Paris at Night—By Bike and Boat

Thursday evening, July 3: Our evening bike ride around Paris with Fat Tire Bicycle Tours started out on a wet note. Showers had been forecast for early evening, and sure enough, they arrived with big gusts of wind just as we mounted our bikes. But we rode on, through the rain, hoping to catch the patches of blue sky we saw up ahead.

We started near the Eiffel Tower and rode down Boulevard St. Germain—in lots of traffic—and over to Ile-de-Cite and Notre-Dame. We then stopped for a ice cream break at Berthillon on Ile. St. Louis. The rain was gone and a beautiful, chilly evening was upon us. The sun does not begin to set until 10 p.m. so we had plenty of light as we made our way back up the Seine. We crossed between Left and Right Banks several times. We all enjoyed doing laps around the Louvre’s courtyard.

At riverside, we parked our bikes and boarded a Bateaux Mouches boat for a cruise down and up the Seine. It was fun to see the places we had just ridden from another perspective. At the very end of the cruise, the Eiffel Tower rewarded us with a sparkling light show right as our boat passed by.
- Sue Gettlin

Our first bike tour was such an experience. It was so exhilarating riding a bike along with the 20 or so other Arcadia students and staff. Weaving through traffic, passing the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Notre Dame is something I will never forget. My highlight of the night though was leaving the crowded Parisian streets and riding into the Louvre courtyard. I think we circled I.M. Pei’s famous Pyramid for 10 minutes. It was such a perfect night.
- Scott Richards

At night we all hopped on bikes and cycled in Parisian traffic.

• Deaths: 0
• Accidents: A few
• Cycling into Others: Very Frequent
• Pushed into Trees by Matt: Once
• Tapping on Parisian shoulders while Cycling by: Once
• Sue Richardson and Matt steering like lunatics: 153 times

- Shaina McAndrews

Tonight was our first bike ride through Paris and it was a blast. I have to admit though, when we first started I was a little nervous about biking on the narrow streets of Paris. Especially after the tour guide instructed us to ignore the horns and gestures of car drivers as we blocked off the road lanes with our bikes. My fears however, didn’t last long and before I knew it I was pedaling through the streets without a care in the world. I especially enjoyed seeing the famous church of Notre Dame during one of our rest stops. By far the most amusing part of today’s bike ride was our tour de France around the Pyramid inside the Lourve. I made so many laps around the pyramid I felt like I was a vulture circling my dead pray.
- Matt Bauer

Show above: Group on Boulevard St. Germain; students in front of pyramid at the Louvre; Seine River cruise; doing laps in the Louvre's courtyard.

View the day's photos