Bikeabout Tours

Bike About Tours were terrific! Sites and sounds with a personal english-speaking (well American actualy) guide that new everything about Paris. Details of Paris history, revolutions, chronology, current events and real estate value!

Day 2
Had a wonderful breakfast of baguettes, croissantes (to die for!), strong Parisien coffee, and eggs. We then headed to join our bike tour.

The 4-hour tour with Bike-About Tours was absolutely amazing and even though it’s only the 2nd day of the trip, we just know that it’s going to be an overall highlight. We cycled through le Bastille, the 1st arrondissement, the Latin Quarter, and the Jewish Quarter. We pedaled down the Seine (the roads were closed to cars as it was Sunday) and saw the section that is made into a beach during the summer. They haul thousands of truckloads full of sand, set up beach umbrellas and crank out cocktails with little umbrellas. Had I not seen a picture of this, I would not have believed it! The greatest part of the day was the incredible ‘off the beaten track’ things that we did. We saw the restaurant where Ratatouille was filmed (a real swanky little place that costs a mere 400 euros for a dinner for two, sans vin, something named “Argent” hmmmm) – this was a big hit with the kids. When the owner of the restaurant heard that the Germans were about to invade pre-WWII, they built a brick wall to protect their wine cellar containing over a million bottles of the best of France (the restaurant has the largest wine cellar in the world). They left fifteen thousand bottles outside the brick wall and the Germans foolishly thought that they had hit pay-dirt. The cache was spared!

Space Invaders
Christien also related information about the mysterious artist known as the ‘Space Invader’ who has left over 900 tiny ‘art installations’ comprised of tiles all over Paris. Apparently, no one has ever seen him actually putting his creations up. Parisiens at first were furious that their traditional city was being marred by these ‘Pacman-like’ pieces. However, they are now embraced by most and it has become a popular past-time to walk and discover as many as possible.


Castle in the 1st Arrondissement
The boys were fascinated by details of the French Revolution. They loved seeing a real cannon-ball from the uprising lodged in one of the buildings, now a $9M euro property used as a library. They were equally fascinated about the story of Marie-Antoinette being beheaded.

Pompidou
After the tour we headed over to the Pompidou Centre wherein you can find the National Museum of Modern Art. The architecture is amazing. It is built so that the interior is comprised solely of walls and art. The plumbing, air conditioners, escaltors, bathrooms, etc. are all on the exterior of the building. It truly looks like a building constructed ‘inside out’.