Oct 15, Part 9 - A trip on the Paris Metro from Chatelet to St-Denis

When we left Cafe Zimmer, we were on our way to see the cathedral at St. Denis. This would entail a fairly long metro ride, which we thought would be a good activity for the (already mentioned) drizzly gray day. The picture above is the entrance at Chatelet station.

This set of pictures shows some of the variety you see while riding the metro. Having always lived in places where the public transportation was non-existent to terrible, and where nothing went down, only sprawled outward, I've always found Metros and Undergrounds fascinating. On this trip, I noticed that some of the stations had been modernized. The metro itself is so old, it's interesting to see the contrast. And as someone pointed out, the metro is so important to the city of Paris, that they invest tons of money each year for improvements. It's a wonderful and efficient way to get from one place to another. For any number of reasons, I've always liked the Metro.

There's stuff to see - not that I like the color combination on this piece of art, because I just don't, but I'm glad there is SOME kind of art.

We entered a Chatelet, one of the largest Metro stations. You just follow the signs, which are usually pretty good and occasionally confusing. In some stations you can go miles (it seems) before reaching your train. It's part of the charm, I think. Here comes a little girl in pink, making a game of getting ahead of her parent.

Gates and more gates. It's always good to keep your ticket until you see the light of day (or night) and are absolutely sure you don't need it again. Sometimes it can be a challenge to know if and when a ticket is needed. I like the machines here where you pop the ticket in one side and it zips through and you pick it up again on the other side of the turnstile. But don't throw it away yet! You might need it again. There have been times when we had to climb over for one reason or another!

It's kind of surreal down here. It's one of the newer platforms. I'd never seen one quite like it.

The train is very quiet and smooth on rubber tires. It glides into the station, the doors open, and you get in. You don't have to figure out if it's the right train - you were supposed to have done that on the way to the correct platform.

We've gotten on at the Chatelet station, 4th from the left. Our first goal is Saint Lazare train station, far left, where we'll change to another Metro line.

That's Lee standing up holding onto the bars.

There were some seats on this train, but sometimes standing is fun, too.

Here we are at Gare Saint-Lazare. Another maze to find our way through.

More art in the Metro. Probably this one would not have been permitted in Astoria, but I don't know any more. When you get past the obvious subject matter, check out the cool green wave-pattern tiles above the picture. A lot of the stations have built-in tile frames for the posters and ads.

One thing I love about the Metro is people-watching. I just missed the best shot of this lady in African garb. She was completely decked out. It was a wonderful sight. Very exotic.

It's no big surprise that there's standing room only leaving St-Lazare station, since it's one of the largest junctions in Paris.

Metro and city maps are everywhere. Someone is getting on or off the train.

Here's our route. We got on at St-Lazare, which is the big one to the right of the convergence. The lighted line shows where we are. In this case, maybe we did have to catch the correct train once on the platform. I think there are a few places where you have to do that.

St-Ouen is one of the older stops, it appears. They do a pretty good job of keeping graffiti out of most of the stations, but unfortunately, there's still vandalism. Here you can see the green tiles around the maps, in a different design than the last ones. I thought it would be interesting to link to Porte de Saint-Ouen above ground, but I didn't find such a photo. It seems the main attractions here are the "World's Biggest Flea Market." The other Saint-Ouen is a cathedral, but that's in Rouen, not in Paris.

End of the trip. The crowd has thinned out, and feet wait patiently or impatiently to step onto the platform when the doors open.

Go to Part 10

Oct 14 (Day 1), Part 1 - Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris

It's still dark outside and weirdly surreal; at home it would be light by this hour. As we trekked down passage after passage, the sky began to lighten into that special gray that is Paris in the morning. I remembered parts of the airport from previous trips. It's taken on a kinder feeling as it's become more user-friendly. It was also, for the most part, shiny, clean, and looking new. I began to feel safe and familiar here.

For some reason the word "stop" on the pavement is in English.

Like gliding through a dream, there wasn't even a halt for customs.

The passage through CDG and onto the train platform was easy and efficient for the first time. On every other trip, I'd hit a point of near panic trying to find the right bus to the end of the metro line and then not being sure I was actually in the right place with the right change and going the right direction. On our last visit, the train line had been extended to the airport, but it wasn't working. We took a bus that, apparently, needed to circumnavigate every traffic circle in every industrial park between CDG and the designated metro stop. The ride was kind of interesting, but oh, so slow. The stop itself was not that encouraging. It seemed isolated and it was unclear how you were supposed to get ticketed and onto (which) platform. Or maybe I was just tired. This time, from plane to train to central city was a piece of cake. The sign says, "All trains are going to Paris." And . . . we never found where we were supposed to pay, so at least for this one time, the ride was free. When we arrived at the other end, like magic, a guy in working clothes appeared at our side, opened the gate and beckoned us through. Welcome to Paris.

Go to Part 2

Oct 14, Part 2 - Paris: RER train from the airport to Notre Dame

We were now en route to Paris on the RER train, riding comfortably with our luggage at our feet toward one of the most exciting cities in the world, and probably the most beautiful big city. Anticipation begins to turn into excitement. I knew from previous trips that this part of Paris (and from this view) was mostly ugly, with a few gems thrown in along the way. The train ran underground, then at the surface. We'd wondered what the colors would be like - would it look and feel like fall? Early? Late? The colors were so far green and gold, with some red, but not too much - a lot like our colors at home this time of year.

The colors of industry and graffiti.

One of the architectural delights and more graffiti. The industrial outskirts of Paris have swallowed up entire country villages.

Fellow passengers on their way to work. I thought this woman was very beautiful and also very typical of the French women we would see - neat, stylish, sedate, and with her hair pulled into a low ponytail that was so typical.

Another village view - and more train-side graffiti.

Gigantic slummy-looking apartment complexes also reared their bodies out of the industrial wasteland as seen from the tracks.

Lines leading into one of Paris's four huge train stations - Gare du Nord, where all trains leave for points north.

I think this was the Chatelet-Les Halles metro stop. I love this picture of the woman on the platform wearing her native dress even in the European city of Paris. It's so exotic. You never know what styles, colors, and cultures you will see here. It's all part of a tapestry that seems to enthral everyone. Or almost everyone. I didn't appreciate Paris so much the first time I was there. I don't know what I expected, but it delivered something entirely different. I had to come to love the city on my own - and maybe that's true for each one of us.

And here we are. Coming out is easy, you just follow the "Sortie" (exit) signs. We are here, literally in the heart of Paris. What an entrance to the city, you can't beat it (see next post - Oct 14, Part 3).