Riding along the Seine

I'm holidaying in Paris and wanted to share a few of my favorite moments so far. If you've never been, I recommend spending at least three or four days just seeing the major attractions, and longer if you want to really explore some of the different neighborhoods / arrondissements.

On Day 1 we rented some bikes from one of the many rental stations around the city and did our own bicyclette tour along the river Seine.

A word of warning at this point, if you are traveling from outside Europe try to get yourself a Visa card. Most places we found in Europe don't take Mastercards from outside the EU because they can't be verified, especially ticket machines for renting bikes, buying Metro or train tickets etc. which caused a lot of problems when staffed ticket offices were closed for the weekend.

The bikes got us around much faster than walking, we saw more than we would have if we had taken the underground Metro, and there is nothing quite like the wind in your hair as you pedal alongside the river. There are bike lanes next to the bus lanes, and we also rode on the wide sidewalks wherever it wasn't too busy. I'm not sure if that is actually allowed, but no-one seemed upset about us doing it.

Because there are so many bike rental stations around you can check your bike in and out when you stop for lunch, to visit a museum etc, so you don't pay for that time.

We rode to the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Latin Quarter for lunch, and stopped at almost every bridge along the way, including Pont des Arts.

Pont des Arts has a rich history, which you can read about here and has been featured in many movies and TV shows over the years. It is a bridge for lovers, and tourists have started attaching padlocks (inscribed with their names) to the bridge and throwing the keys into the river as a sign of their everlasting love. I don't normally condone throwing things into local waterways, and it is such a 'touristy' thing to do but we did join in with the hopes that we can come back and visit our lock in years to come. I ordered an engraved lock ahead of time from MakeLoveLocks.com, but often you'll find people selling them around the bridges.

Here's a little video of our Paris bicyclette adventure and attaching our lock to Pont des Arts.

If you'd like to see more photos check out Sweet Divergence on Instagram. And if you've got any great tips for my next Paris trip, or any questions, leave me a comment below!