July 14, 2024 • 21 mins
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Ever wondered how to navigate the labyrinthine Paris Metro like a true Parisian? Get ready to conquer the city’s underground with confidence as we unravel the mysteries of le métropolitain in our latest episode. From understanding key terminologies such as 'ligne', 'direction', and 'correspondence', to choosing the best ticket options like the Navigo Pass or the Paris Visite Pass, Angela cover's everything you need to know. Whether you're visiting for the first time or are a seasoned traveler, this episode promises practical tips and insider knowledge to make your journey smooth and stress-free.
She'll also guide you through the cultural etiquette and accessibility features of the Metro, ensuring a comfortable ride for everyone. Learn about the interchangeability of Metro and bus tickets, and discover essential bus routes, including those for late-night travel. Expand your transport savvy with insights into the RER trains for trips beyond Paris and the tram lines for outer districts. Plus, we discuss the beauty of some metro stations and invite you to share your favorite stops and experiences. Tune in for a comprehensive guide to maximizing your Paris Metro experience and start your Parisian adventure on the right foot!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
and I tell them what I'm going to tell you.
The number one thing, if you'rebrand new to this concept is
remember you're headed towardsthe end of the line.
Bonjour, lovelies, hello,welcome to Paris with Angela
(00:34):
podcast.
Today we're going to continueour conversation about the Paris
Metro, le métropolitain.
If you tuned into the lastepisode, then you know that we
took a really good look at themaking of and the history of the
Paris Metro.
Hopefully now you have someideas and some resources on how
you can take in, observe andfully appreciate the historical
(00:55):
side of the Paris Metro.
You know how it was built.
You know where you can findpieces and remnants and
preserved areas ofLouis-Philippe's wall.
You know about the Roman ruinaspect and now you need to know
how to use this incrediblepublic transit system.
If you tuned in to the firstedition of the Paris with Angela
(01:18):
podcast, you remember ustalking about the Exposition
Universelle, the World's Fair,in 1900.
It is on July 19th 1900, duringthat World's Fair, that the
metro officially opened.
The system pushed forward andexpanded quickly and the crux of
it was completed by World War I.
(01:38):
It is an integral part ofParisian life.
No doubt you will use it.
I hope you'll be brave.
If you've never used publictransportation before, I hope
you will give it a try.
Of course, in this episode, I'mgoing to teach you, hopefully,
everything you need to knowToday.
There are 1.5 billionpassengers annually to the Paris
(02:01):
Metro, and you can be one ofthem Now.
Today's show is brought to youby TravelInsurecom.
Forward slash Paris with Angela.
Whether you're coming on one ofmy tours or you're heading to
Paris on your own, no doubt youneed travel insurance.
You can check the link in thevideo description or in the show
notes.
It's flashing up on the screenfor you, and I invite you to try
(02:23):
Dry Farm Wines.
These are small family farmsthroughout France, small chateau
throughout France and beyond,creating biodynamic, organic
wines.
This is the wine that I stock.
My wine cabinet with.
Biodynamic wines are becomingmore and more popular.
You'll be able to visit ahandful of biodynamic wine bars
(02:43):
while you're there, but why justexperience it while you're in
Paris?
Why not have an order shippedto your house one time or
monthly, and when you do thatfor the first time, you will get
an extra bottle for a penny.
I appreciate you doing thatAlso.
That's a way that you cansponsor this show.
Now let's talk about the ParisMetro, because I love it.
(03:05):
There are 16 lines in all andeach line is a different color.
When you're looking at a map ofthe Paris Metro, now, in the
old days we really relied onthose maps.
We had little paper maps thatwe carried around in our wallet,
or we had the little red bookthat we used.
Today you're lucky, you get touse your phone and it's a whole
lot easier than it's ever been.
(03:26):
There's some key terminologythat you want to know when
navigating the Paris Metro.
Ligne is line, and that refersto each metro line lines 1
through 14, with two additionallines that branch off.
So some people say there's 14lines, some people say there's
16 lines.
Direction say there's 14 lines,some people say there's 16
(03:47):
lines, direction, and thisindicates the end station in the
direction that you are heading,and you're going to discover in
this episode that that is a keypart of navigating the system.
Correspondence is a transfer.
These are points where you canswitch lines on your journey.
There are many different typesof tickets for the Paris Metro,
everything to accommodate thelength of your stay.
(04:08):
There's a single ride ticketall the way to an annual pass
for those of you who are movingto Paris and are going to live
the dream as an expat.
The single ride tickets arevalid on the Metro, on the buses
, on the trams and the RERwithin Zone 1.
