At around 3.00pm we headed off for the meeting point of the night bike tour of Paris at the south tower of the Eiffel Tower. As usual we arrive early and spent some time wandering around in the immediate environs of the tower itself. It was larger than I thought and I was taken by the left and right brain interactions that must have been at play (or perhaps it was war) in the mind of Gustav Eiffel.
The cycle tour started on time at 7.00pm (of course it was still light at that time and would be for another couple of hours). The group consisted of around 10 people, mostly Canadians and Americans with occupations that ranged from oil workers to flight attendants. Initially we did feel a little out of place but that feeling soon dissipated as we realised firstly that they were all really nice young people but secondly that we were more competent bike riders than most. Our only issue with the bikes were that they had “high rider” handle bars that were quite difficult to get use to.
The tour itself was an absolute delight so our gratitude goes out to Pam and Andrew for their encouragement to take it. While the operators claimed the tour would be all on bike paths or cycle lanes. They failed to mention that the cycle lanes were shared by buses and taxis. While Bernie and I did not experience any difficulties, the tour leader himself came awfully close to being squashed by a bus. I could imagine Steve telling the young tour leader some home truths.
Riding a bike in the immediate vicinity of the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre, along the right of Seine and past the Notre Dame Cathedral all at night is a breathtaking experience – I have small bruises on my arms from pinching myself to check that I was not imaging it all.
The ride concluded with boat tour along the Seine. Again sipping red wine and passing under the bridges of Paris and past some of the remarkable structures of history was simply stunning. Any one who goes to Paris must do the night boat trip. While the Eiffel Tower is an impressive structure during the day and at a distance at night, from the vantage point provided by a night boat tour it is simply the most magnificent scene that I can currently recall.
A taxi ride home ended our first day in Paris.
