My Velib Story in Pictures

Muriel and her boyfriend both have Velib cards (shown here on his apartment hammock). Muriel shows the card's back. He kindly lent me his card for the afternoon. (You can't use the bikes without a French bank card. Apparently this program is not for tourists.)

It took a while to find available, working bikes. We must have checked 5 or 10 different stations.



The first bike I checked out (shown) had no chain! The first bike I rode was broken too -- its front casing, fender, gear shifter and bell, but at least it was ridable. I learned to check the chain, tires, and brakes before checking out a bike. Even if you return a broken bike right away, it takes time before you can try another one.

Finally, we found working bikes!


Here in central Paris are all the bikes! We returned our bikes here for 5 minutes to avoid paying any rent -- the first 30 minutes are free. Muriel is reading Kristin's guide to Lost Paris.

This tree in central Paris was planted in 1601. We learned about it in the Lost Paris book.

We rode fast...

...all over central Paris.

Even after I dropped Muriel off at our starting point, I rode to the eastern-most station on the Metro-9 line before jumping on the train for the rest of the way home.