A carnet is a packet ofsingle-ride tickets and those
(04:30):
offer a discount over individualtickets A great way to save a
little bit of money if you knowyou're going to be using the
system a handful of times.
The Navigo Pass is available inweekly and monthly options and
that allows unlimited travelthroughout selected zones.
The city and city surroundingis broken up into five different
(04:50):
zones, so zone one is going tobe your immediate city limits
and then, when you talk aboutsomething like zone five, that's
clear out by Versailles, sothat allows you to extend to
travel further outside the city.
The airport is zone 5,versailles is zone 5, etc.
Etc.
The Paris Visite, the ParisVisite Pass, is a tourist pass
(05:13):
for one to five days and thatincludes unlimited travel and a
perk, a bonus it offers youdiscounts at various attractions
.
So when you're selecting yourtickets, there is going to be a
lot of options for you to choosefrom and something will be just
right, for At the time of thisrecording, which is summer of
(05:45):
2024, a ticket is about €1.90, acarnet is about €16.90, the
Navigo weekly about €22.80, andthe Paris Visit the Paris Visit
Pass starts at €12.
12 euros.
(06:08):
The Navigo is ideal for thefrequent traveler.
The Paris Visite visit suits ashort-term tourist who plans on
visiting multiple attractions.
So if your purpose to visitParis is to visit, let's say,
monuments and museums, the ParisVisite, the Paris Visit ticket,
might be the right one for you.
If you're going to do a lot ofshopping and traveling, you
might want to take a look at theNavigo Pass.
The Navigo is what I use when Ivisit and, bonus, I think it was
(06:32):
just revealed within the lastcouple weeks that now we can use
our iPhones as our Navigo Passinstead of having a separate
pass that we need to dig out ofour bags when entering the
system.
There's also the bonus of thebus system.
Now, if you are someone who hasdifficulty navigating a lot of
stairs, I do recommend the bussystem Number one.
(06:55):
It's going to be a little bitmore friendly to you because
there are a lot of stairs in theParis Metro.
I cannot stress that enough.
If you are not accustomed totraversing multiple flights of
stairs on any given day it'sgoing to be a little bit of a
shock to you especially in someof the bigger stations, like
(07:15):
Châtelet or some of the deeperones, like Saint-Michel, also
gives you a really, really greatway to see the city.
It's great for sightseeingbecause you're not underground
and it's often less crowded thanthe metro.
Now, one of the first things Ido on my tours is I take my
guests around the neighborhoodwe are staying.
(07:36):
We stay very close to the RueMouffetard, which is great, so
everybody can sort of see wherethey can grab a bite to eat and
where they can go sit by acharming fountain.
I take them to our metro stopand I give them a lesson on the
metro and I tell them what I'mgoing to tell you.
The number one thing, if you'rebrand new to this concept, is
(07:56):
remember you're headed towardsthe end of the line.
So each Paris line has twodestinations.
I call them a top and a bottom,and you want to be mindful
which direction you are headed.
That's what you need to know.
That's the very, very basicthing.
I'm getting on line 4.
Which direction do I need to go?
(08:16):
Or let's say that your hotel ison line 10.
And let's say your hotel isnear the Charles Michel stop and
you want to go toSaint-Chapelle.
If you look on a map of Paris or, even easier, if you use your
phone, say you have an iPhoneand you use Apple Maps, type in
(08:37):
Saint-Chapelle and that is thechurch with all the beautiful
stained glass.
Let's say you want to see thatIf you type it in, the
directions are going to come upand they're going to tell you
exactly what to do.
It's going to tell you to go inthe direction of the end of
line 10.
So if you were going to bypasswhere you're headed,
saint-chapelle you're gonna goall the way.
(08:58):
You would be going all the way,in theory, to Gare d'Austerlitz
, which is the end of line 10.
If you went in the oppositedirection, that's going to take
you up to Boulogne.
So you'll see there's two endsto every metro.
You want to head in thedirection of the end of the line
, wherever you're going to go,and then get off on the stop
(09:18):
that's closest to whatevertourist attraction you're doing.
So if you're on line 10 andyou're headed, and your hotel,
rather, is at Charles Michel,you're going to head towards
Gerdosterlitz and you will getoff at the Cluny stop.
It's that easy.
You don't even have to thinkabout it because the phone's
(09:39):
going to tell you what to do.
But the concept is that thedirection you're going is the
end of the line, but you get offon your appropriate stop.
Now I say the end of the lineand it's really important to
know that, because when you'rein the metro tunnels you're
going to follow the signs.
So each line has its own color.
If we're going to stick withthe line 10 example line 10 is
(10:01):
yellow.
So when you come down thestairs at Charles Michel, you're
going into the metro at thatstop.
