Europe Travel, London, Paris, Provence

Misery On The Paris Metro

In The Station After Rush Hour
It is dark in the train station four levels beneath the shopping center of La Defense. You have come in by Local train from Versailles Chantieres and must insert your ticket to exit, that ticket, the train ticket that you can not find.

The lavatory is closed. The information booth deserted, the ticket machines out of order. No attendants, no custodians, no police, not a soul except scurrying passengers and a clerk in a coffee shop who tells you that the nearest toilet is four flights up in the MacDonalds.  And you have really got to go.

You look for the exits but they are all blocked by booths that will only open when you insert a ticket, that ticket, the train ticket that you can not find.

You see other desperate people dragging their suitcases under the barrier and vaulting over the bar. You hesitate, you wander from exit to exit, you then do the same; you go over the bar and under the gate.

Suddenly a janitor is yelling at you, lights come on and a head appears in the information booth, three soldiers in camo gear swarm into the station, machine guns pointed at you.

You wake. It is only a nightmare, another Paris Metro nightmare.

Buy Blocks Of Tickets

"The first thing you should do if you are going to use the Paris Metro is to buy a block of tickets, five or ten at a time." my British friend tells me.  

"Why?"  I question.

"Well, buying ahead will save you a few pounds but more importantly you will not be waiting in endless ques to buy tickets every time you use the metro.  And you will not be stuck in a nightmare Metro station with no way out."

Oh so true I found out the hard way last year when I arrived at CDG on the RER with no ticket to get out of the station.

The tickets are sold at automated machines but there are not enough of the machines in the stations (long lines) and usually several of the machines don't work. There are ticket sales booths but they are not always open.   Closed weekends and evenings.  

The machines in the Metro stations, when they do work, are adequate but slow.  Some slower than others.  They do have a language menu and they will accept coins, bills, and European credit cards. (Some American credit Cards, Visa and Mastercard on newer machines)  When the machines malfunction, however, they can gobble your coins and return nothing. If you are down to your last two Euros the Paris metro can be an unforgiving place.

The machines in the SNFC Train Station will not accept coin or bills, only credit cards.  This means a wait in line to buy tickets unless you have functioning plastic.

Lost In The Paris Metro

Buying your tickets is just one of the Paris Metro bad dreams, getting to your destination is another; it is easy to get lost in the Paris metro.

      Fourteen metro lines cover the city, color coded and numbered. Simple, right. Not so when lines split and the same color and number goes in two different directions.

Couple this with a color coded RER train system of five lines, A to E, that runs to many of the same locations and you have the fixings for confusion.

Take Metro line 13 blue for instance. Going north from St Lazare Station, the line splits at La Forche Station. One train goes northwest to Porte de Clichy and ends at Les Courtilles.  The alternate train goes north to St Denis. You must watch the lighted board overhead in the St Lazare Station, and all stations south of La Fourche. The board announces the arrival of the two different trains. You must board the correct train if your destination is beyond the split at La Fourche. 

Oh and by the way,  that same line, line 13, offers a Porte du Clichy and a Place du Clichy with just four stop separating the two.  (marked Pte de Clichy and Plce de Clichy on the Metro wall)

North, South, East or West

When travelling on the Metro you must of course first sort out the direction that you want to travel, east or west, south or north of the center of Paris.  The best way to do this is to determine what station is at the end of the line in the direction that you want to go. 

       Take Marie d'issy for example at the southern end of Metro Green Line number 12,  and Front Populaire at the northern terminus of this line. Use these names to keep you going in your intended direction. If you are traveling from Port de Versailles Parc de Exposition for example to Pigalle, you want to always be heading in the direction of the last station on Green Line-12, the Station Front Populaire.

Paris Metro lines are not marked north and south or east and west for a good reason.  Most of the lines change direction drastically during their run.  There are marked changes in direction such as the changes Line-8 makes as it goes in an arc around the city.

The Metro and RER System are great for travel around Paris and environs, however.  The nightmare scenario described earlier might come into play when you combine travel on the RER, the Metro, and the local commuter trains. The Metro, RER, and surface bus will use the same tickets but the prices vary according to distance from Paris Central. (Notre Dame more or less) 

If you take an RER train to CDG airport for instance, RER line B, you will need to insert your ticket to enter the station and to exit the station at CDG.  This can cause confusion because you don't need to insert your ticket on exit in the Metro.  You do need it on the RER, however.  This can lead to big time confusion. You might also need the ticket to exit when using the trains, such as the Montparnasse to Versailles SNCF train. 

Play it safe; always save your Metro, RER, and train ticket until you have finished your trip.

Don't discard your ticket until you reach the 

coffee shop