The introduction of public bicycle rental programs across the country is a part of this movement and has greatly increased the level of city cycling in France.  The bikes are cheap to rent, run on human energy (no carbon emissions!), and a great way to zip through traffic in a busy city.  Paris’ program is now the largest of its kind in the world.

France is a country that can be explored through many forms of transportation: by plane, by train, by car and by bus.  I’ve covered most of these in previous posts.  Once you’re in your destination city, however, cycling can be the most fun and efficient way to get around and explore your new surroundings.  Read on to find out how to use the public bikes in France.

If you’re looking for longer-distance cycling and a bit of outdoor adventure, there are numerous options for guided and unguided cycling tours.  These may include vineyard tours, multi-day journeys from town to town, or simply a day-long ride through the countryside.  You don’t have to be Tour de France ready to be up for a cycle tour, and it’s one of the most enjoyable and active ways to explore a region of France.

City Cycling · Paris · Nantes • Country Cycling · Cycle Tours · Cycle Trips

City Cycling

Major cities across France provide public cycles for city-wide use.  Here’s an overview of public bike rental programs in a few of those big cities.

Paris

Paris is not known for being an especially bike-friendly city.  Places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen with their wider roads, bike lanes and dedicated bike paths are much easier to navigate than the crowded streets of Paris.  The City of Lights could also be called the City of Aggressive Drivers (although it doesn’t compete with Rome on this front), and bike lanes often double as bus lanes, but there are thousands of brave cyclists who chose to share the road with motorized vehicles on a daily basis.

If the main streets of Paris are somewhat intimidating to cycle, the ease of accessing bikes for short-term use makes up for it.  Vélib’ (short for vélo liberté) — a network of bicycles for hire across the city — was first introduced in 2007.  Today, 20,000 bikes are available at over 1,600 station across the city.

Vélib' bikes in Paris

The bikes come equipped with locks, reflectors, lights, and a front basket.  Unfortunately, they don’t include helmets, so you have to provide your own.  You can pick a bike up at any station in the city and return it to a completely different one.  This is great for cyclists, but it has created a bit of a problem with bike distribution in certain parts of the city.

The top of Montmartre near Sacré Cœur, for instance, is a very popular place to pick up a bike.  It’s a huge hill with narrow streets and little automobile traffic, and as long as you know where the stairs are and to avoid them, why wouldn’t you want to ride down into the city on a bike?  Of course, very few people pick up bikes at the bottom of the hill to cycle up.  One of the early systematic problems with Vélib was unavailability of spaces at some stations and of bikes at others.  These days, special trucks are used to move bikes from overcrowded stations to empty ones.

Each station has a pay terminal, and the cost breaks down like this:

The 4-euro fee applies for up to 24 hours of use.  If you come to a station to return your bike and it’s full, the terminal will allow you an extra fifteen minutes to reach another station.

There is a catch.  Isn’t there always?  In order to rent a bike in Paris, you have to have a credit or debit card with an EMV-chip.  Although these are ubiquitous in cards from France and most of Europe, they are no longer used in most cards from North America.  If you’re visiting friends in Paris, you may be lucky enough to borrow a card.  If you’re a tourist with neither a European bank card nor a friend or acquaintance in France, and you wish to cycle around the city, you will have to seek out a privately owned bicycle rental shop where the rates are likely to be higher.

Nantes

Nantes is one of my favorite cities in France.  I lived in a small town in Normandy when I first arrived in France to teach English, so any big city accessible by a relatively short train ride was a welcome change.

Unlike Paris, Nantes is very bike-friendly.  The streets are wide and many are equipped with bike lanes.  The city is big, but not as big as the capital, and it’s possible to explore most of it on bike.  There are parks and museums, the city is bisected by the beautiful Loire river.  Paris also has abundant parks and natural spaces, but Nantes is a more manageable city.

The prices for bike rental in Nantes are even more reasonable:

Again, the 2-euro fee applies for up to 24 hours of use.  Unfortunately, the same bank card restrictions apply as with the Paris station terminals.

