Observations on Paris - the end; Taxis and the WSJ.

This column from the Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition reminded me that I did not post my final comment on Paris.

If you will be in need of a taxi in Paris in the morning – rush hour time – be sure and order it the night before. Otherwise you will be out of luck. We awoke early, hoping to get to the Montparnasse station early for breakfast before our mid-morning departure to St. Emilion.

When we asked the front desk to call us a taxi, the look on the woman’s face clued us in that we made a tactical error. In all of our reading and research, no one mentioned that everyone in Paris ordered a morning cab the night before. You would not guess it, but it seems there are not enough cabs to go around.

View from out taxi of a taxi.  Get it?

Our only option was our first metro ride. And we had our luggage to carry, during rush hour no less. To prove my point that the French have an unwarranted bad reputation, allow me to explain otherwise. The night desk person was just leaving, and going on vacation to Cyprus. He volunteered to walk us to the Metro station, and then he spoke to the attendant for us so we could speed through paying the fare. It was a very generous act of kindness, and although we thanked him profusely, I never got his name.

Thanks to him we made it to the train station with enough time for coffee and a shared baguette. I hope he had as good a vacation as we did.

Observations on Paris – Pt. 5

Want to ride the Metro or one of the trains? Watch your step. Some of the trains and Metro cars have either a big step over or quite a jump up/down to get on/off the car. Easy for the young, not so much for the young at heart, or the less agile.

Speaking of the Metro and the rail system, they are great. You can go almost anywhere in Paris by Metro and you are never more than a couple of blocks from one. Once you are in the subterranean netherworld, however, pay attention.

Many routes share the same tracks, so you need to know first what the final stop is on your line – there are 14 lines, numbered 1 through 14, oddly enough. They have nice color maps showing the routes, fairly easy to read. Make sure you are getting on the right direction, and then make sure you are on the correct line.

There are monitors showing which line will be arriving next, and how long of a wait. They usually show the next two lines and the ETA. Just try and remember to look at the sign on the front of the car as it enters the station, just to be sure. They have been known to arrive out of order.

Same goes for the RER train line. While fast and efficient, there are peculiarities that only a local would know.


Gare Bordeaux, France.

 On the Metro stations themselves, did I mention the, um, odor? Most prevalent is the urine smell. I know I don’t love the smell of urine in the morning – or afternoon or evening for that matter. Some are worse than others, but they all have something you will remember.

It appears many homeless live in the Metro stations, so when the weather is bad, I expect it might even be worse. Thus, taxis are also very popular, and most drivers are great, but like anywhere, some are better than others.

I am certain that there is elevator / lift access to all stations, I just did not see it at each one we used. So plan ahead if stairwells are an issue.

On the bright side, everyone uses the Metro, so you are in good company. No worry that you will ever be alone, or with only strange people.

Observations on Paris - Pt. 4

Some things that are okay in Europe - would not fly in North America. For example, you may have heard of their small buildings and hotel rooms. Also the small elevators, or lift as they call them, using the British term. One of ours was frightfully small. So small I was unable to stand sideways in our lift. Well, I could, but my shoulders touched the front and back wall. The lift restriction was 3 persons or 225 kg (about 500 lbs). Were I to live in Paris and eat like I did, I may not be able to share a lift with any one in short order.

Although the lift was an OTIS, I don’t think it would pass OSHA standards on this side of the pond.

It is also not easy to get around if you are disabled in Paris, and I don’t simply mean the cobblestone streets. Of course there are improvements for wheel chair access, and I don’t mean to say that they are not doing anything.

Because so many of the buildings are from the middle ages, there is only so much retrofitting that can be done. Many restaurant restrooms are in the basement, down very narrow stairwells, often curved, with tiny stair steps. Tough not only for handicapped, but rough on the elderly as well.

St. Emilion, France.

Observations on Paris - Pt. 2

Ahh, the French and their cigarette’s. Yes, many people smoke, but other than the butts along the roadside curb’s, it did not seem to bother me at all. Maybe because I am an ex-smoker.

But the streets are full of cigarette butt’s. And they have a unique way of cleaning it up in some locales. They open the floodgates of a water pipe at one end of the street street, letting the water flow like a wild river. Meanwhile, a city worker walks along with a broom/rake, aiding the butts along.  Then scooping them up and putting them in the green trash bag.

Effective, but not very ‘green’. Unless they are using the Seine River water, and recycling.


La Rive Seine by me.



Observations on Paris - Pt.1

‘Observations on Paris’ – things that they don’t tell you, or that need to be updated. These are not criticisms or critiques, really. Just random observations on things in Paris that make it what it is. And just to be clear, Paris can be fantastic. It can easily be hated by many people, but for those same reason’s, others often love it.

To that end, I will be periodically posting these observations. Feel free to post a comment, just play nice. And remember, I love Paris in the morning…
~
It is much dirtier than I would have expected. It must have been much worse when all the trash bins were removed. They were removed because they were being used by mean people to hide bombs.

There are more of these than there are Cafe's.

They have since been replaced by ‘green’ (get it?) transparent bags that are now ubiquitous. And people use them, but the city still has a seamy, gritty, dirty side that I had not expected.

And it is not just the multitude of cigarette butts on the streets.

The city does clean the streets and pick up the trash. At least in the tourist area’s. Sometimes twice a day, as you will find out when you sleep with the window open. They start very early in the morning – lucky for us we are morning people.

I actually think the trash collection and street sweeper is a government make-work program, but that is just me.

I have heard that dog droppings were a problem in the city. While we saw a few samples, and actually ran over one with luggage, it was not a big issue. We even saw locals picking up after their pooches.