Paris - Fat Tire Bike Tours

Yesterday, the day before the Tour de France was scheduled to arrive at the Place de la Concorde in Paris for it's finish victory lap, I decided, in honor of this event, to join an organized group of cyclists for a biking tour of Paris.

My group, led by Fat Tire Bike Tours, required us to meet under their Eiffel Tower with their Fat Tire representatives. The Fat Tire folks were easily identifiable by the sign they held up (photo enclosed) with the name of the company. Once the group was counted, registered and assigned to a color group, we were all walked down to the Fat Tire office just a few blocks away from The Champ de Mars (the park behind the Eiffel Tower) to get our bikes and pay for the tour before hitting the road.

Fat Tire offers several English guided bike tours a day led by University students from around the world. They also offer Segway and walking tours of Paris for those who prefer to walk or tour by motorized vehicle. For more information on these options, visit their website at www.FatTireTours.com.

At the Eiffel Tower, I was signed up and assigned to the yellow group. I did not need to make an advance reservation for this tour, I just showed up at the designated time and gave the Fat Tire Reps. my name to put on the list of riders for the 3pm tour. We were then divided into groups by color and led to the Fat Tire office a few blocks away to pick up our bikes.

At the office, we payed and got fitted for bikes. Then we met our assigned guide Karl, a friendly Kiwi who gave us a short safety introduction on the bikes and information about the upcoming ride. Pretty soon we were moving as a pack through the small streets of Paris following Karl, our energetic guide from down under.

Along the way, Karl stopped us repeatedly to provide us with quick historical sound bites and lots of entertaining historical trivia about Paris. Through him we learned that high heels were invented by King Louis XV, a man so vain that he wore them to accentuate his calf's. Check him out next time you see a painting of him in the Louvre. He's always flexing one calf! Karl also showed us the bullet holes on the walls of the Ecole Militaire made by the Allied forces during WWII and led us past the Hotel d'Invalids where the remains of Napoleon rest divided in several small boxes, one containing his heart and some cutlery, who knows why.

Our tour lasted about three hours and we pedaled leisurely and tightly as a group (24 cyclists) around the city stopping periodically for Karl's historical tid-bits. We "dominated" small streets, crossed ornate ancient bridges, walked through royal gardens and visited numerous monuments along the way with out a hitch. These guys are experts in keeping their group members cycling together and safe. Thanks Karl!

Bike tours are scheduled for the summer to meet under the Eiffel Tower at 3pm and at 8:30pm. Each one of these tours is different and they are both complimentary. I did both the same day - left the hotel at 2:30pm and returned by midnight. Read the descriptions of each tour in Fat Tires website and pick the tour you like best or sleep all day and catch the 8:30 pm tour that ends with a one hour guided boat ride on the Seine with Bateaux Mouches that includes free wine. A lovely way to see the city from the river at night.

Airline crew members receive a discount on Fat Tire's tours. Just tell them your are a crew member when you pay. I payed 24Euros for the first tour (discounted from 28Euros) and 16Euros for the second.

If you decide to go, wear a small backpack to carry your belongings. It makes your bike riding easier by freeing both your hands. Also, bring water and some snacks plus sun protection and a hat if it's a sunny day.

The rides are suitable for families and really any level of bike rider. It's a super easy and safe ride on flat roads the whole time. The bikes come in several sizes and are cruiser style, so they are comfortable and adjustable to your size.

You may reserve ahead via Fat Tire's Internet site or just show up under the Eiffel Tower at their designated times.

Enjoy your ride!

FAT TIRE BIKE TOURS - PARIS www.FatTireBikeTours.com www.CitySegwayTours.com www.ClassicWalksParis.com

Oh la la! Nespresso in Miami Beach!

Lincoln road now has it's own swanky Swiss Nespresso Cafe, one of only three in the United States!! and yes it's amazing coffee!

Remember my earlier post on the best coffee I tasted in Paris at the Nespresso's on the Champs Elysees? (link enclosed) Well now we can have that same memorable experience in SOBE (South Beach). Hello Nesspresso South Beach, here I come! POSTCARDS FROM THE AIR: PARIS - Memorable Coffee at Nesspresso

Nespresso in Lincon Rd. opens daily from 10am to 10pm and serves "the coffee experience". They do not sell cups to go, they only serve coffee in ceramic white cups while you sit at their fancy coffee bar or in one of their multicolored modern chairs in their modern coffee restaurant.

Each cup will set you back around 4 to 5 dollars, depending on weather you order a single or double shot cup of coffee and you can select the flavor you prefer from an impressive menu of delicious world brews.

