Bonjour de Paris! Hello from Paris! I can't believe I have lived in this beautiful city for two weeks now and haven't written a decent blog post about it, BUT there is so much to tell that it's overwhelming! I have to start with a post about Fat Tire Bike Tours because my first day in Paris included one of their bike tours and I'm so glad it did! I'm going to give you a run down of the entire Paris Day Bike Tour so you know what to expect, but I highly recommend going on a Fat Tire Bike Tour!

I moved to Paris with no friends in the city and a few contacts that I had been e-introduced to prior to arriving, so I was all alone in the city! One of the reasons I am so happy that I went on the bike tour on my first full day in the city is because I made friends during the tour! I arrived at the Fat Tire office on tour day and checked in; I happened to be assigned to a group where I met two lovely ladies from Chicago! I was so happy to hear English that I immediately introduced myself and hit it off with them. We stayed together during the tour and then got dinner that night and proceeded to hang out for the next few days until they went home. That's a side note, but it makes me think that everyone who goes on Fat Tire Tours is friendly, so there's that.... After getting checked in, we selected our bikes, set our seat height, and practiced riding in the courtyard, before lining up to hear the tour plan and rules.

Admittedly, I was a little wobbly on my bike because it has been a while since I've ridden a bike, but I managed to get it together. Our tour guide, Nick, was entertaining and knowledgable about all of the sites we were visiting. At each site, we would stop and hear a bit of history surrounding the area before starting to ride again. At one point, we rode in the middle of traffic (which is crazy in Paris), and it was so exciting, but I felt safe the entire time because I was with the tour group and Nick was directing us the entire time.

I have been to Paris twice before this visit, but the bike tour was the perfect way to get reacquainted with the city. Seeing Paris by bike is a great way to understand the layout of the different monuments and areas of the city; they look so far apart on a map, but by bike they're not far at all! This was my first Fat Tire Bike Tour ever and now I'm looking at doing another one when Stephen arrives in a few days because he has never been to Paris and I want him to have a great introduction to my favorite city. As I started writing this post, I went back to the Fat Tire Bike Tours site to get their link, etc. and I started looking at all of the different types of tours they offer in Paris- so many! Now I'm torn and can't decide which tour to take Stephen on when he visits next week (they all look so good!).