For many years now, parking has never been an issue for motorcycles in the French capital.
You were asked to park on the sidewalk as long as you didn't hinder pedestrians.
This has in fact legal, since it has been a law since 1994.
However, this started changing a few years ago when the Champs Elysee (the pride of Paris) installed a few motorcycle parking spots and told motorcycle that they were no longer allowed to park on the avenue itself.
To back their new policy up, the police started handing out parking tickets. Of course there aren't enough parking spots, so automatically you end up with a ticket (often you don't know it since there's no windscreen wiper to put the ticket on).
Then, more and more areas in Paris followed. Now, many busy streets have a "no motorcycle parking" policy, in fact so many now, that it becomes difficult to park your bike. So, as usual, the French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC) started a protest last Saturday (15 May).
In one of the busiest shopping streets, boulevard Haussman (where the Galeria Lafayette is located), some 50 motorcycles arrived at 8 o'clock in the morning and took up all car parking spaces on the roads. Half an hour later it had become a royal mess, since cars were not able to park and shop. The bikers started handing out leaflets explaining why they were taking up car spaces, and if the Paris city-hall continued its actions against motorcycles, this would be the permanent result! And the really nice thing about this protest is that it's completely legal!
Apparently the message arrived loud & clear at both the city-hall and the police. They're going to have to rethink their strategy ! The car drivers did not become angry, in fact, they support the FFMC efforts, since they're the ones that'll loose.
Click here to read the article (in French) (Source: FFMC)
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