We were on our way to Lyon when we almost ran over this guy and his two Siberian huskies pulling him on his bike. Instead of running into him, we rode next to him to hand him a donation.

He’s Randolph Westphal and he’s been biking all over the world with his dogs for more than 14 years (around the world 4 times!) on a mission to share his experience as a cancer survivor visiting hospitals, hospices and clinics. More than two decades ago, his doctor’s told him he had about a year left to live because of his cancer but he’s still here 20 years later!

He’s been hit by an 18-wheeler, which put him in a coma, broke his leg, got attacked by a bear and more…and YET he continues.

Here’s more info on him to read about his trials, tribulations and successes. Riding for Cancer, Randolph Westphal (in German)

If you see him, give him some love!

While we’re on the subject of feves, I thought I’d share a recent one I found in a tasty galette du roi from one of our favorite pastry chefs in our area, Jean-Marc Bernigaud, who was previously the pastry chef at Trois Gros, a three star Michelin restaurant in Roanne. Typically, the galettes are filled with frangipane but Jean-Marc told us he was bored and added a different flavor: a delicious apple and noisette filling, unusual but expectedly unique and refreshing, in any case. It had a non-traditional design on top, too.

While my feve isn’t as sexy as the Kamasutra feves, I thought it was cute, a teeny tiny Renault 4L, a super popular car in France from 1961 and beyond. It was Renault’s response to their competitor, the Citroen 2CV (what the French call the deux chevaux (two horses)), which is cuter and iconic of old France. (Read more about the 4L here.)

Back to the feve.

A couple of days after feasting on the galette, I saw the Renault 4L again but this time it was a real Renault 4L and the exact same color as the mini Renault 4L feve!

I thought some people might be interested to see what you can order to eat on the TGV, so I grabbed this brochure and did a quick scan. Click on the images below to see the summer TGV menu and prices in detail. I can’t comment on how the meals taste; I haven’t ordered food yet on the TGV but I think it looks edible, and the prices are fairly reasonable.

They even offer some organic items. Only a couple of things but that’s a good start. We were actually surprised.

There are muffins and wraps offered, which is particularly un-French but oh well.

Just a quick note about the Airbus 380. We flew it to New York during the summer and I have to say, it’s awesome. The photo doesn’t really convey how absolutely ENORMOUS this plane is (It’s the biggest plane in the world). The double-decker plane from Paris to New York accommodated 538 people but other airbuses like this to other destinations can hold up to 900 people! The ride is more spacious and extremely quiet, too, which helps to feel less tired upon arrival. I was surprised to feel good when we arrived. Normally, I feel pretty crappy. Other notables: you have your own screen and hard drive so you can watch films and other media at any given moment in time, and even put a movie on pause if you need to get up, then resume when you get back. No more waiting for the round of movies to end! The downside of this experience is when you have to retrieve your luggage, although they did a great job at JFK pulling the bags onto the baggage claim carousels. It can take a while, but it’s totally worth it. NOTE: Sadly, it doesn’t fly to the west coast. WHY??!

Grab a yummy pizza at the Pink Flamingo in Le Marais and if there’s no more seating inside, have a seat in the V Dub bus outside. You should see it near the restaurant!

Although the government is about to reduce the subvention amount for environmentally smart home energy, it began offering a different incentive for electric bikes. Receive 25% off (up to 400 euros) if you purchase an electric bike in Paris. For the moment this offer is restricted to Paris and Paris residents only, which means you’re supposed to have a Parisian address to qualify. We were lucky to receive this offer when we purchased our first vélo électrique, which is awesome. We bought this bike here.

I’m not sure if this offer will apply to other French cities.

For more information: see velo electrique (French)

You’ve seen the bright, double-decker, in-your-face Paris tour bus navigating the windy streets and massive roundabouts of Paris scooting around wide-eyed tourists desperate to take in every single one of the most famous Paris landmarks, all in the shortest amount of time. They’re hard to miss. While some tourists would rather set their hair on fire than get on one of these, there are others who swear by their virtues. It’s not really something I’d ever thought I’d be taking a ride on, but when we had a visitor from Japan, she could only stay in Paris for 2 days. What to do? If she didn’t HAVE to see all of the landmarks, we surely wouldn’t have done it but she did, and so we thought this was the most likely way to pull it off.

I have to admit that it’s kind of excellent for those specific situations and we had the best time riding it (ride on the upper deck!) and being able to get out at any number of stops (then get back on) There are many buses so you’ll only need to wait about 10 minutes at each stop during the summer to catch another bus, 20 minutes during the winter. The entire tour, if you stay on the bus the whole time, takes approximately two hours and 15 minutes. That’s quick, particularly if you think that during that time you could’ve been waiting in line just to get on the Eiffel Tower. I exaggerate but you get what I mean.

