More technology -- and green city planning

Seen on the Boulevard Saint-Germain: free bikes owned by the city.* Pick one up, drop one off. The bikes are grey and fairly hefty. The Boulevard Saint-Germain now has a bike lane. Or rather, a buses-and-bikes lane.

* Free for the first 30 minutes. After that, you pay. Read details in English here.

A U.S. blogger in Paris wrote about the first day of the free bikes here in July of this year.

The Christian Science Monitor wrote a nice clear article here.

Photo below: a bike exhibit and demonstration in June, a month before the launch of the Vélib' program. (The word is a play on the two French words for "bike" and "freedom.")

Shortly before the launch, L'Express had this to say. (Alert: that article is in French.)

The city of Lyon started this bike trend.

Yes, Lyon beat Paris to it. TV piece here.

Lyon is, after all, the capital of the Gauls. (Yes, Gauls in the plural, the three Gallic provinces conquered by Caesar. One Gaul, two Gauls, three Gauls.)