Even in Kyoto

As you know, I didn’t really do any advance planning for this stage of my journey, so I am kind of just booping around Paris, influenced in part by a couple suggestions from friends (most especially [Bad username or unknown identity: “annikusrex”] who knows me and my tastes well).

My dad spent a chunk of time here I believe at the end of his study abroad in Florence, and commented on appreciating a guidebook he bought on walking tours across the different Arrondissements of Paris.

I don’t have a guidebook, so instead I just looked at a map to see what looked interesting, and set out. (I should note I don’t feel it to be necessary to check things off a list, like ‘Visit the Louvre’ although I’m sure it’s lovely).

That took me over to the Jardines des Plants today, then to a cafe near the Gare de Lyon. I took photos, but I am thinking photos alone omit other aspects of the sensory experience of being here. Sound, for example. The hostel room’s window was open last night, so I was serenaded to sleep by ambulance sirens and people who were laughing loudly at something up until around 5 am. In contrast, I was amazed by how quiet the rue Cremieux was, especially compared to the sounds of Parisiens saying hello to each other with their car horns just one block over. And I have recorded a couple short videos with some other interesting sounds that will have to wait until I am stateside.

Smells: first off, the French countryside almost uniformly smells of the manure being used to fertilize the fields right now. So I kinda felt like I was at home? (For the Enumclaw sense of home). The two main standout smells in Paris so far are the urine from the public urinals (some for women now as well as men!) and the cigarette smoke that wafted into the nonsmoking section of the bistro where I ate lunch, across from the Gare du Lyon.

For taste: I am wondering whether the Indian food I’ve had in France so far is made with mustard oil. Regardless, I am tasting so many delicious things I’m not sure I can sum them up just yet.

Touch: well, the main thing I am noticing in this regard right now is that it sure is nicer whenever I can sit on softer surfaces, although at the same time I am very grateful for the abundance of places to sit, rest, and people-watch everywhere!

Just saying. People don’t generally throng to most other traffic circles, now do they?

https://flic.kr/p/2oWhJnN

I feel like I rode past the Arc super early in the morning, previously, which made it easier to join the fray circumnavigating it that time. This time I just pulled over to snap a couple photos before carrying on my way. Though I did also encounter a guy from Chicago there, on his way to find a bike shop for some headset woes.

Also it took me a bit to learn/remember some key French traffic signs. The key one is a white sign with a bike emblem in the middle, surrounded by a red circle. That one means “bikes forbidden,” whereas the blue rectangle bike emblem with a slash through it just means “bike lane ends.”

I feel like “Huttopia” should be said in some sort of singsong voice.

In any case.

I can’t quite remember yet how much data comes with this roaming plan, so for the moment I am going to pause my photo uploads until I can go over by this place’s info center/main lodge where there’s Wi-Fi. I am writing this at 1 am French time because jet lag.

In any case! The ride out here was a fun adventure. I had the Bossy Lady give me suggestions, which I largely ignored in favor of following the red gpx track given to me by another randonneur. There was one section in particular that traversed across a park where I wound up doing a touch of mountain biking, but on the other hand, the park was quite scenic and beautiful so I can’t be all that mad. That all happened before I reached Versailles.

After Versailles, there was a section along a parkway that made me think, “Did they really put a bike lane on the shoulder here?!?! They did!!”* And towards the end, I had to really fight the Bossy Lady, who desperately wanted to send me across every dirt farm road she could scrounge up. But she eventually gave up, and I made it.

I have two companions at the Huttopia, with a third showing up at the last minute. We had fun grocery shopping last night and swapping bike stories-a neverending activity among randonneurs, heh.

I did discover that the wire running to my taillight may be totally out of commission. It may be impossible to replace while out here; if that’s the case I will obtain additional spare battery-operated taillights, as I do not want my flimsy backup to become my primary taillight right off the start.

Otherwise I’d call it a highly successful shakedown ride, as I was reminded of just how much I enjoy riding through the French countryside. It’s just something about the hedgerows and stone walls and stone houses, the forest patches, the roadside blackberries and other fruits.

Which also reminds me: food here seems to be far less expensive than in the United States. I’ll take it-after all, I’m going to need the calories.

More later, I’m sure.

*in Paris proper they have done a lot of interesting things with bike lanes. Looks to me like the engineering standards permit narrower lanes overall. Lots of counter-direction lanes wedged into one-way streets. In other spots the bike lanes weave onto and off of centralized sidewalks or side roads. Drivers are very much paying attention, as there are a lot of electric scooters flying around in addition to the bikes. I felt pretty safe altogether although I occasionally got overwhelmed and had to pull off to regroup. I also generally stayed at a snails pace so I could watch other riders and see where they went.

From the book of f:

I’m not sure whether I can fully declare “achievement unlocked” when it comes to biking from Charles de Galle into Paris. Early stages were about as harrowing as my first attempts in the San Diego airport. Soon as I hit the canal path, however, the rest was fantastic.
https://flic.kr/p/2oW46jj

Bonus content: a trip to Paris is not complete unless you visit some of the more international neighborhoods. Lots of fantastic African and Indian food out here!