You have the possibility of stopping at nine different places: 1. Trocadéro, 2. Champ de Mars, 3. Louvre, 4. Notre-Dame, 5. Orsay, 6. Opéra, 7. Champs Elysées-Etoile, 8. Grand Palais and 9. Eiffel Tower. The earliest buses start between 9:30am and 10:30am with the last buses stopping between 6:25pm and 10:16pm. See the hours and stops here. Note: Weekend and week day hours differ slightly, so do check the hours carefully.

Audio guides are available in several languages and you can download the tour’s mp3 from the website here in advance if you want to hear the guide from your own mp3 player.

You can spread your trip over two days (it’s an unlimited 2 day pass), so for the price of 24 € (Adult fare) and 12 € (kids 4 to 12 fare), you might just be able to see a lot of stuff in a little amount of time. Buy your tickets online to receive an additional 10% off.

Paris Bus Tour (Les cars rouges)

Who can blame the car rental company, Sixt, for poking fun at Sarkozy’s height? In this German ad, it says, “Do like Ms. Bruni. Get a small French (one).”

This is a guest post from Why Travel to France contributor, Patricia. (Thanks, P!)

I thought readers would appreciate this funny, French item I found in a supermarket the other day. It made us laugh out loud but somehow I’m not sure any French person would notice it. It’s an ironic twist on air fresheners: a foot! Just guessing, but I have a feeling who ever came up with this item, was another marketing exec who had no idea that some consumers (like me) might see it as “funvertising.” I mean, using a foot to freshen a car … is brilliant, isn’t it? I love it. Frenchies, you are priceless, and you made my day when I found this Smelly Foot Air Freshener.

Maybe the tagline should be: Rafraichissez l’intérieur de votre voiture avec un pied qui pue...

Wait a minute. Do French people LIKE the smell of feet? I didn’t think of that.

Velib bikes are fine and all but ever since trying out a bunch of different kinds of vélo électrique (electric bikes) at an expo a couple of years ago, I can’t go back to regular bikes. It’s not that I’m lazy (ok, maybe I’m lazy at times), it just seems like an obvious choice to have options in life: to pedal or not to pedal, that is the question. The ideal situation for me is to be able to both pedal when I want, then to switch to electric power when I need! Those latter situations being up a hill, on a long, straight stretch of road or when I’m tired. Or perhaps when dire consequences call for it, like being chased by a rabid French poodle. You never know.

This bike folds up all nice and neat so you can just bring your bike “package” with you instead of leaving it outside.

There’s a shop in the 13th arrondissement of Paris that is worth a looksee. Buzibi offers the quintessential vélo électrique for people who might share the same sentiments as I do about riding bikes in general. Purchase one or better yet, rent one at reasonable prices: 5 euros an hour or 49 euros for the weekend. (See the rates for exact pricing and long term rental information.) Or! Go to the vélo électrique store yourself to see all the models and to test drive one and see what you think. I can say with confidence that you will not ever want to go back to the old fashion versions. Vive le vélo électrique!

Buzibi
67 rue, Croulebarbe
75013 Paris France
e-mail: buzibi@buzibi.fr
Telephone: +33 (0)1 47 07 16 75
Metro: Corvisart (13th arrondissement)
Map

Don’t try this at home.

You’ve seen the bright, double-decker, in-your-face Paris tour bus navigating the windy streets and massive roundabouts of Paris scooting around wide-eyed tourists desperate to take in every single one of the most famous Paris landmarks, all in the shortest amount of time. They’re hard to miss. While some tourists would rather set their hair on fire than get on one of these, there are others who swear by their virtues. It’s not really something I’d ever thought I’d be taking a ride on, but when we had a visitor from Japan, she could only stay in Paris for 2 days. What to do? If she didn’t HAVE to see all of the landmarks, we surely wouldn’t have done it but she did, and so we thought this was the most likely way to pull it off.

I have to admit that it’s kind of excellent for those specific situations and we had the best time riding it (ride on the upper deck!) and being able to get out at any number of stops (then get back on) There are many buses so you’ll only need to wait about 10 minutes at each stop during the summer to catch another bus, 20 minutes during the winter. The entire tour, if you stay on the bus the whole time, takes approximately two hours and 15 minutes. That’s quick, particularly if you think that during that time you could’ve been waiting in line just to get on the Eiffel Tower. I exaggerate but you get what I mean.

