Red Wine & Bicycles

"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg...acknowledged the challenges of bringing home a popular Parisian bike rental program the administration is exploring, saying he was unsure it would translate to New York."

"Under the program, which started in July, thousands of bicycles are docked along Paris streets, and customers can rent them after buying a membership ranging in time from a day (about $1.30) to a year (about $38). Members pay by the half-hour, with the first 30 minutes free. To discourage long rides, the fee rises from $1.30 for the second half-hour to $5.20 for the fourth.

Judging from the lines of empty consoles in the city center and the ubiquity of riders, even in the rain, the program has been a hit here, despite occasional technical glitches and a lack in some places of empty spots to return a bicycle. One official told Mr. Bloomberg that 100,000 people had signed up for yearly membership and that customers had taken more than 5 million rides.

Whether such a system could survive in New York, where bike theft is common, remains to be seen. Lionel Bordeaux, a press officer for City Hall here, said the fact that all fees were paid by credit card, and a roughly $200 charge for unreturned bikes, discouraged stealing."

As for lunch with his guests, the mayor had this to offer:

"The wines were French, and they were excellent," Mr. Bloomberg, a fan of California merlot, told reporters, saying that he did not normally drink at lunch but had made an exception out of deference to (Paris Mayor Bertrand) Delanoë's hospitality. "Can't explain the second glass of red, but that's neither here nor there," he joked.

Thanks to Mark Boshnack