At this point, most major French cities have these public bike systems.  I’ve only used the ones in Paris and Nantes, but I encourage you to use them in other places!

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Country Cycling

If you decided to embark on a longer cycling journey while in France, the first thing you’ll want to do is choose a region.  Many cycle tour companies websites give descriptions of rides throughout all regions of France, so even if you’re planning to go it alone, use the sites as a resource for planning your trip.

Cycle Tours

If you prefer to put the planning in the hands of an expert and pay for it, cycle tours are the right choice for you.  A variety of options is quite easy to find online, but it’s important to know what you’re looking for.  Most companies offer all-inclusive packages that cover the bike and equipment, accommodation each night, and transport for your baggage from one place to the next, but it’s important to verify these factors so you don’t end up high and dry.

Some tours include optional wine tastings, city museum passes, and cell phone rentals.  A 5- to 6-day trip may start at around 550€, so it’s best to get as much out of it as you can.  Be sure the distance per day and type of riding is at your ability level, as well.  Most tours are designed to move at a fairly relaxed pace, so there isn’t too much to worry about.

Cycle Trips

If you’d rather try it on your own and/or like doing things on the cheap, the first thing you need to do is buy a map.  Not just a regular map.  A cycling map.  There are many options out there, but the best thing to look for (once you’ve chosen your area of travel) is a detailed, large-scale road map, especially one that shows unpaved paths and smaller lanes.

IGN (Institut Géographic National) makes a very popular series of maps that are well-liked by cyclists.  The Top 100 series of 20 maps allow tourists and locals alike to “pursue outdoor leisure activities (walking and cycling or mountain biking), when on holiday or over a weekend.”  They are highly rated by several cycling website and are quite affordable at 5.90€ each.

Renting a bike will cost you around 40€ a day, depending on where you pick them up and drop them off and what accessories you might need.  Saddle bags are helpful if you’re carrying anything more than a small backpack.

As a point of encouragement, my boyfriend and his brother, neither of whom speak French, went on an unescorted two-week cycling trip through the south of France.  They put a lot of kilometers on those bikes, and they managed to get by on one phrase: “Une chambre, deux lits.”

“One room, two beds.”

If they can do it, you can do it, so get out there and cycle!

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The 2010 Route

The tour route varies from year to year, and although most of it takes place in France, the cyclists will start in the Netherlands this time around. After the Prologue (which is apparently what it’s called) — a short 8km ride through Rotterdam — the real race begins.  The cyclists move south through Belgium, passing through Antwerp before ending the first leg in Bruxelles.  In fact, it’s not until the third leg — day 4, July 6 — that the race will cross into the north of France.

The 2010 Route

A Public Event • Supporting Your Team (in French!)

The 2010 race will pass through the following French towns:

• Arenberg Porte du Hainaut
• Cambrai
• Reims
• Épernay
• Montargis
• Gueugnon
• Tournus
• Station des Russes
• Morzine-Avoriaz
• Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
• Chambéry
• Gap
• Sisteron
• Bourg-lès-Valence
• Bourg-de-Péage
• Mende
• Rodez
• Revel
• Ax 3 Domaines
• Pamiers
• Bagnères-de-Luchon
• Pau
• Col de Tourmalet
• Salies-de-Béarn
• Bordeaux

Click on any of the above links for detailed maps of each segment of the race (including smaller towns the cyclists will pass through), dates, and a description of that day’s ride.

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A Public Event

For the athletes involved, the Tour de France is a remarkable feat of athleticism and endurance.  For the people living in and flocking to the towns on the route, it’s an incredible (if sometimes brief in passing) spectator sport, and a way to get lots of free goodies.

Free chocolate!

Preparing to catch a leg of the race can be as serious as procuring concert tickets for your favorite, likely-to-sell-out-in-two-minutes band: people camp out over night — or several nights — to guarantee the best seats.

The event is open to the public, so it is up to each individual to secure a good view of the passing bikes.  If you are gung-ho about getting the best seat in the house (or, you know, the street), you’ll have to wait it out with the die-hards.  Investing in (or bringing along) sleeping bags is a good idea, if you want to be at the front of the pack.