Remember, we're pretending thatCharles Michel is the metro
stop closest to your hotel.
You're going to be down inthose hallways and you're going
to see two signs.
One is going to point towardsBoulogne, one hallway and
another hallway, and both willhave a yellow 10 on them, a
(10:24):
yellow circle with a 10.
The other one is going to takeyou to Gare d'Austerlitz.
That's the hallway you're goingto follow.
You're going to get on thetrain in the direction of
Austerlitz and you will finallyget off at Cluny-la-Sorbonne,
because that is the stop that'sclosest to Saint-Chapelle.
(10:45):
I think that makes sense.
It really really makes so muchmore sense once you're there.
But you want to be mindful offollowing the proper tunnel.
So each metro line has adifferent color and each metro
line has a beginning and an end.
For a while, when you're downin the metro, the signs may say
both.
So you might be in a metrotunnel where the signs say line
(11:10):
10.
So it's a yellow circle with a10 and they say Boulogne
d'Austerlitz.
So you just keep followingthose ones and then at some
point they're going to split andeach one's going to go in a
different direction, and youneed to head in the direction of
wherever you're going to stop.
Now I'm not saying you're goingto go all the way to
Gerdosterlitz, you're going toget off along the way.
But you just want to make sureyou're going in the right
(11:32):
direction and if you ever get onthe wrong train, you simply get
out at the next stop, exit themetro, go back down the stairs
and go back in the otherdirection.
We've a ton of times, even oncewe've gotten the hang of it.
Now, some things that do make itso much easier for you are your
iPhone or your Android phone.
(11:54):
If you're still using anAndroid, your smartphone is
going to really, really help you.
So use your Maps app, type inwhere you want to go and it's
going to give you a whole listof directions, very, very
specific.
Walk 500 feet, get on thistrain, exit this train.
Walk 500 more feet to the nextstop.
It's going to really, reallyhelp you get there and you're
(12:15):
going to get a feel for thenumber system, the color coded
system.
Again, each line has its owncolor.
Each line has two ends.
You'll get the feel for itreally fast.
There are some lines you willuse much more than others line 4
, line 10, line 7, and you'llbecome a pro in just a matter of
days, maybe just a matter of afew rides.
(12:36):
Now, some things to remember tomake it more comfortable for you
are to remember if crowdsaren't your thing, you might
want to avoid rush hour.
It can get very, very, verybusy in the metro, especially
the bigger stations Montparnasse, châtelet If you've ever seen
that episode of Seinfeld whereElaine is crammed on a subway
(12:58):
and having sort of an internalmonologue with herself internal
dialogue, rather.
That is no joke that it can belike that you will be nose to
nose with multiple peoplethinking there's no way anyone
else can get on this train andthe doors will open and people
will push in.
It's really important to holdon when the train takes off.
(13:20):
Sometimes they can be socrowded.
If you can't hold on, itdoesn't matter, you're not going
anywhere.
There's so many people.
Now, not only can you use yourphone, but when you're on the
train, often the name of eachstop will be announced on a
speaker.
If you look out the window, youwill see the beautiful tiled
subway stations.
They have the names in tile andabove the doors will be a long
(13:45):
sign, sort of like what I'veflashed up on the screen.
I'll put it up on the screenfor you again, maybe even some
video, if I can find it forthose watching on YouTube.
That will show you the line andyou can follow each stop as it
goes to keep track of where youare.
Some of the lines even havesigns that are lit up, so a
little light will appear next tothe sign there to the stop,
(14:06):
rather, that they areapproaching, so you will know
that this is your stop.
Some of the stations do haveelevators and ramps, but some of
the older stations will lackaccessibility features.
You can check the RATP websitefor accessibility routes.
Check the app as well.
It's really important toremember.
(14:26):
They're not all handicapaccessible and many of them have
multiple, multiple stairs.
Now that's not to discourageyou, but if you're traveling
with a lot of luggage or maybesomething really heavy or a
stroller, just know what you'rein for.
Somebody often will help you,just carry the stroller down.
Or if you've got a group, youcan do that, but just be mindful
(14:48):
.
Or if you've got a group, youcan do that, but just be mindful
.
I just want you to know.
If you've never been, there canbe a lot of stairs and it can
get a little hairy if you'reexhausted.
Let's talk about etiquette too.
There are common courtesieswhen using the metro.
Culturally, it's not a veryloud place, so once everybody's
on the train, there's not a lotof talking going on.
(15:08):
If you're a little nervous oryou don't speak French, don't
worry, there is no pressure foryou to make small talk with the
person sitting next to you.
In fact, culturally, that'sjust typically not done in Paris
.
