[DeTomaso] NPC: Paris moto-taxis and near death experiences

Charles McCall charlesmccall at gmail.com
Thu Jun 18 03:40:00 EDT 2009


Hi all,

 

I'm in Paris this week for a big air show called Le Bourget. 

 

Yesterday, at the end of the show I had a 45 minute wait in the line for
taxis, and then we sat for an hour and 15 minutes in the huge traffic jams
heading into the center of Paris. Two hours by my watch to arrive at my
hotel in the center of Paris.

 

Today I found a much better solution - something called "Moto-taxis". 

 

These are Honda goldwings, which are officially licensed taxis. Most of them
are driven by lunatic, suicidal psychopaths with death wishes :-) At least
mine was ;-) 

 

So, suit and tie and all, I get on the back of the Gold Wing and off we go.
(they give you a baker's hair net thing to "protect" your hair since you are
sharing helmets with ???) Splitting lanes of stopped cars at 50mph - we
clacked rear view mirrors twice with stopped cars at that speed, so the
driver simply folded in the mirrors. Rocking back and forth, weaving in and
out of traffic - despite the occasional moments of my life flashing before
my eyes it was really a neat experience. These guys use acceleration and
mobility to slip through closing holes, squeeze between busses and 4x4's,
and the 75 minute trip from yesterday was complete in 22 minutes. 

 

The driver was a riot - "Woah - that was a close one!! I should have nailed
it earlier.." 

 

I picked a middle aged driver because I figured that if he had lived that
long, then he must be somewhat talented. It was quite an exhilarating ride
to say the least! Paris traffic at rush hour is absolutely horrid. 

 

He dropped me off at the hotel and was late to pick up someone who had
reserved a ride. 

 

"No problem", he said. "Now that I don't have a passenger I don't have to
p*ssyfoot through traffic and can really DRIVE.." That thought is just
scary!

 

Anyway, next time you are in Paris and don't want to sit in traffic for
hours on end, the moto-taxis aren't all that much more expensive, and if you
figure your time into the equation are quite a bargain. 

 

And supposing you live through the experience, you'll have, well, quite the
experience! 

 

Anyway, that was the highlight of my day (even compared to aerial displays
by F-18s, Eurofighters, Dassaults, and seeing the A-380 flying..)

 

Charles McCall

1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375

"Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe"

 <http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323>
http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323

 




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