I lived in Paris in the mid 80s. It was my junior year abroad so I was taking university classes. I was also working part time in a bike shop near the Gare du Nord. I showed up at the store to check it out and the owner was so surprised to find an American who was fluent in French and knew bikes that he offered me a job. I, of course, used that money to buy a bike (a Motobecane with a full Reynolds 531 frame and a Shimano 600 group). I rode that bike everywhere in Paris. There were few if any bike lanes and the traffic was awful. I didn't care. When you are in your 20s, you know you will live forever. Plus I was riding faster than the cars. But yeah you had to deal with lots and lots of cars which meant that only a few crazy people were on bikes. What Paris is doing makes a lot of sense.
Last edited by bikemig; 03-30-23 at 09:39 AM.