So I'm from the Midwest, we callit Midwest nice.
We make conversation witheveryone?
Well, I don't, but I'm a littlebit more introverted than that.
(15:30):
But it's really common to justmake small talk with people that
you don't know.
But in France and Paris, we'regoing to call it French nice,
paris nice.
So their culture has more of anidea of that.
Speaking to a stranger ortrying to make small talk or
drum up a conversation with astranger is more of an
imposition.
(15:50):
So don't worry about makingsmall talk with the people next
to you.
In fact, you'll notice thatmost people they're not even
really smiling.
You don't have to smile atpeople in France.
I know we do that.
You know this podcast isprimarily from an American
perspective and we smile at eachother to reassure each other,
and they really don't do that inFrance.
You might get sort of a bizarrelook if you give your typical
(16:12):
American-friendly smile tosomeone.
When the metro gets really busy,it is customary for you to
stand up, so some of the carshave fold-down chairs.
When it starts to get busy,you'll want to stand up and let
that chair fold up on its ownand make more room.
If it's not quite busy butsomeone a veteran or someone
handicapped or someone elderlyor a pregnant woman gets on,
(16:36):
it's appropriate for you or theman in your group to stand up
and give his or her seat to thatperson.
Now we've talked a little bitabout the buses, if that sounds
like more of an alternative foryou.
All of those tickets areinterchangeable.
So your Metro tickets will workon the bus tickets, but not
after they've been activated.
So once you scan your ticket orenter your ticket in the Metro,
(17:01):
you're good for as long as youstay underground.
However many transfers you needto make, you don't need to use
another ticket the minute youleave the system.
Now you need to use a fresh.
Don't need to use anotherticket the minute you leave the
system.
Now you need to use a freshticket or reuse your Navigo Pass
.
The same is with buses.
Once you scan that ticket onthe bus, it's done.
If you get off that bus to makea transfer, you'll need to use
(17:23):
another ticket or another scanof your Navigo Pass.
The best routes with the busfor sightseeing are line 38,
line 42, and line 69.
After the metro closes late atnight, the night buses operate
with routes covering most of thecity.
There are trains that extendfurther outside the city.
(17:45):
In English we call those theRERs.
Those will take you to placeslike Disneyland, paris, to
Charles de Gaulle Airport andeven Versailles.
And there are trams also.
Trams have eight lines lines T1to T8, and those really serve
the outer districts.
They're easy to use with thesame tickets as the metro.
(18:06):
You just want to make sure thatyou have a metro pass, for
example, when you purchase yourNavigo.
You want to make sure that youhave a metro pass.
For example, when you purchaseyour Navigo, you want to make
sure that it extends all the waythrough zone five.
Now when you get to Paris, whenyou land at the airport, you can
stop at a kiosk and you can getyour Navigo pass or get your
metro tickets for the week.
There are kiosks and they havea little sort of scrolling
(18:31):
button that you can use so youcan pick English and easily
navigate your way through thepurchase of those tickets.
If you like more humaninteraction, there are ticket
counters with, I think, veryfriendly people ready to help
you.
I find those ticket counters alittle bit more friendly than
once you're inside the city.
Inside the city, I find it alittle bit more difficult to
(18:54):
talk through plexiglass.
The trains are in thebackground A lot of times.
The metro stations are windy.
I don't really love to if I'mhaving a problem with my ticket
or something.
I don't really enjoy thattransaction.
I try to use the automatedkiosks as much as I can, or take
care of that right when I getthere, right when I land, before
(19:15):
I leave Charles de GaulleAirport.
Once you have entered the metro,like I said, once you've
activated that ticket, you'regoing to follow the signs to the
correct platform.
You're going to double checkjust to make sure you're headed
in the right direction.
You want to follow the signs.
Correspondance, correspondencefor transfers, sortie You'll see
the sign everywhere means exit.
(19:36):
Your rush hours are typicallybetween 8 and 10 am and 5 and 7
pm and, of course, be mindful ofpickpockets when it gets really
cozy.
You want to make sure that youhave your bag in front of you at
all times.
Anyways, it's nice to keep yourbag in front of you and just be
aware of your surroundings.
The metro is typically a verysafe place, but we want to use
(19:59):
wisdom when we're traveling inanother country.
All in all, the metro is easy.
You'll use it numerous times aday.
You'll get a great workout Inthe meantime.
They say you're never outsideof 500 yards of a metro stop.
I don't think that's alwaysnecessarily true over in areas
by the Eiffel Tower and LesInvalides, but on the whole,
(20:20):
there's always one right aroundthe corner.