Once the cyclists have passed, which can happen quite quickly early on in the race, the caravan of swag follows.  Vehicles bearing the sponsors’ names, floats representing the teams, and lots of people hired to distribute the goods will stretch as far as (if not farther than) the race, itself.

Free candy!

The include Haribo (gummy candies!) Power Bar, Nesquik, Nestle Ricoré (pictured above), St. Michel (cookies!), Belin (more cookies!), and Cochonou (meat!).

So maybe I’m a bit fixated on the free food aspect of the race, but there are many other treats to be had.  Sponsors and Partners represent every kind of company from tire production to sportswear, and many of the companies (food-related or not) give away discount coupons, knick-knacks, and chances to win fabulous vacations and hotel stays (Étap Hotels is also one of the sponsors)!

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Supporting Your Team

The French are determinately loyal when it comes to supporting their riders, and fiercely divided when it comes choosing a favorite team member.  If you’re joining the spectators on the sidelines, be sure to have a few French phrases in your arsenal to hurl at the passing cyclists and spectators!

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Because of Ryanair’s foothold in the market, air and train travel have become much less expensive in Europe.  Companies like AerLingus and British Airways have to compete with the budget airline’s low fares, so it can also be worth it to shop around a bit.

As an American, I didn’t know anything about Ryanair when I arrived to live in France.  I had only heard rumors of flights for 5 euros, and I had to learn from experience the advantages and disadvantages of flying with an airline whose aim is to save as much money as possible.  Here I’ll lay out the facts (and my opinion) about the cost and comfort of flying Ryanair, along with facts about the location of airports and my own personal experience.

Cost

Ryanair can be a very inexpensive airline for traveling within Europe; keep in mind, however, that advertised prices (sometimes as low as 0€-5€) do not include taxes and fees:

• Taxes - often 25€ or more
• Checked baggage fees - 15€ for one; 50€ for two; max 15 kilos (33 pounds) each
  
• Online check-in fee (5€ and mandatory–don’t forget to or you’ll pay 40€ at the airport)
• The mysterious ‘handling fee‘ that online shows up on your confirmation - 5€

Other charges include:

• 10€ (each) - baby equipment such as booster seats, travel cots and car seats (one stroller is allowed for free)
• 40€ (each) - sports equipment including golf clubs, fishing rods, bicycles, canoes, skis and snowboards
• 40€ (each) - musical instruments
• None of the above items may exceed 2o kilos (44 pounds)

Free items/services include:

• ONE (and I do mean one) item of carry-on luggage

1. Item must be under 10 kilos (22 pounds) - In my experience, hand luggage is not often weighed.
2. Item must not exceed 55cm x 40cm x 20 cm (21.7″ x  15.7″ x 7.9″) - You will have to prove it fits in such a space.
3. Any purses, handbags or laptop bags must fit inside carry-on luggage or constitute only item of carry-on luggage.

• Special assistance in the form of wheelchairs and walkers, aid or service dogs for passengers in need; also the option for no assistance for those traveling with sighted companions, service dogs, or unaccompanied; you must request assistance at the time of booking, or it may not be available on the day of your flight
• As mentioned above, one stroller per passenger may be checked, free of charge

As you can see, a “free” or cheap ticket can quickly become a 50€ ticket (one-way). When searching for flights, look for tax-free bookings (they do pop up now and again), as that will save you the greatest amount of money.

At the end of the day, Ryanair tickets are still quite cheap by American standards, but you will get what you pay for.  Read on to find out more about Ryanair’s (lack of) amenities.

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Comfort

If you decide to book a flight with Ryanair, prepare to fly in minimal comfort.  Many of the airline’s planes feature seats that don’t recline and an absence of seat-back pockets.  Don’t imagine you’ll be entitled to a free bag of peanuts, either.  Bottled water, soda, coffee, tea small snacks and sandwiches all go for prices at least 2 times their value.

