A Ride in the Park

Today a balmy 14 C temperature was forecast, so I signed up for the Paris rental bike scheme, and went for a ride in the huge Bois de Boulogne park (850 hectares) which is near us on the west of Paris.  I decided my target would be the new "Louis Vetton Foundation" (LVF) gallery at the north end.  It was dull weather (hence the dull photos) and damp underfoot, with just a few people about walking their dogs.  By the time I found the LVF I was ready for my second coffee and a bite to eat, only to find that it does not open until midday!  (This sort of behaviour seems common in France).

The LVF is fairly amazing to look at, like a deformed, glass version of the Sydney Opera House perhaps.  I was sorry I could not have a look inside.

LVF and my trusty bicycle

Giant glass spaceship?

The rental bike ("Velib") experience was good.  They have an on-line booking system, and parking stations all over Paris and a total of 20,000 bicycles!  The first one I took had a soft back tyre, so I just parked it at the next station I came to and took another, after checking that it had properly inflated tyres.  It's all controlled automatically, and you can look at an on-line map to see exactly how many bikes are currently available at every parking station.  Cost me about 3 euros, and I got a free exercise workout.