I think you're going to find ita fantastic tool during your
trip and with so many optionslike the buses, the trams, the
RERs, all the different tickets,all the different ticket prices
, I think there is something.
I know there is something tosuit you and accommodate you and
(20:41):
make your time in Paris thevery best it can be.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
If you're following along onYouTube, leave a comment in the
comment box, tell me what youlove the most about the metro
and if you're pretty familiarwith the city, tell me what your
favorite metro stop is, becausesome of them are so very
beautiful and I will see you allagain very soon.
(21:03):
A bientot ©.
Transcript, emily Beynon.
and I tell them what I'm going to tell you.
The number one thing, if you'rebrand new to this concept is
remember you're headed towardsthe end of the line.
Bonjour, lovelies, hello,welcome to Paris with Angela
(00:34):
podcast.
Today we're going to continueour conversation about the Paris
Metro, le métropolitain.
If you tuned into the lastepisode, then you know that we
took a really good look at themaking of and the history of the
Paris Metro.
Hopefully now you have someideas and some resources on how
you can take in, observe andfully appreciate the historical
(00:55):
side of the Paris Metro.
You know how it was built.
You know where you can findpieces and remnants and
preserved areas ofLouis-Philippe's wall.
You know about the Roman ruinaspect and now you need to know
how to use this incrediblepublic transit system.
If you tuned in to the firstedition of the Paris with Angela
(01:18):
podcast, you remember ustalking about the Exposition
Universelle, the World's Fair,in 1900.
It is on July 19th 1900, duringthat World's Fair, that the
metro officially opened.
The system pushed forward andexpanded quickly and the crux of
it was completed by World War I.
(01:38):
It is an integral part ofParisian life.
No doubt you will use it.
I hope you'll be brave.
If you've never used publictransportation before, I hope
you will give it a try.
Of course, in this episode, I'mgoing to teach you, hopefully,
everything you need to knowToday.
There are 1.5 billionpassengers annually to the Paris
(02:01):
Metro, and you can be one ofthem Now.
Today's show is brought to youby TravelInsurecom.
Forward slash Paris with Angela.
Whether you're coming on one ofmy tours or you're heading to
Paris on your own, no doubt youneed travel insurance.
You can check the link in thevideo description or in the show
notes.
It's flashing up on the screenfor you, and I invite you to try
(02:23):
Dry Farm Wines.
These are small family farmsthroughout France, small chateau
throughout France and beyond,creating biodynamic, organic
wines.
This is the wine that I stock.
My wine cabinet with.
Biodynamic wines are becomingmore and more popular.
You'll be able to visit ahandful of biodynamic wine bars
(02:43):
while you're there, but why justexperience it while you're in
Paris?
Why not have an order shippedto your house one time or
monthly, and when you do thatfor the first time, you will get
an extra bottle for a penny.
I appreciate you doing thatAlso.
That's a way that you cansponsor this show.
Now let's talk about the ParisMetro, because I love it.
(03:05):
There are 16 lines in all andeach line is a different color.
When you're looking at a map ofthe Paris Metro, now, in the
old days we really relied onthose maps.
We had little paper maps thatwe carried around in our wallet,
or we had the little red bookthat we used.
Today you're lucky, you get touse your phone and it's a whole
lot easier than it's ever been.
(03:26):
There's some key terminologythat you want to know when
navigating the Paris Metro.
Ligne is line, and that refersto each metro line lines 1
through 14, with two additionallines that branch off.
So some people say there's 14lines, some people say there's
16 lines.
Direction say there's 14 lines,some people say there's 16
(03:47):
lines, direction, and thisindicates the end station in the
direction that you are heading,and you're going to discover in
this episode that that is a keypart of navigating the system.
Correspondence is a transfer.
These are points where you canswitch lines on your journey.
There are many different typesof tickets for the Paris Metro,
everything to accommodate thelength of your stay.
(04:08):
There's a single ride ticketall the way to an annual pass
for those of you who are movingto Paris and are going to live
the dream as an expat.
The single ride tickets arevalid on the Metro, on the buses
, on the trams and the RERwithin Zone 1.
A carnet is a packet ofsingle-ride tickets and those
(04:30):
offer a discount over individualtickets A great way to save a
little bit of money if you knowyou're going to be using the
system a handful of times.
The Navigo Pass is available inweekly and monthly options and
that allows unlimited travelthroughout selected zones.
The city and city surroundingis broken up into five different
(04:50):
zones, so zone one is going tobe your immediate city limits
and then, when you talk aboutsomething like zone five, that's
clear out by Versailles, sothat allows you to extend to
travel further outside the city.
The airport is zone 5,versailles is zone 5, etc.
Etc.