NOTE: I’d advise you not to be so bold as to request a glass of tap water.  I did one, and what I got was so off-color-yellow, tepid, and opaque that I couldn’t bring myself to drink it.  I just went thirsty.

When collecting your Ryanair boarding pass at the check-in counter, you’ll notice that you aren’t given a seat number.  This is another unique airline practice — first come, first served seating.  If you are desperate for a window or aisle seat, you can pay 4€ for Priority Seating, the privilege of being “one of the first passengers to board the plane.”

On a short flight and for a budget traveler, none of these woes are too much to bear.  Be warned, though, the airline is currently in negotiations with Boeing to create planes for standing-passenger flights and equipped with pay-toilets.

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Location

Check out my post on Beauvais Airport for details on flying Ryanair from Paris.  As I mention there, most airports served by the airline are located at least an hour outside of the purported destination city.  This means, in addition to the additional costs as listed above, you may also have to take into account the cost of getting to and from the airport once you arrive.

When booking a Ryanair flight, use to airport code to find out exactly where you’ll be landing, and what transport services are offered to get you to your final destination.

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Personal Experience

When I first moved to Europe, I flew Ryanair a lot.  I was living in a small town in France, so another hour to get to Beauvais airport on top of my two-and-a-half hour train ride into Paris didn’t seem like too much of a hassle.  As time went on, however, I grew tired of Ryanair’s notoriously bad customer service, the tiny Beauvais airport, and waiting in a line out the door while one employee tried to check in every passenger for the flight.

Ryanair has created a competitive market (as I mentioned above), and I soon found that other airlines’ prices were comparable to Ryanair’s (when all fees, taxes and transportation costs were added in).  The Eurostar train also became a favorite alternative of mine when traveling to the U.K.  It is a high-speed train that travels through the Chunnel, and if booked at least several weeks in advance, costs only about 60€ (one-way).

There are plenty of horror stories on the internet about the airline, but there are also those who praise its services and give good advice about how to avoid most of the fees.

For the budget traveler, Ryanair is a dream come true.  For anyone who lacks patience or is easily frustrated (like myself), however, it’s worth the extra cost to get a little service.

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Le feu d'artifice

Celebration •  Vocabulary

La Fête Nationale

La Fête Nationale, better known to us as Bastille Day, and sometimes simply referred to as le quatorze juillet in France.  The July 14th holiday commemorates the storming of the Bastille in 1789, an attempt to take la prise de la Bastille by force, free its political prisoners, and break into the stronghold of weapons.

The great prison break freed all of six or seven prisoners (none of them political) and didn’t quite yield the stockpile of weapons that was hoped for, but the event nonetheless lives on as the symbolic beginning to the long road of the French Revolution away from the monarchy and towards a constitution and the formation of the current governing bodies.

The spirit and foundation of the French Revolution eventually became the motto of France as a whole:

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité!

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La Célébration

Paris is home to the largest Bastille Day celebration in the world. The day begins with the military parade — le défilé — down the Champs-Élysées. Members of all branches of France’s military file past as planes from the Air Force fly overhead. Parisians gather to watch the pomp and ceremony, and the parade reminds them of their country’s freedom and power.

Le quatorze juillet is un jour férié (a public holiday) in France. The French spend the day eating and drinking, activities which still represents freedom, equality and brotherhood. Saucisses (sausages), gâteaux (cakes), and vins effervescents (sparkling wines) are favorites on the holiday.

The night celebration is what most Parisians look forward to. They gather on the Champ de Mars, the park in front of the Tour Eiffel to wait for the firework show. The pyrotechnic/musical spectacle of feu d’artifice begins at 11pm and only lasts 30 minutes, but the quantity of explosions is quite impressive.  Some years, fireworks are even launched directly off the Eiffel Tower.

All in all, La Fête Nationale is a full-day celebration that commemorates an important date in French history.

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Vocabulaire

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The Ice Cream Shop • Ice Cream Flavors • Making Your Order

Ice cream is something that the French simply got right. Italian-style gelato was introduced in France by Catherine de Medici (as the legend goes) in the late 16th century, when she was married into the French royal family.

