JEREMY TAYLOR: WRITER - TEACHER - JUGGLER
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So you're a pessimist... (part 2 of 3) |
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JEREMY TAYLOR: WRITER - TEACHER - JUGGLER
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So you're a pessimist... (part 2 of 3) |
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Accidents will happen After 26 years, I had another bicycle accident. I was knocked off by a woman who 'simply didn't see him'. The fact that she had jumped a red light - which she also didn't see, and was driving without insurance didn't help matters. I sustained a bruised little finger but my bike was a complete write-off. It took six months to get any money back - Axa said, "Well we asked her to pay some money but she said no!" |
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Students and transport Students = bicycles, right? Er, wrong, at least not in Pau. Here is the car park outside ESC, a private business school. |
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Crap parking There are only a few thousand car parking places around Pau University so it is completely normal to park on the grassy areas. What hope is there for cycling as a means of transport in France? Not a lot. Cycling is a sport - Sunday morning, out with the boys for a quick spin in your lycra, then put the bike away until next week. And watching the Tour de FRance |
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What they think of cycling ESC does cater for cyclists. Here you can see where five cyclists used to be able to put their bikes - until someone drove over it and flattened it making it useless. |
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And the pharmacologist of the year is... Once a year, doped up to the eyeballs and preceded by more motorised vehicles than there are competitors... Before the riders come past, there are a huge fleet of advertising vehicles, tossing trinkets into the crowd. A few children have been killed in recent years, scrabbling to get a few sweets in front of an oncoming camion. Just in case you didn't recognise it, it's the Tour de France passing my front door. |
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SNCF I I wanted to take my bike on a train 200km away and cycle back. 'Nope, it isn't possible' I was told by the information man. 'No trains going that way accept bicycles. But you could ask the Stationmaster....' |
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SNCF II I asked the stationmaster who also told me it wasn't possible - 'but you could try asking the ticket inspector on the train...' So the following morning I turned up with my bike, ready to face a ticket inspector who could have told me to fous le camp but instead I found a wagon specially designed for bikes. Oh dear SNCF... |
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| Want to see some not-so-wonderful things about French food, Telecom and toilets? | |||