The Paris Visite, the ParisVisite Pass, is a tourist pass
(05:13):
for one to five days and thatincludes unlimited travel and a
perk, a bonus it offers youdiscounts at various attractions
.
So when you're selecting yourtickets, there is going to be a
lot of options for you to choosefrom and something will be just
right, for At the time of thisrecording, which is summer of
(05:45):
2024, a ticket is about €1.90, acarnet is about €16.90, the
Navigo weekly about €22.80, andthe Paris Visit the Paris Visit
Pass starts at €12.
12 euros.
(06:08):
The Navigo is ideal for thefrequent traveler.
The Paris Visite visit suits ashort-term tourist who plans on
visiting multiple attractions.
So if your purpose to visitParis is to visit, let's say,
monuments and museums, the ParisVisite, the Paris Visit ticket,
might be the right one for you.
If you're going to do a lot ofshopping and traveling, you
might want to take a look at theNavigo Pass.
The Navigo is what I use when Ivisit and, bonus, I think it was
(06:32):
just revealed within the lastcouple weeks that now we can use
our iPhones as our Navigo Passinstead of having a separate
pass that we need to dig out ofour bags when entering the
system.
There's also the bonus of thebus system.
Now, if you are someone who hasdifficulty navigating a lot of
stairs, I do recommend the bussystem Number one.
(06:55):
It's going to be a little bitmore friendly to you because
there are a lot of stairs in theParis Metro.
I cannot stress that enough.
If you are not accustomed totraversing multiple flights of
stairs on any given day it'sgoing to be a little bit of a
shock to you especially in someof the bigger stations, like
(07:15):
Châtelet or some of the deeperones, like Saint-Michel, also
gives you a really, really greatway to see the city.
It's great for sightseeingbecause you're not underground
and it's often less crowded thanthe metro.
Now, one of the first things Ido on my tours is I take my
guests around the neighborhoodwe are staying.
(07:36):
We stay very close to the RueMouffetard, which is great, so
everybody can sort of see wherethey can grab a bite to eat and
where they can go sit by acharming fountain.
I take them to our metro stopand I give them a lesson on the
metro and I tell them what I'mgoing to tell you.
The number one thing, if you'rebrand new to this concept, is
(07:56):
remember you're headed towardsthe end of the line.
So each Paris line has twodestinations.
I call them a top and a bottom,and you want to be mindful
which direction you are headed.
That's what you need to know.
That's the very, very basicthing.
I'm getting on line 4.
Which direction do I need to go?
(08:16):
Or let's say that your hotel ison line 10.
And let's say your hotel isnear the Charles Michel stop and
you want to go toSaint-Chapelle.
If you look on a map of Paris or, even easier, if you use your
phone, say you have an iPhoneand you use Apple Maps, type in
(08:37):
Saint-Chapelle and that is thechurch with all the beautiful
stained glass.
Let's say you want to see thatIf you type it in, the
directions are going to come upand they're going to tell you
exactly what to do.
It's going to tell you to go inthe direction of the end of
line 10.
So if you were going to bypasswhere you're headed,
saint-chapelle you're gonna goall the way.
(08:58):
You would be going all the way,in theory, to Gare d'Austerlitz
, which is the end of line 10.
If you went in the oppositedirection, that's going to take
you up to Boulogne.
So you'll see there's two endsto every metro.
You want to head in thedirection of the end of the line
, wherever you're going to go,and then get off on the stop
(09:18):
that's closest to whatevertourist attraction you're doing.
So if you're on line 10 andyou're headed, and your hotel,
rather, is at Charles Michel,you're going to head towards
Gerdosterlitz and you will getoff at the Cluny stop.
It's that easy.
You don't even have to thinkabout it because the phone's
(09:39):
going to tell you what to do.
But the concept is that thedirection you're going is the
end of the line, but you get offon your appropriate stop.
Now I say the end of the lineand it's really important to
know that, because when you'rein the metro tunnels you're
going to follow the signs.
So each line has its own color.
If we're going to stick withthe line 10 example line 10 is
(10:01):
yellow.
So when you come down thestairs at Charles Michel, you're
going into the metro at thatstop.
Remember, we're pretending thatCharles Michel is the metro
stop closest to your hotel.
You're going to be down inthose hallways and you're going
to see two signs.
One is going to point towardsBoulogne, one hallway and
another hallway, and both willhave a yellow 10 on them, a
(10:24):
yellow circle with a 10.
The other one is going to takeyou to Gare d'Austerlitz.
That's the hallway you're goingto follow.
You're going to get on thetrain in the direction of
Austerlitz and you will finallyget off at Cluny-la-Sorbonne,
because that is the stop that'sclosest to Saint-Chapelle.