You have the possibility of stopping at nine different places: 1. Trocadéro, 2. Champ de Mars, 3. Louvre, 4. Notre-Dame, 5. Orsay, 6. Opéra, 7. Champs Elysées-Etoile, 8. Grand Palais and 9. Eiffel Tower. The earliest buses start between 9:30am and 10:30am with the last buses stopping between 6:25pm and 10:16pm. See the hours and stops here. Note: Weekend and week day hours differ slightly, so do check the hours carefully.

Audio guides are available in several languages and you can download the tour’s mp3 from the website here in advance if you want to hear the guide from your own mp3 player.

You can spread your trip over two days (it’s an unlimited 2 day pass), so for the price of 24 € (Adult fare) and 12 € (kids 4 to 12 fare), you might just be able to see a lot of stuff in a little amount of time. Buy your tickets online to receive an additional 10% off.

Paris Bus Tour (Les cars rouges)

From cleantechnica:

“A Spanish company called Turtle Airships is working on plans to build a luxurious solar-powered blimp which can take passengers from New York to Paris.

Perhaps the only thing cooler than being powered by lightweight photovoltaic cells, this airship is also designed to rest on land or water.

The first blimp prototype will be propelled in two nontraditional ways. The outside of the ship will be covered with Cadmium-Indium-Germanium (CIG) photovoltaic cells, picked for their their light weight. The cells should generate enough power to move the blimp at around 40 mph in average conditions, or at around 70 horsepower. Meanwhile, a diesel drivetrain will generate the rest of the power, and ideally the designers will look to an adapted hybrid electric model for that. And because blimps fly at low altitudes, they don’t have to deal with problems that plague diesel engines at elevations over 30,000 ft.

The only thing currently keeping this visionary project from flying is…”

Continue reading

From jaunted:

“All this week Jaunted contributor Eric Rosen has been filling us in on his recent field trip, drinking his way through France. Today, however, he has a major buzzkill to report. Here’s how he learned to deal with denting a rental car in a foreign country.

When You Get Home
Make sure your insurance company has all the necessary documents, forms and information it needs…then wait. It usually takes about 45 days to process a claim. If the rental agency tries to charge you preemptively for the damages, have your credit card put the charges on hold until the situation is resolved.”

Rental Bikes in Dijon

Some time during the 90s, Europe passed legislation that alllowed driver’s license holders, experienced with at least 2 years of driving, to also legally drive scooters up to 125 cc. If the scooter was less than 80 cc, you didn’t need a license or training at all (So it was very common to see 14-year-olds driving these scooters on the road…). This is about to change because of the non-negligible percentage of traffic death due to scooters (scooters and motorcycles account for 10.1% of all traffic accidents and 18% of all traffic deaths.) I believe the number of scooter drivers increased particularly in the last few years because of the sudden inflation, rising gas costs and exorbitant price of getting a car driver’s license.

Strangely, a new law was passed during the wee hours of the night on Christmas eve 2008, and just a few days later, the law became in effect January 1, 2009. That’s probably one of the quickest passed laws in France, ever.

So, here’s the result: The Ministry of the Interior has enforced that car drivers (with Type B permit and 2 years of driving experience and driving a scooter 51 cc to 125cc) either get a motorbike license (Type A) or follow a specific, 3-hour scooter training, involving emergency breaking and balancing alone and with a passenger – which costs between €110 to €180 depending on the moto école.

The 14-year olds+ driving scooters less than 50 cc are obligated to follow a different training called Le Brevet de Sécurité Routière (BSR).

If you are caught without a permit you risk a fine of €135 and a retraction of 3 points from your driver’s license.

Will the Ministry of the Interior follow with imposing a mandatory training for bicyclists? We wonder…

tags: france, french, scooters

I like Air Car better!

From engadget:

“MDI’s compressed air vehicle has been unofficially known as the AirCar for years now, but it looks like the company is now finally putting a stop to that, and officially bestowing the decidedly less catchy “FlowAIR” name on the car. What’s more, it’s also gotten official with no less than four different vehicles based on the technology, including the One FlowAIR open-top model, the Mini FlowAIR three-seater (pictured above), the City FlowAIR truck-type vehicle, and the Multi FlowAIR urban public transportation concept, all of which have been making the rounds under various guises for some time now. From the looks of it, the One FlowAIR will be the first out of the gate in 2009 (in France, at least), with the rest to follow over the next few years.”

Related: Air Cars hit the streets, French Air Cars Coming to the U.S.

Have you changed your driving habits in France to be more environmentally friendly? Do you drive a hybrid or electric car, or have you given up your car permanently? Do you use biofuel? Did you join a carpool? Do you have any other tips related to reducing gasoline consumption? France 5 Television wants to have a word with you. Please call 01 56 26 16 76 if you’re interested in participating in a television show featuring people in France trying to change their lives to live more green.

tags: france, hybrids, peak oil, carpooling, green living in france france 5, television

From autobloggreen and ecolotrader:

“We heard that MDI, the creators of the AirCar – excuse us, the “Compressed Air Vehicle” – broke off all commercial relations with Miguel Celades, who had been carrying its commercial operations for a while. We tried multiple times to contact Mr. Celades for further explanations, but couldn’t. So, we turned to MDI’s new webpage and other sources for the information.

