If I don’t already sound like a broken record when I say I researched all of the xyz options for abc before we booked our trip (or chose this crockpot or picked that curriculum, etc), just stick around awhile and I’m sure you’ll eventually come to that conclusion (LOL) since spending most of my time researching stuff is my norm for almost anything and everything
  I have many favorite websites I search when travelling somewhere, but I think my all time favorite is TripAdvisor which is where I found the BIKE ABOUT PARIS tour which ranks #1 of 786 and FAT TIRE BIKE TOURS which ranked #3 of 786 most favorite Paris excursions.

 I was having a really hard time deciding between the two companies. Finally, it came down to the available tour times. The Bike About Tour company didn’t have a morning bike tour available on our first full day in Paris and The Fat Tire Bike Tour did so we went with them.

The starting point for this tour was 11:00 a.m. at the “pilier sud” or south leg of the Eiffel Tower. (Yes, I know the above picture is of the North leg, but I didn’t get a picture of the South leg so this will have to do.) After we came down from the top of the Eiffel Tower, we walked over to the south leg with about 5 minutes to spare. Pretty good timing, I’d say! If you’ve ever gone anywhere with me you know I don’t like to waste any time VBG! When we’re spending so much $$ to go somewhere, I want to be sure we get our $$’s worth out of every minute.

From the South leg, we followed the tour guide on a short walk to The Fat Tire office where we signed paperwork, used the bathroom, bought some bottles of water, and picked out our bikes. As you can see from the picture below, there were quite a variety to chose from. Here Amanda and Michaela are picking out their bikes.
 

 After everyone adjusted their seat heights, strapped on the water bottles, and left coats/purses in the office, we separated into two groups. Our group went across the street with our American tour guide, Crystal, where she gave us the run down of the rules, what to expect, etc. See the girls excitedly listening to the instructions……..

When I was researching this particular excursion, I was assured that if you break a sweat on this tour the guides haven’t done their job. The tour itself is pretty long, 4 hours, but the distance is only 6.5 miles so it’s not very strenuous at all. However, as with anything new you just never know what you’re getting yourself into so I can understand the grandmas’ trepidation especially considering I’ve gotten us into some rather strange predicaments over the years (sometime I should post about the night we spent in a chicki hut in the middle of the Everglades….)

Michaela had no qualms at all about this tour because she rides her bike everywhere. I want to point out that in these pictures none of us are carrying much on our bikes except Michaela. She has her coat, her camera case, her purse, etc. You can tell she rides her bike a LOT because she’s used to maneuvering the bike, people, and traffic while carrying all of her stuff. I should say that we ride our bikes a lot as well, but we don’t have people or stuff to deal with while we’re riding our bikes for leisure. Michaela’s main means of transportation (aside from public transportation) is her bike.

I don’t remember the order in which we stopped at all of the sites, so the rest of this post will be fairly random. During some of this tour we were riding on narrow, one-way streets like the ones you see the girls riding on in this picture.
 

Because this tour is designed to be an overview of the city, we didn’t actually go inside or any of the other buldings shown below. I don’t remember the exact chronology of our stops so these are the highlights in no particular order.

We passed many INCREDIBLE sites during this 4+ hour excursion! At the top of this blog entry, our family is pictured in front of Napoleon’s Tomb at the Dome Church which was built by King Louis XIV as an exclusive place of worship for the Royal family. Here’s another photo.

 

Our guide told the story of two enemies being in close proximity to each other at this location each unbeknownst to the other.  Hitler visiting Napoleon at The Dome Church while two Allied servicemen were hiding in the dome waiting to be smuggled out of the city with intelligence information. 

Below Emily is in front of the Louvre. If you look closely you can see the Pyramid behind and to the left of her head. 

The Pyramid being such a contemporary piece set admist all of these old buidings makes it quite unique and hard to miss.
 

Part way through the tour, we walked our bikes through part of the 20 acre Place de la Concorde.  

Located between the Tuileries Gardens and the Champs-Elysées, it is the largest square in Paris home to two famous fountains neither of which I was able to photograph, numerous sculptures, and two museums.  This is the place were many were sent to the guillitone during the French Revolution most notoably King Louis XVI, on January 21, 1793.

Here’s a close up of the structured we walked our bikes under.  If anyone knows what it is, please let me know.  I really liked it, but I don’t know what it is…

It’s also home to this famous 3200 year old obelisk from the Temple of Ramses II which sits in the center of Place de la Concorde where the guilitone mentioned above once stood.  Supposedly, it was a gift but I’m uncertain if it was really a gift or if it was taken.  At any rate, this obelisk also known as Cleopatra’s Needle is covered with hieroglyphs picturing the reign of pharaohs Ramses II & Ramses III.  It also depicts its transportation to and installation in the center of this public square.

Part way through our bike tour, we stopped for lunch at an outdoor restaurant looking toward the beautiful Tuileries Gardens which are located inbetween the Place de la Concorde mentioned above and the Louvre.  If we ever have a chance to visit Paris again, I would try to schedule a day with a relaxed pace where we could wander leisurely through these gardens.   I’m not sure anyone who knows me can envision the words “relaxed, wandering, and leisurely” in my vocabulary, but if ever they are this is the place for such a thing.

