Van parking in Paris?

Treadway1

Morning all,

Currently organising a London to Paris cycle ride for my friends and I for later in the year, for which we'll have a driver in a van supporting us. It's not a huge van, just a standard Ford Transit sized thing, but I'm struggling to find anywhere to park it securely overnight near the Eiffel Tower, where our hotel is.

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice, please?

We'd prefer secured parking as opposed to anything on street, as the van will have about £20k worth of bikes in the back of it!

Many thanks in advance.

Wonka_2

Treadway1 said:

Morning all,

Currently organising a London to Paris cycle ride for my friends and I for later in the year, for which we'll have a driver in a van supporting us. It's not a huge van, just a standard Ford Transit sized thing, but I'm struggling to find anywhere to park it securely overnight near the Eiffel Tower, where our hotel is.

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice, please?

We'd prefer secured parking as opposed to anything on street, as the van will have about £20k worth of bikes in the back of it!

Many thanks in advance.

Honestly this is one of the things where the hotel should be able to help - especially if you're spending big £££ for a number of people to stay there.

Presumably you'll be restricted from a number of 'normal' places by height.

As it's not an unusual thing for cyclists presumably one of the cycling forums can come up with suggestions

Alternatively it's a case of park the (empty) van and sleep with the bikes 

Treadway1

Wonka_2 said:

Treadway1 said:

Morning all,

Currently organising a London to Paris cycle ride for my friends and I for later in the year, for which we'll have a driver in a van supporting us. It's not a huge van, just a standard Ford Transit sized thing, but I'm struggling to find anywhere to park it securely overnight near the Eiffel Tower, where our hotel is.

Does anyone have any recommendations or advice, please?

We'd prefer secured parking as opposed to anything on street, as the van will have about £20k worth of bikes in the back of it!

Many thanks in advance.

Honestly this is one of the things where the hotel should be able to help - especially if you're spending big £££ for a number of people to stay there.

Presumably you'll be restricted from a number of 'normal' places by height.

As it's not an unusual thing for cyclists presumably one of the cycling forums can come up with suggestions

Alternatively it's a case of park the (empty) van and sleep with the bikes 

Sorry, I should have mentioned that the hotel does have secure parking but it has a 1.9m height restriction (which I'm discovering seems to be the norm in Paris!) and although we don't know exactly what van we'll have yet, google tells me any van is likely to be just over this height, frustratingly!

Sleeping with the bikes has been considered though. 

On-the-coast

We did exactly as you’re planning. I was the van driver. Yes we agreed secure parking with hotel, but made sure we hired a van that fitted. 

Btw it’s uncomfortable driving a RHD van in Paris unless you have a lookout in the passenger seat. You simply can’t see left properly at some junctions. 

Bicycleman22

Ridiculous to even think about leaving £20000 pounds worth of bikes in a van. I have always found a place for my bike inside whether that is in a secure area or my bedroom. Personally I only book somewhere once I know I can store my bike inside either by just  looking at the photos on booking.com or contacting the hotel directly.

Treadway1

On-the-coast said:

We did exactly as you’re planning. I was the van driver. Yes we agreed secure parking with hotel, but made sure we hired a van that fitted. 

Btw it’s uncomfortable driving a RHD van in Paris unless you have a lookout in the passenger seat. You simply can’t see left properly at some junctions. 

I have emailed the hotel to ask if they can recommend anything suitable nearby but, in typical Parisian style, they're taking their time getting back to me. 

Unfortunately though, there are 11 of us riding, so hiring a smaller van wasn't possible, otherwise that defo would have been the better move!

On a separate note, as you have experience driving a van in Paris, did you need a clean air certificate/sticker in the windscreen to drive the van in to the city. I've been reading up about French driving rules to keep our driver on the right side of the law and that was one of the things that popped up. TIA

On-the-coast

We had about 15 cyclists.  But only around half of them put bikes in the van overnight. The rest just used the private courtyard of the hotel. Maybe that’s something you could ask about.  The van was more for breakdowns and luggage than bike storage. 

I don’t recall the clean air stuff.  I was just the driver not the organiser. Sorry. 

We had a great time though! And so much food….

baser999

Can you make contact with any cycling organisations in France that might offer advice

Ganga

Or the driver can sleep in the back of the van to keep an eye on the bikes 

eskbanker

Treadway1 said:

the van will have about £20k worth of bikes in the back of it!

Vingt 'grand' in a grande van....

prettyandfluffy

Treadway1 said:

On-the-coast said:

We did exactly as you’re planning. I was the van driver. Yes we agreed secure parking with hotel, but made sure we hired a van that fitted. 

Btw it’s uncomfortable driving a RHD van in Paris unless you have a lookout in the passenger seat. You simply can’t see left properly at some junctions. 

I have emailed the hotel to ask if they can recommend anything suitable nearby but, in typical Parisian style, they're taking their time getting back to me. 

Unfortunately though, there are 11 of us riding, so hiring a smaller van wasn't possible, otherwise that defo would have been the better move!

On a separate note, as you have experience driving a van in Paris, did you need a clean air certificate/sticker in the windscreen to drive the van in to the city. I've been reading up about French driving rules to keep our driver on the right side of the law and that was one of the things that popped up. TIA

The sticker is called "Crit'Air"and is needed in a number of French cities, not just Paris.  Good news is, it doesn't cost much.  If you need one you can apply from the U.K., to check you will need the V5C document.  https://se-vignette-france.com/en/product/critair-sticker-france/