The good news is that MDI is still working on their vehicle and has taken some steps to get it on the road. The French environmental website Ecolo-Trader has unveiled a picture of the first MiniCAT model with regular car plates, which should mean it’s road-worthy and has received all the legal requirements from the French Ministry of Industry. MDI’s MiniCAT has an range of 80 km while running exclusively with compressed air and, thanks to a system which heats compressed air (using fuel), the range can be extended even further. According to the website, which refers to the Southern France newspaper, MDI is planning a second factory to increase output of the MiniCAT. The model will be on display for the Paris Motor Show and on sale in France at the beginning of 2009.”

Note: The license plates look like they’re from the Var region in the south of France around the cities of Toulon and Draguignon.

[via]

tags: france, air car, mdi, minicat, guy negre

Ever since writing about the zero pollution, zero emissions French Air Car, I’ve gotten some comments and gobs of emails from people asking if they might be available in the U.S.

I don’t live in the U.S., people! I live in France. YOU tell ME. Rant over.

Soooooooooo… that being said, I stumbled upon some information that reports that the Air Car might be available in the U.S. by late 2009 starting at $15,000. That’s just around the corner, and if it’s true, this little ugly (in a cute sense) car could possibly impact life as you know it – in a positive way, that is.

A New York based startup, ZPM (Zero Pollution Motors), just like India’s Tata Motors, has licensed the technology from the French company MDI. They plan to release a hybrid version that will be a clean, efficient way to power your ride. For example, one tank of air is approximately equivalent to eight gallons of gas, an 848 mile range. The car’s air tank can be refilled in about three minutes from a service station, but it can be plugged in at home and refilled in about 4 hours, an electricity cost of about two bucks.

Availability of the MDI Air Car in France is still pending approval.

tags: france air cars zero pollution motors mdi

[via]

The Tour de France began yesterday! I haven’t been paying attention. Oops. Here’s the route (above) and to see street views from Google, go here. For more information, check out the official website.

Related: Tour de France Today in the Dreaded Le Creusot, Tour de France Route on Google Earth, Le Tour de France or AuTour de la France?, Tour de France 2006 – The Route

tags: france travel tour de france google street view

In sync with the new road safety laws in France regarding a vest and triangle to be kept in cars at all times, this amusing ad campaign was launched and features famous designer fashionista, Karl Lagerfeld. Via LA Frog (merci!)

C’est jaune, c’est moche, et ça ne va avec rien, mais ça peut vous sauvez la vie.

Translation:

It’s yellow, it’s ugly, it doesn’t go with anything (else), but it can save your life.

tags: france karl lagerfeld road safety ads

Beginning today, cars in France must carry a gilet de sécurité / bright, yellow vest with 2 reflective stripes and a triangle de pré-signalisation / a reflective red warning triangle. These are to be used if you have an accident or must pull off the road for break downs and other emergencies. Note: The vest must be in the cab portion of the car, that is, where the drivers and passengers are, and not in the trunk.

The police will be performing random checks to verify that you have these obligatory items. If you’re caught without them after October, 1, you risk a fine of 90 to 135 euros.

You can sometimes get free kits with vests and triangle at a gas station if you have your oil changed or have your tires checked. Otherwise, they are available to purchase at gas stations for about 15 – 20 euros.

tags: france travel gilet de sécurité triangle de pré-signalisation road+laws+france mandatory+vest+triangle

From aol:

Where is the love, Parisians?

“… Radiohead were left with a row of empty seats at a recent French concert after a ticket giveaway backfired. The eco-friendly group announced 50 passes were available for their show at Paris’ Bercy Arena but fans could only get by cycling to their record label’s offices in the French city.

However, Parisians were not prepared to get on their bikes so 35 tickets went unclaimed. A source said: “Radiohead are using their current world tour to highlight their commitment to green issues. They advise all concertgoers to use public transport and are doing all they can to make their carbon footprint as small as possible. Unfortunately the French didn’t appear to share their noble intentions and roundly ignored the free ticket tactic.”

tags: france radiohead velib lazy environment unfriendly parisians

Strategically placed at the toll booth where you have to stop, you can’t miss this warning. Here’s what the sign says reminding people driving on the road to pull over and rest if they show any signs of fatigue. Or else!

Tired?
DEAD Tired?
After the first signs (of fatigue), Don’t go any farther.