Modern Vespa

Just returned from several days on biz in Paris. There are scooters everywhere, going every which direction, especially in the circles. Scary, scary. These guys are fearless. BTW, probably 50% of scoots had skirts.

Isn't it great to see the Parisian street full of Vespas in varying states of repair? You are right they are everywhere and all the bike parks are chocked full of them but not many bikes huh ?
If you like a laugh please check out the Hotel Kuntz which is a 20 minute walk from the Gard Nord. Just walk at 45 degrees from the left corner from the main enterance towards the Best Western.
I tried to keep a straight face but failed badly.
Billy-no-scoot

Paris is great on a scooter - all the cars expect you to filter through the smallest gaps, and there is a Mayoral decree that says lane 2A (IYSWIM) on the Periphique is to be for bikes - they hurtle round at 90kph while the cars are desperately scrapping the median wall at 10kph trying to keep out of the way! Great fun.

Summer before last I went to Paris and brought my Dahon fold-up bike with me for transportation. Loved the vibe. Here in NYC the cars HATE for anybody to get in front of them, it is two wheelers beware the vengeance of the passed 4 wheeler - damn drivers are like stalkers! In Paris all the two wheelers get in the front at the red light, the four wheelers do not seem to mind at all. Everyone finds their own pace and they all manage to negotiate the roads together in peace. And the traffic circles! God it looks like chaos but it is not. I went through a huge one where on the Champs-Élysée, right before the Arc de Triomphe. The first time I went around I thought I was a goner! There are like four lanes of traffic jammed in this circle and everyone seemed to be interested in getting in a different lane than they where in, you are inches from each other. Add cars constantly peeling off and into the adjoining sidestreets, which radiate from the traffic circle like spokes on a bicycle wheel and you got one shook tourist! One the return trip I realized what everyone was doing, you move to the center lanes until it is your turn to get out of the circle. When in Paris, ride like a Parisian, I did this and wah-la, no problem!

Maybe it is colder now but in the summer there were lots of bikes. And scooters were everywhere!

As I recall, the way it works in Paris is that vehicles give way to others on the right. This means that it is really easy to get to the inside of the circles, but tricky to get out again if you're not familiar with the conventions.

Remember the traffic circle in Nat. Lampoons European Vacation? That was London, but the concept is the same 'cept the other direction.

That and the Foch statue in Trocadero, Paris (providing the best view of the Eiffel Tower). He was the great General Foch.

Visit the Dominican Republic if you want truly crazy scooter and auto driving. I am here visiting and it boggles my mind. I am in the capital and have seen a whopping TWO traffic lights that everyone just ignores, what few lane markings there are certainly don't matter to anyone, and the streets are just horrible.

Everyone seems to have cool, big wheeled, geared scoots here - a lot of Cubs and what I'd call scooter motorcyles of mostly Japanese make.

Scoots in the DR are even nuttier. You're right - nobody obeys any rules, neither scoots nor cages. They drive diagonally through intersections, the wrong way on a 4-lane, and right through every traffic control device!

I sat behind the driver in a tour bus in Paris. As he went into, through and out of the traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe, HE NEVER ONCE LOOKED TO HIS LEFT. In the US we would never drive like that. When we stopped I aked him about that. He said, "The guy on my left is not my problem. He has to watch out for me. I only yleld to the guy on my right."
There you go. Just ignore the left side.

We just got back from our 2nd trip to Paris on Oct. 10. On Oct. 11 we went out and bought our first Vespa.

Funny thing is out of all of the photos I took while there, the majority of them are of Vespas and old scooters...guess that was a sign.

Paris is an amazing city...the bikes and scooters just make it that much better as far as I'm concerned!

the cars aren't much better




BTW save your netflix credit for something good....

Scooters in Paris wear skirts?

Oui, tres fashionible!

Just wait'll you get to vietnam.