Here we are eating lunch at the La Terrasse de Pomone.  I’m sorry they don’t have a website to reference, but they are listed on the Louvre website. Here is the description:  “La Terrasse de Pomone: light food, Jardin des Tuileries (south-east), open daily, opening times the same as those of the park. La Terrasse de Pomone serves fresh delicatessen style food, crepes, ices etc, at terrace tables or to take away. Ice creams sold near the round pond (April to October). Information: + 33 (0)1 42 61 22 14”

Above, Amanda, Grandma Jean, Grandma Jan, and I each ordered quiche which was THE BEST I’ve ever tried.  The pastry crust was so light and flaky it melted in our mouths!

It was served with a side salad topped with a very tasty and somewhat spicy dressing.

Below, Emily tried the crepes which seemed to be very popular at this restaurant as nearly every table had a couple of people dining on them.

Emily’s had mushroom, ham, and a very strong cheese which she found a little to rich for her taste buds, but I thought it was really good.

Continuing our journey, again, in no particular order.  We biked past Ecole Militaire which houses various military training facilities.  It was built by Louis XV in 1750 as an academy where young cadets from poor families could become trained military men.  Napoleon Bonaparte was accepted to the Ecole Militaire in 1784 where he graduated in only one year instead of two.

Another magnificient building we biked past on this tour is the Hôtel des Invalides which was built by Louix XIV (also known as the Sun King) to provide accomodations for the veterans who fought his wars.  Sorry for the poor quality photo.. The sun was coming at the wrong angle and there was a fingerprint on the lens of my mil’s camera which I didn’t notice until later…. ugh…

Napoleon’s cannons line the front of the building.  If I have the opportunity to bring the boys here one day, I’m sure this will be one of our museum stops as it houses the world’s largest military museum.

We crossed the “most opulently decorated bridge” in Paris.  The Alexander III bridge near located near the des Invalides.  Here are some pictures from this BEAUTIFUL bridge! 

I’m glad the guide stopped to give us time to take in all of the amazing architecture surrounding Pont Alexandre III.  I was able to get only a couple of pictures of things on this bridge.  To really appreciate the impressiveness of this, you should click the link

One of the very ornate lamp posts!  I can’t wait for our night time boat river so we can see all of these awesome bridges lit up!

A view across the lanes of traffic….

Here’s a photo (although not a very good one) of one of the four impressive gilded statues.  Each one was created by a different artist and sits on a granite pillar. 

Here’s Em on the Alexander III bridge crossing the Seine River.

We were pleasantly surprised to see a large police presence in Paris!  We always saw these mounted police in tandem.

And now for a few more pieces of info about the bike tour itself.  Below is another picture of our group stopped in front of the Louvre.  I’m pointing out this picture because I want you to notice the girl in the center of the photo to the left of my mom.  We did run into a problem on this tour.  It wasn’t the traffic.  It was predictable.  It wasn’t the bikes nor the guide.  They were great.  It wasn’t the weather.  It was gorgeous.  It wasn’t the pedestrians.  They didn’t walk in the bike lanes.  The problem was the children in our tour group. (I don’t remember if it was this child or not, but the picture serves my point)

Now, before I go any further I want to say that we think it’s GREAT to be able to take kids on vacation and on educational tours.  We take ours, ages 20, 16, 12, and 6, all the time.  The problem on this tour is there weren’t any specific instructions directed toward the children or their parents.   My back tire was bumped by one of the kids in our tour, but not hard enough to knock me off my bike nor cause me to lose my balance.  My mom,otoh, wasn’t so fortunate.  She did fall off from her bike when the kid in front of her stopped without any warning and my mom lost her balance trying to avoid running into the kids’ back tire. 

In light of this accident, I would suggest this tour company setup some guidelines for children riding in the tour.  Perhaps a parent should be required to ride immediately in front of or behind the child so they can take the fall for their kids’ mishaps instead of other tourists taking the fall.  I realize this can also be a problem of adults not knowing how to ride a bike very well, but in our tour group the adults were all fine.  It’s the kids who weren’t.  We are extremely fortunate my mom didn’t end up in the hospital because of the injuries to her leg which caused her problems throughout the duration of our two week trip.

One thing about the Eiffel Tower is it stands out and can be seen from almost anywhere in Paris thanks to the absence skyscrapers!  If I remember right there is one, but it was decided they didn’t like how it changed the skyline and no more were built after that.  I didn’t take time to verify this fact, but I think that’s what I recall hearing during one of the tours.                

The tour guide stopped plenty of times for water breaks and passing along historical and interesting information.

We LOVED the route they chose.  We feel like we really had a very nice overview of the city thanks to the Fat Tire Bike company!  We biked through the busy main parts of Paris as well as the quieter residential areas.  Here is one street we found particularly quaint.

The last stop on our tour was a photo op near the Eiffel Tower which is close the Fat Tire Bike company’s office.