LIFE IS A ROAD~
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"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris
as a young man, then wherever you go for
the rest of yourlife it stays with you, for
Paris is a moveable feast."
— Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), U.S. author.
Paris is the head of barge and ship navigation on the Seine and is the fourth most important port in France (after Marseille, Le Havre, and Dunkerque). The Loire, Rhine, Rhône, Meuse, and Scheldt rivers can be reached by canals connecting with the Seine, and a large amount of the imports and exports of the city are transported via water. Total freight carried to and from the port annually amounts to 43 million U.S. tons. Paris is also a major rail, highway, and air transportation hub. Two international airports, Orly and Charles de Gaulle, as well as Le Bourget (for domestic flights), serve the city. De Gaulle ranks as the fifth busiest international airport in the world and Orly as the seventh.
The city's subway system, the Métro, was opened on July 19, 1900, its first line being from Porte de Vincennes to Porte Maillot. Engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe oversaw the construction phase, while architect Hector Guimard designed the decorative Art Nouveau entrances. The system boasts 199 km (124 miles) of track and 15 lines. There are 368 stations (not including RER stations), 87 of these being interchanges between lines. A total of 3500 cars transport roughly 6 million people per day, while the system itself employs 15,000 employees (1989 statistics). Every building in Paris is within 500 meters (3/10 mile) of a métro station. The Réseau Express Régional (RER), inaugurated in the 1960s, connects the city with its outlying suburbs.
The Paris Metro
Since Paris is such a compact city (roughly 6 miles across), much of it can be covered on foot — especially the primary sightseeing spots in the city's center. There will be times, however, when a métro or bus ride is unavoidable — and even welcome.
Maps & DirectionsSignage in Paris métro stations is abundant and easily followed: every station offers a big plan of the network outside the entrance and several inside. Lines are color-coded and numbered, and are also named according to the city gate — or porte — at the end of the line. For example, Line 4 running to the north will be indicated as going in the direction of Porte de Clignancourt, while southbound would be Porte d'Orléans. (Some lines may end a few stops beyond the Periphérique, into neighboring suburbs.) Numerous interchanges (correspondances) make it possible to travel throughout the city in a more or less straight line. Châtelet has the longest interconnecting passageway between lines, with a 600-foot long moving sidewalk.
Free maps are also available at most stations, which provide the basics for navigation. If you want detailed breakdowns, we recommend the following, which are available at most newsstands
Tout Paris par Arrondissement. Small spiral-bound note-book, with index of streets, detailed maps of each arrondissement, and a list of useful addresses. Editions Blay Foldex, priced around € 6.
Paris Classique par Arrondissement. Pocket-sized, with fold-out map as well as more detailed maps of each arrondissement, and index of streets. Editions L'Indispensable, priced around € 9.
For the latest in subway technology, try the express stations' computerized routefinders: at the touch of a button, you'll be shown four alternative routes to your selected destination, on foot or by public transport.
Metro Lines Explained
The metro has 16 lines identifiable by number, color, and end-of-line names. For instance, line 4 is magenta and is called "Porte de Cligancourt/Porte d'Orléans" because it runs from Porte d'Orléans at the south tip of Paris to Porte de Clignancourt in the north.
Always determine which direction you need to go relative to the line's endpoints. If you are at Chatelet and need to get to Odeon, you'd look at the map and see that Odeon is located south of Chatelet, toward Porte d'Orléans. This is important because once you take the metro in one direction, it's impossible to change directions without exiting the turnstile and going through again. This is costly if you have single tickets.
How To Use Passes On the Métro & Buses
The Mobilis, Carte Orange, and Paris Visite passes all come with a plastic sleeve in which to keep the ticket portion of the pass — which is the same size as a regular ticket, but more durable. When entering a métro or RER station, simply remove the ticket from its sleeve and insert it into the slot on a turnstile. The ticket will be returned to you from a second slot; replace it into its sleeve and pass through the turnstile. (Note: the ticket is also required in order to exit from RER stations.) When boarding on a bus, however, simply show your pass to the driver; do not insert the ticket into the machine on a bus, as this will invalidate it.
Hours of Service
Métro trains run from 5:30 a.m. to approximately 12:45 or 1:00 a.m. (this varies, so don't push your luck), at which point they are brought to various depots for daily cleaning and maintenance. You'll know whether you caught the last train for the night, if you see that the two lights placed above the windshield on the front of the train are flashing slowly (as opposed to just being on) when it pulls into the station.
Major Paris Metro Lines
Line 1: Stops include Louvre, Champs-Elysées, Chatelet, Bastille.
Line 2: Stops include Anvers (Sacre Coeur), Gare du Nord, Champs-Elysées, Père-Lachaise
Line 3: Stops include St. Lazare, République, Père-Lachaise
Line 4: Stops include Chatelet, St. Michel, Montparnasse.
Line 5: Stops include Gare d'Austerlitz, Bastille, Place d'Italie
Line 6: Stops include Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse, Champs-Elysees.
Line 7: Stops include Place d'Italie, Louvre, Opera
Line 8: Stops include Invalides, Opéra, Bastille
Line 9: Stops include Republique and Grands Magasins
Line 10: Stops include the Sorbonne, Gare d'Austerlitz
Line 11: Stops include Chatelet, Republique.
Line 12: Stops include Abbesses (Montmartre), Grands Magasins, Montparnasse
Line 13: Stops include Invalides, St. Lazare
Line 14: Stops include Chatelet, Gare de Lyon, Bibliothèque National
Overnight Transport Options
BusesIf you happen to be out after the Métro system shuts down, and you're across town from your lodgings, the Noctilien nighttime bus service can get you closer to your destination.
Effective September 20, 2005, Noctilien replaced the old Noctambus system — both doubling its number of routes and the total kilometers covered by the network. While all 18 Noctambus routes emanated from one central hub at place du Châtelet, the 35 new Noctilien routes run from five different hubs: Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse, Gare Saint-Lazare, Gare de l'Est, and Châtelet. The service runs from 12:30 to 5:30 a.m., 7 days a week, covering 1,950 stops in Paris and 175 towns throughout Ile-de-France, including routes to Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.
The frequency of Noctilien buses varies according to the route and the day of the week (extra service is offered on Saturday and Sunday mornings). Various passes are honored for travel, including the Carte Orange, Imagine R, Intégrale, Mobilis, and Paris Visite. If you don't have one of these passes, individual tickets may be purchased on board (€ 1.60 each) — though the drivers do not sell carnets of 10 tickets, which are only available from ticket agents in stations.
The number of tickets required for your particular passage is equal to the number of zones (1-5) you traverse on the route, after the first two zones; find examples of typical fares on the web site. Connecting with a different bus also requires a new fare.
Taxis
For nighttime travel, you can also try hailing a cab, either on the street or from the 745 taxi ranks around Paris and the suburbs. Look for the large white "Taxi Parisien" light — if it's on, the cab's available; a glowing orange light below it means it's engaged.
Overnight rates (Mon. - Sat., 7 p.m. - 7 a.m.) are €1.06 per kilometer within the city, €1.26/km to the suburbs; Sunday rates between midnight - 7 a.m. are €1.26/km to all destinations. The minimum fare for a taxi is €5.20 for 1 - 3 passengers, plus a supplement of €2.70 for each additional person, and €0.90 for each piece of luggage after the first.
Keep in mind that if you phone ahead for a taxi, the amount showing on the meter upon its arrival will reflect the distance it traveled to get to your pick-up point from its previous location. Do not be surprised if that amount is already €7 (or more) when you board.