Most ice cream shops in France still serve ice cream that more closely resembles gelato (yum!) than the ice cream we are more familiar with Stateside.

Whether you’re in the city or on the beach, eating it out of a cone, a dish, or on a crêpe, ice cream is the perfect dish to accompany any summer vacation in France.

Glace means ‘ice cream,’ but it also means plain old ice. (Technically, the literal term for ‘ice cream’ is crème glacée, but no one uses that term.)

A sign indicating a Palais de Glace means ‘Ice Palace,’ not (unfortunately) ‘Ice Cream Palace.’ If you see a shop marked Glace à l’Italienne, don’t expect Italian ice cream; instead, you’ll find what we call ‘Italian Ice’ — a drink made with flavored syrup or fruit puree.

Le glacier - The Ice Cream Shop

Glacier, like glace has multiple meanings. In the geological sense, it has the same meaning in French as in English. Context, though, is everything, and in this case it means ice cream maker or shop.

Here are the key words you’ll need to know when stepping into an ice cream shop:

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Parfums de glace - Ice cream flavors

Okay, now on to the myriad flavors!

Because French ice cream and sorbet is available is so many flavors — shops in beach towns like Nice have the widest selection — I have divided my lists by category: Classic (although perhaps not so typical in the U.S.), Fruit, and Unusual flavors.

All Flavors

Fruit flavors are more often than not indicative of a sorbet, but classic gelato is also made with fruit. There will usually be a separate area for sorbets, but when in doubt, you can always ask.

All Flavors

The South of France is home to some very unusual ice cream.  Traditional flavors include herbs and savory ingredients not usually seen in a sweet desert.  If you’re feeling adventurous about ice cream, the French Riviera is the place to be!

As hard as it may be to believe, there are probably a couple of flavors I forgot to mention (or have never come across myself).  Not to worry, though, the aesthetically pleasing displays (like the ones pictured in this section) make it easy to identify flavors visually.  Read on to practice placing an order.

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Au Comptoir - At the Counter

Now you have all the necessary vocabulary for understand an ice cream menu! If you’d like to do better than gesturing wildly and speaking in slow, loud English (as though that makes it easier to understand a new language), familiarize yourself with a few of the following phrases so you can be prepared when stepping up to the counter.

Once you’ve indicated how many scoops you want and whether you’d like a cone or a dish, you can simply point to or name the flavors you want (using the table above).

The more glaciers you visit, the more parfums you’ll be able to try, and the more practice you’ll get with your French phrases.  Get out there and eat some ice cream!

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If you happen to be in the right place at the right time to check out a film festival in France, you definitely should not hesitate to attend. Many film festivals present screenings with subtitles and feature films submitted from around the world.

Before you go, familiarize yourself with some vocabulary so you can effectively navigate a festival and choose films according to your taste. You can also learn some very simple phrases to help you express your opinion to any French-speaker after the show.

Film and Festival Vocabulary • Getting Around a Festival • Choosing a Movie • Conversation and Commentary

Film and Festival Vocabulary

Certain words are helpful to know in order to understand signs and simple conversations at a film festival. Have a look at this list, here, before going on to read the list of phrases below.

*Note that “film” in French, although spelled the same, is pronouned “feem.”  The “l” is not pronounced.

Look for prochaine and dernière on signs referring to the time of the séance so that you’re sure not to miss the next or the last screening.

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Getting Around a festival

Once inside a film festival, you’ll likely have questions about purchasing tickets, screening times, and costs. Look at the list below as a reference to help you in your queries.

If you’re having a lot of trouble, you can always ask:

• Parlez-vous anglais? (Do you speak English?)

If the answer is no, you can ask:

• Y a-t-il quelqu’un ici qui parle anglais, s’il vous plaît? (Is there someone here who speaks English, please?)

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Choosing a Movie

Some people aren’t picky about the movies they watch, but if you have any specifications about genre, be sure to voice them before buying a ticket.