Nespresso SOBE serves salads and snacks to accompany their coffees, but their main attraction is, you guessed it, their memorable coffee! The Nespresso cafe is also a Nespresso shop where sublime Nespresso coffee makers are sold for $200 to $700 dollars a piece.

Next time you go to South Beach, stop at the Nespresso SOBE coffee bar at 1111 Lincoln Rd. and don't forget to enjoy the people watching!

Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport - Food to go...

One last French morsel before flying across the pond? Stop at the 407 Bar before boarding your plane. Located inside Charles de Gaulle airport right next to gate 20-28, they serve delicious fresh, crunchy baguette sandwiches to go.

My favorite one is the sandwich du "Jambon" with butter, but they also make an awesome mozzarella and tomato baguette.

The 407 Bar also brews a mean cappuccino to go. It will give your engines a quick start.


Now that's a nice way to start your flight don't you think!

Au Revoir! and Bon journee!

Canal St. Martin - Paris

A wonderful thing to do in Paris on a Sunday afternoon (a notoriously slow day in Paris) is to head to the 10th Arr. to the Canal St. Martin for a leisure walk along the water. There you will find 3 miles of planted banks, ancient locks and metal foot bridges plus some inviting outdoor cafes with sitting areas along the water's edge.

Take the Blue #2 Metro line to the JAURES stop, in the direction of NATION - you can connect to the blue line at the Charles de Gaulle - Etoile station. Once you arrive at the Jaures station, you will see the canal right below the train tracks. Start your walk from here and head south along the water towards Place de la Republique.

Don't miss the Hotel Du Nord along the way, it was featured in a 1930's French movie. It has a welcoming outdoor and indoor sitting area and the restaurant serves decent French food. Also along the way, is Point Ephemere. An art complex located inside an industrial building that sits right below the Jaures Metro station. It houses an art gallery, a space for music venues and a restaurant with an outdoor terrace by the water.

By the way, the Canal St. Martin was built by Napoleon around 1822 to provide drinking water for Parisians. Today it's one of Paris's most romantic spots.

Do you have any favorite week-end spots in Paris? Share them with us! We will post your story with your name. Send your story to postcards@me.com

Enjoy your visit!
Pass this on. That's how we grow.

Lovely Paris Video - PARIS PASTRY

Check out this gorgeous video of Paris called Paris Pastry....love it! Warning, it may make you crave gorgeous French pastries!

Photography by Susan Hochbaum. Thanks Susan and Joel!

Paris Shopping - Great discounts for Airline Crew Members!

Who knew? All these years flying to Paris and only now, 20 years plus later, I find out that there's a three floor duty free shop right across the Louvre that gives crew members 20% to 70% off on purchases if you show your airline ID. Did anyone else know this? Or am I the last one to find out about this?

The name of this store is BENLUX LOUVRES. The location? the corner of 174 Rue de Rivoli and Rue de Richelieu. Metro - Palais Royal/Musee de Louvre.

I visited Benlux this past week while on my Paris layover. I decided to check out their selection of goods. I gotta tell you, they have a lot of great stuff. There were cosmetics, French perfumes, designer bags (Armani, Longchamp) suitcases, belts, pens, watches, silk scarfs, etc.

If you go, don't expect to get any suggestions on French perfumes from the store attendants, however, they will speak to you in English if you need help. Thank God! Once you select the products you wish to purchase, you will need to pay for them first at the cashier. This is where you show your airline ID to get your airline discount. The percentage of discount that you will receive on each item will depend on the product brand. Hard to tell before this point how much off you will get on each product or brand.

So there you go. If you need more information about the location of this store, please check the enclosed google map link and enjoy the great discounts! Benlux Louvres - Google Maps

Bollywood Restaurant in Geneva

If you're up for some tasty Indian Restaurant, there's this great restaurant in the Paquis area near the layover hotel in Geneva. The Paquis area, by the way, is a the area filled with ethnic restaurants located between the Geneva train station and the Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneve by the lake.

Back to the Indian food, the restaurant's name is Bollywood and it's located right across the Migros supermarket on the corner of Rue des Paquis and Rue de Leman. Ask the concierge for more specific directions before you head that way and look for the life-size elephant statues right in front of the restaurant.
Bollywood has great Indian food, wonderfully attentive service and English speaking servers. They also have an outdoor area to eat under the stars during warm summer nights.

When we ate there, we ordered delicious mango lassis (a refreshing Indian drink made of mango and yogurt) to start, plus some amazing creamed spinach dish plus some chicken Tika. mmmm, memorable! Our bill was about $30 dollars each (we had no alcohol).