Tour Mania Versus Zee Segway

The Segway Peloton of Paris

I’ve been thinking about whizzing around Paris these days.

It’s July and I’m consumed with The Tour. I’m referring to the Tour de France, as I’m sure you might have guessed.

I love watching the undulating ribbon of the peloton weave its way through France, but it’s in Paris on the last day of this epic bike race that this colorful procession mystifies me the most. I think it’s because Paris is so familiar to me: I’ve walked the great length of the Champs-Elysées countless times, wended my way around the expansive place de la Concorde, strolled beneath the arcades of the rue de Rivoli from Concorde to Palais Royal. Seeing the Tour de France posse (caravan, cyclists, team cars, press and officials) dominate this familiar terrain mesmerizes me the most. How incredibly fitting it is to have some of the world’s finest athletes power over the same routes reserved for royalty and heads of state.

If you’re not able to be in the City of Light on the final day of this great race, I encourage you to at least catch part of the last stage on T.V. Even the lively commentary of the sportscasters can’t drone out the pack’s thunderous rumble over the cobbles, the resounding swoosh and whir as they travel along Paris’s centuries-old streets.

If you’re at all like me, you’ll also be envious of the racers having the streets of Paris to themselves. Quel bonheur! Can you imagine how great that feels, pedaling through these historic streets at lightening speed?

There’s nothing like experiencing a place from a bicycle or I suppose, even a Segway. I’m reminded of this every time I hop on a bike but it really hit home recently when a friend told me about how he breezed around Paris standing head and shoulders above the masses. He had taken a Segway tour and visited a good number of Paris’s best-loved sites and monuments in a flash, without the inconveniences of sore feet or having to get on and off a bus a ton of times.

“You mean one of those goofy looking motorized vehicles that has you riding around town perfectly upright?” I asked.

“You betcha,” my friend replied. “They’re really cool. And comfortable, too.”

In my mind I had a hard time getting past the Sci Fi look of these two-wheeled vehicles. My otherworldly impressions of these personal transporters were further reinforced when my friend told me that you lean forward to go forward, backward to go backward.

Hmmmm. I instantly visualized my friend to-ing and fro-ing through the streets of Paris. This image was juxtaposed with a flash of the peloton rounding the top of the Champs-Elysées in a sort of hairpin turn fashion requiring the riders to lean into the turn in order to maintain balance on the bike.

“Sounds revolutionary,” I remarked, half jokingly. Yet I became truly intrigued when I learned that these Segways are driven by electric motors, a greener alternative to other personal transportation devices such as mopeds and motorcycles, both of which occupy a good amount of Paris road space along with its usual clog of motorized vehicles.

Cycling around Paris has become increasingly alluring to me, especially with the city emerging as a more biker friendly metropolis. But now I have Segways to consider. I suddenly feel intrigued, especially by the contrast of this Modern World transportation in Old World Paris.

I can’t help wondering what the Tour de France riders might think of the Segways. Cancel that thought. Fun is fun.

I made a mental note to check out these zippy personal transporters next time I’m in the French capital. For now though I’m really looking forward to cruising around Paris with the guys from the Tour on Sunday, July 25th. What a beautiful sight indeed!

Fat Tire Bike Tours Paris, FatTireBikeTours.com/Paris

City Segway Tours Paris, CitySegwayTours.com/Paris

Note that these above companies operate bike, Segway and walking tours in other major cities and tourist destinations around the world.  Do check them out!

If you’re a Tour de France fan, be sure to listen to my interview with Graham Watson, renowned photographer of the Tour.  You can also read about it and see some of his stunning images here.

Ready, Get Set, Go!