Cycling in Paris (Do you want to die?)

[Norm]

What a bizarre and bigoted thread title and OP. I think the mention of Top Gear sums it up nicely and it appears that there are indeed some who consider it to contain anything remotely factual.

Matthew, have you ever been to Paris? Or America?

 

[dellzeqq]

I was just pondering if cycling in Paris around the busy areas is a death waiting to happen? We all know the roundabout around the Art de Triomph (wrong spelling), and how busy it is, but what about cycling around it? I can remember an episode of TopGear where they drove around it and everyone was barging through and beeping their horns.
I wonder if anyone has chanced it? Its not exactly like America where each unsignalled intersection is organised.

it's fine. Don't worry about it.

Now Barcelona............

 

[GrumpyGregry]

This year I've Boris-ed in London and Villo-ed in Brussels and Velib-ed in Paris. I've also done about 2km on a Santander city hire bike. I've ridden a bike in Barcelona but not recently and it was a hotel loaner not a city hire bike.

Paris was the most pleasurable, partly because I know the parts of Paris I was visiting fairly well and mainly because drivers in the City centre are so used to cyclists.

A spring Sunday with nothing to do and a Velib are a wonderful combination.

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I was just pondering if cycling in Paris around the busy areas is a death waiting to happen? We all know the roundabout around the Art de Triomph (wrong spelling), and how busy it is, but what about cycling around it? I can remember an episode of TopGear where they drove around it and everyone was barging through and beeping their horns.
I wonder if anyone has chanced it? Its not exactly like America where each unsignalled intersection is organised.

Generally in France, they do have a very positive attitude to cyclists, but in Paris this does disappear. When we finished the l2p we were left to make our own way back to the hotel and I ended up leading a convoy as hardly anyone else had cycled in a city. In that 15 minute cycle we almost got hit by a bus when we were already on a roundabout and she decided that we should automatically assume that she was going to plough straight onto it at about 30mph!!!!

Then some one else got car doored (I did warn people to ride in primary when going past parked cars, but given that it was pretty terrifying, I understand why she didn't remember!). The driver's response?

"what? I am supposed to check my mirrors for cyclists now!? The world has gone mad!"

Apart from that 15 mins though, we were treated like royalty for the whole 4 days x

 

[Rob500]

Been to Paris many times. I've drove in the city but never went round on a bike. They do have loads of those cycle hire points at various locations so I guess that cycling is a popular way to get about.

 

[Chrisz]

I was just pondering if cycling in Paris around the busy areas is a death waiting to happen? We all know the roundabout around the Art de Triomph (wrong spelling), and how busy it is, but what about cycling around it? I can remember an episode of TopGear where they drove around it and everyone was barging through and beeping their horns.
I wonder if anyone has chanced it? Its not exactly like America where each unsignalled intersection is organised.

I did several laps of the Arc back in June at the end of our L2P ride! I got stuck in the middle somewhere and ended up doing around 5 laps () - I quickly worked out that the best way was t be assertive, observant, anticipatory and quick LOL

Thoroughly enjoyed the expereince - a couple of us went down to the Concorde and back too

 

[Jezston]

Drivers treat cyclists with far more consideration than they do each other in Paris. Far better for cycling than any big UK cities I've ridden in.

Also, cyclists and drivers have a mutual enemy - the scooter. Watch out for them riding straight at you the wrong way up cycle lanes and on pavements. Especially those funny looking ones with the two wheels at the front.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Drivers treat cyclists with far more consideration than they do each other in Paris. Far better for cycling than any big UK cities I've ridden in.

Also, cyclists and drivers have a mutual enemy - the scooter. Watch out for them riding straight at you the wrong way up cycle lanes and on pavements. Especially those funny looking ones with the two wheels at the front.

saw someone crash a Piaggio MP3 last time I was in London.

 

[Bicycle]

Drivers treat cyclists with far more consideration than they do each other in Paris. Far better for cycling than any big UK cities I've ridden in.

Also, cyclists and drivers have a mutual enemy - the scooter. Watch out for them riding straight at you the wrong way up cycle lanes and on pavements. Especially those funny looking ones with the two wheels at the front.

Oddly, I've seen this in Paris too. Lots of Velibs are benign pavement-users along the river, but scooter just seem to own the pavement in places and ignore one-way signs.

I see it as endearing, but if I were 85 I'd find it scary. No sense of an apology of even a 'mea culpa' smile from scooter riders whipping past my coat tails. It's funny to hear about it from someone else and go "Oh yeah.. they do, don't they?"

 

[the snail]

we almost got hit by a bus when we were already on a roundabout and she decided that we should automatically assume that she was going to plough straight onto it at about 30mph!!!!

Well surely you should have assumed the bus would pull out - priorite a droit?

 

[MissTillyFlop]

Well surely you should have assumed the bus would pull out - priorite a droit?

I had no idea that vehicles coming on to the roundabout had priority over the ones already on it! My bad.

I would assume that when we were given our briefing about cycling in Paris, this would have been mentioned. Apparently not!

I was a la droite of the bus.

 

[Crackle]

I had no idea that vehicles coming on to the roundabout had priority over the ones already on it! My bad.

I would assume that when we were given our briefing about cycling in Paris, this would have been mentioned. Apparently not!

They don't but it's Paris, there are no rules. In fact that's the only rule, there are no rules.

 

[the snail]

They don't but it's Paris

Yes, you're probably right, priorite a droit is still the law, but it's been overridden at most junctions with signs and road markings. The rules are about as well understood as the offside rule in football though.

 

[Bicycle]

Yes, you're probably right, priorite a droit is still the law, but it's been overridden at most junctions with signs and road markings. The rules are about as well understood as the offside rule in football though.

The offside rule is very clear and very simple.

If you score against Arsenal, you do so from an offside position wherever you shot from and wherever the defenders are positioned.

If you score for Arsenal, it is never offside. This is because Arsenal players are all jolly good and have a highly developed sense of fair play.

There is nothing complicated about the above. Most referees are too thick to understand those fairly simple conditions.

Most fans are swayed by their own bias. I hate that. I'm not biased. At all.

As to the Priorite a Droite rule, that's French for "It's my right of way". That's how I see it and I once knew someone who was related to a translator.

 

[Norm]

Well surely you should have assumed the bus would pull out - priorite a droit?

I'm glad that you beat me to this one. The French default (unless signs specify otherwise) is for traffic entering the roundabout to have priority. That's why the Arc de Triomphe seems such as mess to us, with the cars on the roundabout stopping for those entering.