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Conversation and Commentary

It doesn’t take much to be able to express a simple opinion about a film. The French tend to appreciate any effort made in their language, so even if you’re with English-speaking people, whipping out a French phrase or two about the film you’ve just seen could win you serious points.

*All adjectives listed masculine/feminine, when applicable.  “Film” is masculine in French.

Words like “magnificent” and “fabulous” may seem a bit over the top in English, but in French, they’re used fairly commonly.  What we see as hyperbole or exaggeration are is more standard in French.  They might find it a bit boring to know how often we use the words “good” and “fine” to describe things.

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“So, where’s the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?”

-Christina Aguilera
(She’ll never live that one down.)

Le Festival de Cannes

As most of us are well aware, the Festival de Cannes is an annual film festival held in the town of (you guessed it!) Cannes, France.  The event takes place each year (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et de Congrès, recognizable during the festival by its red carpet/steps, hoards of badge-wearing media, and an influx of celebrities and film moguls.

Public Access •  Admission to Venues •  In Order of Appearance

When and Where

This year (2010), the festival will take place May 12-23 with private (read: celebrity/film industry/media types) events throughout each day, and public events in the evenings.

As mentioned in an earlier post, Tim Burton will be heading up this year’s Feature Film Jury as President.  He will lead the committee in judging the 20 films that have been selected for La Compétition, each hoping to win the prestigious Palme d’Or.  Films in the running will be screened at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, which is inside the Palais and not accessible to the general public.

***WARNING*** to celeb-seekers/paparazzi: The steps of the Palais will see a lot of star action, but heed this information from the official Festival de Cannes website:

Important: Admission to the Steps, Palais, Festival and Marché du Film theatres is strictly forbidden to anyone with camcorders, cameras, Webcams or any other audiovisual recording device. Mobiles must be switched off. It is completely forbidden to photograph, film, record or retransmit the screenings by any means. Any violation is subject to possible prosecution.

Of course, in order to violate this rule, you’d first have to be admitted into any of these spaces, which (as you’ll see below) is pretty unlikely.

Although public events are few and far between, plenty of the festival takes place outside the Palais.

Un Certain Regard, a smaller and separate competition, originated as a way for unusual films from all over the world to be screened (out of competition) during the famous festival.  In 1998, the Prix Un Certain Regard was created, a prize awarded by a one-person jury to the winner of this competition.

All films in this category are screened la salle Debussy (no public access) and at day-after screenings at la salle Bazin.

Other events include les courts métrages en Compétition (short films in competition), which are also screened at la salle Debussy and compete for the Palme d’Or du court métrage. La séléction Cinéfondation is a competition with submissions of short- and medium-length films from film schools the world over; these films are screened at la salle Buñuel. Les films Hors Compétion (Out of Competition) screen at various theaters, none of them open to the general public.

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Public Access

Le Cinéma de la Plage (The Cinema on the Beach) is the ultimate (and pretty much only) public event at Cannes. It is free and runs on a first-come, first-served basis. There are as many tickets available as there are seats, so get there early to secure yourself a spot.

Audience members watch a screening of The Piano on the beach at the 2008 festival.

During the festival, le Cinéma de la Plage kicks off at 8:30pm with a live musical act. The films usually begin around 9:15pm, and did I mention it’s free?

The beach in questions is along the Promenade de la Croisette, just down the road from the Palais.

An official schedule of Cinéma de la Plage events and films will be released a week before the festival.

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Admission to Venues

So, let’s face it, you are so not getting into most of these events; I mean, unless you’re famous, or a much more convincing liar than I am. You’ve got the Cinéma de la Plage to console you, but just for fun, here are the requirements for entering the following venues:

Le Grand Théatre Lumière

• Screening: la Compétition, les films Hors Compétition
• Entry requirements: official Badge or Invitation

La salle Debussy

• Screening: Un Certain Regard, les courts métrages en Compétition
• Entry requirements: official Badge

La salle Buñuel

• Screening: la séléction Cinéfondation, Cannes Classics
• Entry requirements: official Badge

La salle du Soixantième

• Screening: les Séances spéciales, les séances du lendemain (La Compétition and les films Hors Compétition)
• Entry requirements: official Badge

