The Bicycle Thieves

If you're reading this in London, you will have seen, might even have tried, the new bikes for hire around the city. Velib, Paris's version, have been around a while and I first became excited about them when The Noise and Knows a Lot daughter were away with family in the Loire and my oldest friend came to visit for the deliciously sunny weekend. Heaven. In theory. Ordinarily, with kids OBV*, I'm a safety freak but hey, this is summer in Paris and fear of a sweaty head hairdo got the better of me so this was minus a helmet. It's ok - I know you're pre-empting an accident here and luckily there wasn't one - not of the injury kind at least. But a huge dent in my bank balance after I didn't read the Velib small print and realise that every time you stop somewhere, you dock it at the Velib station, rather than using the bike lock, or you can end up with a whopping bill, not to mention the late night search for a stolen bike and a very cross husband to add to the mix. In my dreams, child-free time is chilled, stylish and relaxed. A parallel universe like stepping through the Narnia wardrobe. My weekend that should have been Paris at its best turned into a rather less romantic version of The Bicycle Thieves.
*Just so you know I can be trusted with your little darlings at playdates.