http://www.velib.paris.fr
English : http://www.en.velib.paris.fr
Spanish : http://www.es.velib.paris.fr
In the meantime, I've created
a link with translates the French site into English - not very well, but
it will give you an idea :-)
Velib website translated on-the-fly to
English
Where do I find a Velib bicycle in Paris?
Outside
most Parisian metro stations you will find the Velib parking area.
To find exactly where the Velibs can be found, visit
the
Velib website and click the Map of Paris in the top left
corner, or click the map here.
TIP! Carry
a 'Plan de Paris'
[a mini street directory, fits in a pocket or a handbag], to find ALL
the metro stops. You should
have a map of some kind on you, as well as a Paris metro guide, to find
your way around this city so easily.
Other Paris transport system options
Would you like to ask about or recommend great
ways of getting around in Paris?
The Paris transport Velib service. If you'd like to ask a question, provide a tip, or tell a story of your visit to Paris, please do! You can even upload a photo and send your friends to this page :-)
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