La salle Bazin

• Screening: les séances du lendemain (Un Certain Regard), Press screenings
• Entry requirements: press or day-after screening Badge

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In Order of Appearance

le Festival de Cannes - Cannes Film Festival

le Palais des Festivals et de Congrès - Palace of Festivals and of Congress

la/en Compétition - The/In Competition

le Grand Théâtre Lumière - (Same in English, lit. The Big Light Theater)

la Palme d’Or - Main competition prize (lit. The Golden Palm Leaf)

Un Certain Regard - (Same in English, lit. a Certain or Clear Look or Glance)

le Prix Un Certain Regard - the Prize Un Certain Regard

la salle Debussy - The Debussy Theater (lit. room)

la salle Bazin - The Bazin Theater

les courts métrages en Compétition - Short Films in Competition

la Palme d’Or du court métrage - Short Film Prize

la séléction Cinéfondation - The Cinefondation Selection

la salle Buñuel - The Buñuel Theater

les films Hors Compétition - Films Out of Competition

le Cinéma de la Plage - the Cinema on the Beach

la Promenade de la Croisette - (Cinema on the Beach location)

la salle Soixantième - The Soixantième Theater (lit. The 60th Theater)

les Séances spéciales - Special Screenings

les séances du lendemain - Day-after Screenings

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This tradition of flower-giving began in France as a way of marking the arrival of spring with the gift of un muguet, or a lily of the valley, on le 1er (premier) mai.

Des muguets

The lily of the valley has long been viewed as a symbol of luck in France.  As early as the 16th century, then-King Charles IX received the fleur as a porte-bonheur (good-luck charm).

The tradition of giving the flower on the 1st of May began at the beginning of the 20th century and continues today.  Many French citizens, young and old alike, give a lily of the valley as un cadeau (a gift) to celebrate the holiday.  The French government now even allows the sale of le muguet tax-free on 1er mai.

La fête du Travail et de la Concorde Sociale

In France, as in many other countries, May Day has come to be synonymous with la journée internationale des travailleurs, la fête des travailleurs,  la fête du Travail, and the official name in the  title above.  However it’s referred to, and in its various forms and translations, May Day is an observed labor day in France.  In the U.S., we celebrate our Labor Day in September, but May 1st has long marked a day of protests, marches and strikes for les droits des ouvriers (workers’ rights) across the world.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the French are a people proud of their willingness to protest and affect change.  The decisions to create an 8-hour workday, to make May 1st (initially) une journée chômée (a public holiday), and then (later) to make it un jour férié chômé et payé (a paid public holiday) were all thanks to the civic action of the French people.

In typical French fashion, May Day remains a holiday that celebrates both the beauty of Spring and the heartiness of the people.

The “Paris-Beauvais Airport” is a bit of a misnomer.  Ryanair commissioned the construction of the airport and remains its primary airline.  If you don’t know about Ryanair (and I didn’t before moving to Europe), it is a budget (and I do mean budget) airline based in Dublin that serves most European capitals small airports located at least an hour outside of most European capitals.  (See my post on the airline for more details.)  They name the airports by the nearest destination city and sometimes include the real location, i.e. “Hamburg-Lübeck” (which is neither in Hamburg nor Lübeck) and “London-Gatwick.”

The Paris-Beauvais is, in fact, located in a small town on the outskirts of Beauvais (which is in turn on the outskirts of Paris) called Tillé.  Short of a taxi ride that will cost you well over 100€, there is really only one way of getting to and from BVA: the shuttle bus.

La Navette •  From Paris to BVA •  From BVA to Paris •  Personal Experience

La Navette (The Shuttle Bus)

The navette departs west Paris from a bus depot near the Porte Maillot métro station.  (Click here to download a free métro map.)

The trip between Porte Maillot and BVA takes about an hour and 15 minutes.  The ticket costs 14€ one-way.  Tickets used to be available for advanced purchase online (saving you the trouble of having to stand in a line), but for “technical reasons,”  the web service has been suspended until further notice (as of November 2009).

