Bicycles

Every morning as we walk the kids to school I see lots of people riding bicycles to work. Although Paris is not a bike-friendly city like, say, Amsterdam or Copenhagen, as far as I can tell Parisian drivers seem to respect bicyclists.

Some bicyclists ride their own bikes, but many use the Vélib' system (from vélo: bicycle, and liberté), the grey bicycles with a basket in front that are city-owned rental bikes you pick up and drop off in streets all over Paris.

Most of the streets in our neighborhood do not have bike lanes, yet riders brave the morning traffic and cobblestone streets nonchalantly. I love that Paris cyclists don't bother changing into funny looking clothes to ride their bikes, and you see people in dresses, skirts, suits, ties, heels, and carrying accessories such as scarves, purses, briefcases, shopping bags, and even kids.

The vast majority don't bother with helmets either, regardless of age or gender. Riding without a helmet is common in Europe and it seems that pushing helmets makes city bike programs unsuccessful because it promotes a sense of danger that maybe isn’t justified. I'm sure for Parisians it's also due to appearance and that people are not as obsessed with safety.

Also interesting is the number of female motorcyclists there are in Paris, of which I caught a few while shooting bicycles.