(10:45):
I think that makes sense.
It really really makes so muchmore sense once you're there.
But you want to be mindful offollowing the proper tunnel.
So each metro line has adifferent color and each metro
line has a beginning and an end.
For a while, when you're downin the metro, the signs may say
both.
So you might be in a metrotunnel where the signs say line
(11:10):
10.
So it's a yellow circle with a10 and they say Boulogne
d'Austerlitz.
So you just keep followingthose ones and then at some
point they're going to split andeach one's going to go in a
different direction, and youneed to head in the direction of
wherever you're going to stop.
Now I'm not saying you're goingto go all the way to
Gerdosterlitz, you're going toget off along the way.
But you just want to make sureyou're going in the right
(11:32):
direction and if you ever get onthe wrong train, you simply get
out at the next stop, exit themetro, go back down the stairs
and go back in the otherdirection.
We've a ton of times, even oncewe've gotten the hang of it.
Now, some things that do make itso much easier for you are your
iPhone or your Android phone.
(11:54):
If you're still using anAndroid, your smartphone is
going to really, really help you.
So use your Maps app, type inwhere you want to go and it's
going to give you a whole listof directions, very, very
specific.
Walk 500 feet, get on thistrain, exit this train.
Walk 500 more feet to the nextstop.
It's going to really, reallyhelp you get there and you're
(12:15):
going to get a feel for thenumber system, the color coded
system.
Again, each line has its owncolor.
Each line has two ends.
You'll get the feel for itreally fast.
There are some lines you willuse much more than others line 4
, line 10, line 7, and you'llbecome a pro in just a matter of
days, maybe just a matter of afew rides.
(12:36):
Now, some things to remember tomake it more comfortable for you
are to remember if crowdsaren't your thing, you might
want to avoid rush hour.
It can get very, very, verybusy in the metro, especially
the bigger stations Montparnasse, châtelet If you've ever seen
that episode of Seinfeld whereElaine is crammed on a subway
(12:58):
and having sort of an internalmonologue with herself internal
dialogue, rather.
That is no joke that it can belike that you will be nose to
nose with multiple peoplethinking there's no way anyone
else can get on this train andthe doors will open and people
will push in.
It's really important to holdon when the train takes off.
(13:20):
Sometimes they can be socrowded.
If you can't hold on, itdoesn't matter, you're not going
anywhere.
There's so many people.
Now, not only can you use yourphone, but when you're on the
train, often the name of eachstop will be announced on a
speaker.
If you look out the window, youwill see the beautiful tiled
subway stations.
They have the names in tile andabove the doors will be a long
(13:45):
sign, sort of like what I'veflashed up on the screen.
I'll put it up on the screenfor you again, maybe even some
video, if I can find it forthose watching on YouTube.
That will show you the line andyou can follow each stop as it
goes to keep track of where youare.
Some of the lines even havesigns that are lit up, so a
little light will appear next tothe sign there to the stop,
(14:06):
rather, that they areapproaching, so you will know
that this is your stop.
Some of the stations do haveelevators and ramps, but some of
the older stations will lackaccessibility features.
You can check the RATP websitefor accessibility routes.
Check the app as well.
It's really important toremember.
(14:26):
They're not all handicapaccessible and many of them have
multiple, multiple stairs.
Now that's not to discourageyou, but if you're traveling
with a lot of luggage or maybesomething really heavy or a
stroller, just know what you'rein for.
Somebody often will help you,just carry the stroller down.
Or if you've got a group, youcan do that, but just be mindful
(14:48):
.
Or if you've got a group, youcan do that, but just be mindful
.
I just want you to know.
If you've never been, there canbe a lot of stairs and it can
get a little hairy if you'reexhausted.
Let's talk about etiquette too.
There are common courtesieswhen using the metro.
Culturally, it's not a veryloud place, so once everybody's
on the train, there's not a lotof talking going on.
(15:08):
If you're a little nervous oryou don't speak French, don't
worry, there is no pressure foryou to make small talk with the
person sitting next to you.
In fact, culturally, that'sjust typically not done in Paris
.
So I'm from the Midwest, we callit Midwest nice.
We make conversation witheveryone?
Well, I don't, but I'm a littlebit more introverted than that.
(15:30):
But it's really common to justmake small talk with people that
you don't know.
But in France and Paris, we'regoing to call it French nice,
paris nice.
So their culture has more of anidea of that.
Speaking to a stranger ortrying to make small talk or
drum up a conversation with astranger is more of an
imposition.
(15:50):
So don't worry about makingsmall talk with the people next
to you.