In the meantime, tickets may be purchased at the bus depot, in the arrival lounge of BVA, or from the vendor outside the airport who will be stationed near the bus, itself.

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From Paris to BVA

If you are traveling from central Paris to BVA, you will want to take métro ligne une (line 1) direction (towards) La Défense.

When you get off the métro at Porte Maillot, you will see an overpass, over it a large shopping center, and across from the shopping center a bus depot.  This is where you will catch the navette.  (There is also a large hotel nearby called Concorde Lafayette, for a point of reference.)

Refer to the bus timetable on the Aéroport Paris Beauvais Tillé website to find out exactly when to catch the navette for your particular flight.  As a general rule, buses leave the depot 3 hours and 15 minutes before the flight depature time, leaving about a 2-hour window upon arrival and the airport.

There will be many buses at the depot, but the ones preparing for departure will have signs in the front window indicating the the flight destination (i.e. -  Glasgow, Madrid, Dublin).  This way, you will know which bus to get on and when.

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From BVA to Paris

Beauvais is a very small airport (as I recall, there are only five or six gates), and there’s only one way to exit.  When you go out the doors, the navette will be waiting to the right.

As mentioned above, you can either buy your bus ticket in the arrival lounge (just before exiting) or once outside, just by the bus.

Buses generally depart the airport about 20 minutes after a flight arrives, giving passengers enough time to collect baggage, buy a ticket, and board.

The bus will deliver you back to the depot at Porte Maillot, and you will be able to see the big M sign for the métro across the road.  From there you can get on ligne une (line 1) direction (towards) Chateau de Vincennes

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Personal Experience

I have to say (and this is my completely biased opinion), I hate the Beauvais Airport.  Part of this stems from my hatred of Ryanair — their lack of organization and customer service –  but despite that fact that it is a very small airport, I have never proceeded through check-in and security quickly.  On the contrary, counters tend to be understaffed, and long lines for security and passport check stretch out the door as employees wander through the crowd calling one flight at a time to come through.

As with most Ryainair flights at most airports, passengers must walk through gate doors, down and outside the airport, across and the tarmac and up steps onto the planes (removing the boarding tunnel is one of their numerous cost-cutting measures).  This seems like a very romantic idea until it starts raining or snowing.

After about a dozen attempts at flying to and from Beauvais to save money, I realized it just wasn’t worth it.  Usually, when taking into account the extra 28€ (total) and the hour and 15 minutes (each way), it’s just not worth it to me.  The price ends up being about the same as a ticket from a closer airport, and I’d rather pay a little more for a shorter journey.

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Tim Burton

If you’re planning to attend, and you don’t yet have all of your accommodation and travel sorted out, you’d better either be stinking rich or very resourceful.  As it is, most events are entirely restricted from the public, with passes only provided for members of the film industry and the press.

For more on limited public events and the authoritative guide to attending the Cannes Film Festival, check out Cannes - A Festival Virgin’s Guide.  Just for fun, I used their hotel finder to see what it would cost to check in on the 1tth and out on the 24th.

Turns out my imaginary trip to Cannes would cost me a minimum of 220€ a night, which is slightly outside of my real-life budget, so I’ll have to be content to watch the action from afar.

Last week, the official poster was revealed on the festival’s website, featuring a luminous (buh-dum-ch!) Juliette Binoche, magic paint brush in hand and coy smile on lips.

Credit : copyright © Brigitte Lacombe – graphic design Annick Durban

The 2009 festival was infamously interrupted by workers’ strikes (the french love nothing more than their manifestations and grèves); screenings had to be canceled when protesting electric workers shut off power.  A certain amount of scandal also arose when a wheelchair-bound director, pass in hand, was not permitted to enter the red carpet area.

The official list of films for the 2010 festival will be revealed on April 15th, and in the meantime, I will keep you posted with more amusing and scandalous stories from past festivals, practical advice for visiting Cannes, and what to say if you do happen to run into Juliette Binoche and want to pay her a compliment (a bad example, I know, as she speaks perfect English).