A day after Bastille Day this year the City of Paris introduced a new revolution in transport called the Vélib‘, which is a special type of bike which can be hired for short trips around town. A combination of the French words vélo (bicycle) and liberté (liberty), a Vélib‘ is therefore is a bicycle liberation for Parisians. It costs €1,00 to hire one for the day, the first half hour is free and then €1,00 for the second half hour the price increases from there. The idea is is it to use it for short distances not long travel. There are over 10,500 Vélibs around the city and some 750 self service racks. This is a totally amazing concept and I have seen so many people using it. The best bit is that it is self service and you can use it anytime you want.

One of the friends I met though Thomas, Aitor offered to take me around the city and show me more of the sights. We started the day at the Dalida Une Vie exhibition at the Hôtel de Ville (Paris Town Hall). Dalida was a famous French singer who died 20 twenty years ago and this exhibition titled Une Vie (One Life) was dedicated to her stellar career, she was the first singer to receive a diamond record. I never heard of her and thought I will go and learn something about French music and cinema culture. Dalida is a bit of a cult figure and well known in France, she also appeared in films and was active during the 50s to 80s.

I felt so dumb when Aitor asked me if I knew this famous French singer or that famous French actor that featured at the exhibition. When I said no, he looked at me disappointed and if I had no culture whatsoever. I redeemed myself when I recognised the photos of De Gaulle, Mitterrand and Chirac. Hey, at least I know French politicians! I did tell him that I do not know Australian singers or actors well and told him the story of when I met Cate Blanchett I did not know who she was. He asked me who Cate Blanchett was, I felt a bit better!

After my initiation into French music and cinema history, we walked along the streets and come across the Rat Poison shop that was in Ratatouille, was funny as there were people there taking photos of dead rats, so I joined in. Aitor wanted to show me what a ratatouille dish was, so we went into a supermarket and he showed me a ready made bottle. It looked like a soup or stew. A ratatouille has four basic ingredients; eggplant, tomato, zucchini and capsicum. As Aitor was explaining the recipe with the four items, a lovely old lady come over to us and spoke in perfect English the secret way of making ratatouille, she said had it every day and that is was her favourite dish.

We then hired a Vélib‘ to the Place de Concorde, and took in the sights. Aitor showed me the celebrity exit of the Ritz Hotel, the Élysée Palace the official residence of the French President, and various other buildings and sights. We tried to hire another Vélib‘ to get back to Les Halles, his neighbourhood, but we had a hard time finding a free one, it seemed every Vélib‘ in Paris was hired out! We decided to take the Métro instead. We caught up with another friend of his, Guillaume-Alexandre had dinner and then we had drinks at an Australian bar called, wait for it…Oz Bar. But the bar was filled with Frenchies and apart from the barmaid, I was the only other Australian there! The boys wanted to try “a real Australian beer” so we steered away from Fosters and I introduced them to Tooheys Extra Dry, though I did not like paying €6,00 for the privilege of having something from home. Though a cold beer was a great way to end a great day out in Paris.

Photo: Dalida Une Vie Exhibition