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Segway Tour
Have you Segway(ed) Paris yet?
Your feet usually transport you on a Paris sightseeing walking tour. Otherwise, the mode of transport might be riding a bike or touring by bus. But have you ridden a Segway in Paris yet?
Remember back – I have my Paris Segway legs now, but I can remember my first encounter not so long ago. I was waiting for the sight of a Segway underneath the Eiffel Tower.
I turned and there it was. Britt, a blond-hair, blue-eye, Texan, was rolling back and forth and turning around in circles on this human transporter.
It looked so strange.
The first time anyone in my group of seven touched the Segway was to either drag it outside the office or push it outside – we were such amateurs then.
Why people try this The reasons for trying a Segway vary – but the end result is the same – it is fun!
Our group was made up of Jen and Paul from Florida; Sandy and Kean from New England and Tony and his son, Michael from Australia.
On their two-week vacation every year Jen and Paul decide to do something different. Last year, it was ballooning; this year, Segway(ing).
Sandy and Kean are staying in a friend’s Paris apartment for a couple of months. Last year they saw the Segway tour and decided that they would do it this year.
With no known Segways in Australia, Michael found out about it at school. On a two-month European sabbatical, he and his dad decided to try it during their short family Paris séjour.
Britt, our guide, couldn’t have been more patient.
The most senior of the guides, she just finished college in Texas. At the end of this season, she will end her tour days and make a carrier move.
Personally, after so many occasions of guiding groups (sometimes 10 a week) on Segways for the past year, I don’t know how she will be able to move without one!
How to ride We went through an orientation with Britt on how to handle the human transporter. She wanted us to feel relaxed and comfortable with its movement and incredible stability.
It is just like starting to walk again without moving your legs. Okay, I don’t want to scare you.
It helps to have a little bit of ski legs, self-confidence and coordination.
Actually, you just pay attention to the guide and check the green smiling face on the handlebar periodically and get to know your traveling companions and you're off!
The left handlebar controls the turning; leaning forward controls the speed, rolling onto your toes and rolling to your heels makes it go forward or backward. Planting your feet makes it stop.
As beginners, we began with the “black” key – which controls the slower rate of forward speed and the rate of speed for turning right and left.
The journey Traveling smoothly up and down small curbs, powered by a twin NiMH battery, we made our first stop at the Musée de l’Armée.
Our first intersection was full of after-work traffic with numerous intersecting streets, not the Arc de Triomphe (thank goodness) but challenging all the same.
Undeterred, we were building our confidence and having fun and crossing the streets in the pedestrian crosswalks.
One of the reactions as we traveled in a neighborhood was a French man in his car who started laughing, pointing at us and shaking his head.
You would have thought we were celebrities when the heads of dining patrons whipped around to watch us pass.
Judging from the nonchalance of others, this invasion of their neighborhood happens every day like clockwork.
Britt gave some historical notes along the way, but this was more of a social occasion than a fact-finding tour. The more we rode the transporter and became more comfortable with it, the less we wanted to stop anyway.
We took a rest to admire the lights of Paris and the water traffic on the Seine from the Passerelle Solférino and made our way to the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel to watch the twinkling of the Eiffel Tower.
At the crêpe stand along the Champs-Elysées, we turned off our transporters and took a break.
This break meant we were ready to advance to the “yellow” key..... We had advanced to higher speed and quicker turns.
No whiplash, no scrapes, one fall, one stumble, one scraping of fenders and tons of self-confidence later, we returned to our starting point.
No on jumped off when we returned to the office. In fact, the night manager wondered if she and Britt would have to peel us off the transporters.
It was a relaxing tour and lots of fun. If you are someone who travels often to Paris, I would recommend saving up in your piggy bank and doing the tour.
What to bring along I brought too much; I didn’t need all of my reading material and odds and ends.
On a September evening for example, a sweater, windbreaker, camera, credit card and some cash, gloves and a scarf suffice.
The attached bag on the Segway is roomy enough for two medium-size purses. Otherwise, someone is always at the shop to watch larger items (e.g., backpacks).
You can bring water or else buy it at the shop. Eat before you go at one of the brasseries in the area –unless you have already planned for a late night supper.
Is it expensive I asked Tony....? Tony and I agreed that the answer lies in the big picture: It’s something special, it’s not available in Australia and how often is one going to do it?
The tour costs 70 euros and reservations are a must! They accept Visa and MasterCard.
The round trip tour took about 4 hours (started at 6:30 p.m. and finished at 10:30 p.m.). It covers about 8 km; although the Segway has a 15 to 20 km battery limit.
They limit the group to 7 clients and 1 guide, so it is much more intimate than their bike trip.
They have a day tour and a night tour. I took the night tour and except for it being difficult to take photos, I was very happy with it.
The Segway night tours run between
April 1 - October 31*, every day at 6:30pm.
The day tour runs March 1 - November 30** at 10:30 a.m. **no tour July 25
The ball started rolling – or rather the Michelin tires started turning on this CitySegway branch of FatTire Bike Tours (formerly known as Mike’s Bike Tours – Paris) in 2003.
The inventor Dean Kamen invented this human transporter with “its intuitive controls that guide the rider's natural motions”.
According to the internet information that I found, Segway is a derivative of “segue” which means smooth transition from one place or idea to another.
Night tour group meeting under the Eiffel Tower at 6:30 p.m.
Orientation over, the night tour and I are on our way!
Day Tour mingling with pedestrians entering Jardin des Tuileries
Day Tour on break for lunch Jardin des Tuileries
Day tour group Jardin des Tuileries
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