With all the buzz and hype surrounding the Olympics, it’s hard to imagine Paris as a quiet city, but with many roads blocked, and locals fleeing the disruption, parts of the French capital are eerily empty.
That's perfect if you’re running a bike tour company like Aucklander Niki Rendall.
An expat turned expert, being a tour guide in Paris is a far cry from when she was a paramedic. But Niki Rendall and her husband, Stu, fell in love with the city of love and when they moved over in 2017 started Boutique Bike Tours.
They were forced to shut for a year over Covid-19, but trusted tourism would come back strong.
Now, they’re facing a different challenge – the Olympics.
In the lead up to the Games there were major concerns about high prices and big crowds but, instead, some hotels and restaurants are having to drop their prices to entice customers.
"It's a different experience," Niki Rendall told 1News, "There are stadiums at all the major monuments, there's road closures, and things like that.
“But, for biking, this city is wide open and it's an unbelievable experience. Places that are normally full of traffic, we're cruising down the centre of roads, and you're getting really close to monuments and hearing the cheer of crowds. It's a very special atmosphere,” she said.
For some of her clientele, Paris was a once in a lifetime experience, so she understood why now might be a time to stay away. But for others, an Olympic Games also provided a unique experience, so being able to combine the two was extra special.
And that’s what Niki Rendall hoped to bring as a tour guide too.
"Coming here for the first time, walking around, it was mouth-wide-open. I was walking around seeing the Eiffel Tower on one side, Les Invalides here, a fountain behind me, and just talking about the buildings and its history is extraordinary," she said.
"It's one thing to look at it and say wow it's beautiful, but it's another thing to know its story. That's what brings it to life."
The story of these Olympics and what it would mean for France was still being written, but Niki Rendall believed organisers have done a great job.
"Everyone loves to talk about things going wrong and, to their credit, I think the French have pulled it together really, really well."
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