manèges et jeux in paris

over christmas the city of paris set up about a dozen old-fashioned carrousels around town that were both awesome to look at and free to ride!  we found as many as we could--they were all different and had their own character, and it was always such a pleasure to discover one.  to go with the horses on the carrousels, we also found a real-life pony for astrid to ride!  and, in addition to all that, we also visited a giant antique carnival games museum, which was like visiting an upper-class mardi gras world (no offense to new orleans).  it all added up to an extra dimension of fun in the city of light!

la grande roue, or roue de paris, is a giant, temporary ferris wheel on the place de la concorde--sadly, it was not part of the free riding deal

admittedly, it looked a bit different during the day

(the tiny white dot, just off of center towards the top, is this same roue as seen from the top of the eiffel tower!)

this was amazing--it is a 110+ year old manège de vélocipedes, or bicycle ride, that runs by the riders pedalling as fast as possible for three minutes, then it all came to a stop when a carnie jumped on the moving ride, laid down on his side, and pulled a crank to activate the brakes! check out the video below...

parisian bicycle ride!