In fact, you'll notice thatmost people they're not even
really smiling.
You don't have to smile atpeople in France.
I know we do that.
You know this podcast isprimarily from an American
perspective and we smile at eachother to reassure each other,
and they really don't do that inFrance.
You might get sort of a bizarrelook if you give your typical
(16:12):
American-friendly smile tosomeone.
When the metro gets really busy,it is customary for you to
stand up, so some of the carshave fold-down chairs.
When it starts to get busy,you'll want to stand up and let
that chair fold up on its ownand make more room.
If it's not quite busy butsomeone a veteran or someone
handicapped or someone elderlyor a pregnant woman gets on,
(16:36):
it's appropriate for you or theman in your group to stand up
and give his or her seat to thatperson.
Now we've talked a little bitabout the buses, if that sounds
like more of an alternative foryou.
All of those tickets areinterchangeable.
So your Metro tickets will workon the bus tickets, but not
after they've been activated.
So once you scan your ticket orenter your ticket in the Metro,
(17:01):
you're good for as long as youstay underground.
However many transfers you needto make, you don't need to use
another ticket the minute youleave the system.
Now you need to use a fresh.
Don't need to use anotherticket the minute you leave the
system.
Now you need to use a freshticket or reuse your Navigo Pass
.
The same is with buses.
Once you scan that ticket onthe bus, it's done.
If you get off that bus to makea transfer, you'll need to use
(17:23):
another ticket or another scanof your Navigo Pass.
The best routes with the busfor sightseeing are line 38,
line 42, and line 69.
After the metro closes late atnight, the night buses operate
with routes covering most of thecity.
There are trains that extendfurther outside the city.
(17:45):
In English we call those theRERs.
Those will take you to placeslike Disneyland, paris, to
Charles de Gaulle Airport andeven Versailles.
And there are trams also.
Trams have eight lines lines T1to T8, and those really serve
the outer districts.
They're easy to use with thesame tickets as the metro.
(18:06):
You just want to make sure thatyou have a metro pass, for
example, when you purchase yourNavigo.
You want to make sure that youhave a metro pass.
For example, when you purchaseyour Navigo, you want to make
sure that it extends all the waythrough zone five.
Now when you get to Paris, whenyou land at the airport, you can
stop at a kiosk and you can getyour Navigo pass or get your
metro tickets for the week.
There are kiosks and they havea little sort of scrolling
(18:31):
button that you can use so youcan pick English and easily
navigate your way through thepurchase of those tickets.
If you like more humaninteraction, there are ticket
counters with, I think, veryfriendly people ready to help
you.
I find those ticket counters alittle bit more friendly than
once you're inside the city.
Inside the city, I find it alittle bit more difficult to
(18:54):
talk through plexiglass.
The trains are in thebackground A lot of times.
The metro stations are windy.
I don't really love to if I'mhaving a problem with my ticket
or something.
I don't really enjoy thattransaction.
I try to use the automatedkiosks as much as I can, or take
care of that right when I getthere, right when I land, before
(19:15):
I leave Charles de GaulleAirport.
Once you have entered the metro,like I said, once you've
activated that ticket, you'regoing to follow the signs to the
correct platform.
You're going to double checkjust to make sure you're headed
in the right direction.
You want to follow the signs.
Correspondance, correspondencefor transfers, sortie You'll see
the sign everywhere means exit.
(19:36):
Your rush hours are typicallybetween 8 and 10 am and 5 and 7
pm and, of course, be mindful ofpickpockets when it gets really
cozy.
You want to make sure that youhave your bag in front of you at
all times.
Anyways, it's nice to keep yourbag in front of you and just be
aware of your surroundings.
The metro is typically a verysafe place, but we want to use
(19:59):
wisdom when we're traveling inanother country.
All in all, the metro is easy.
You'll use it numerous times aday.
You'll get a great workout Inthe meantime.
They say you're never outsideof 500 yards of a metro stop.
I don't think that's alwaysnecessarily true over in areas
by the Eiffel Tower and LesInvalides, but on the whole,
(20:20):
there's always one right aroundthe corner.
I think you're going to find ita fantastic tool during your
trip and with so many optionslike the buses, the trams, the
RERs, all the different tickets,all the different ticket prices
, I think there is something.
I know there is something tosuit you and accommodate you and
(20:41):
make your time in Paris thevery best it can be.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
If you're following along onYouTube, leave a comment in the
comment box, tell me what youlove the most about the metro
and if you're pretty familiarwith the city, tell me what your
favorite metro stop is, becausesome of them are so very
beautiful and I will see you allagain very soon.
(21:03):
A bientot ©.
Transcript, emily Beynon.
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