Bastille Metro Station

I have never used the Paris metro as extensively as these past days and I must say, it's really convenient (especially when it's super cold!). For the first time in my life I even found myself on the platform of line 1, at Bastille! A stunning metro station overlooking the Port de l'Arsenal which is where several boats are docked (no, it did not remind me of Malta!). Add the sun to it, and you have a perfect next to last PDP photo ;-)

Packed metro!

In 5 days I'll be back to Paris (yes, already!) to spend Christmas with my family. I won't stay very long, but long enough to experiment a few Metro trips (I have no more scooter in Paris now!). Not exactly what I'm really missing, but I guess it comes with the package. Sorry for the delayed posting again, I had to take my computer to a repair store today and only got it back late...

Driving the metro

I used to very rarely take the metro (I had a scooter in Paris - which is now hopefully on its way to Malta!), but I did from time to time. For me it was almost like a game, especially when I could take the first car and see through the driver's door, like I did in this photo, as you can see! At that time I have a very basic camera, not very good with low light environments, obviously...  

Line 4

I had to have my scooter serviced yesterday so I had no other choice than to take the Métro! It's been such a while, I almost forgot how to stick a ticket in the machine ;-) I took line 4, which goes from Porte de Clignancourt in the North to Mairie de Montrouge in the South and, well, the line has obviously been renovated and the trains that operate are all shiny and modern! Still, will I miss the Metro when I leave? Nah... I don't think so ;-)) 

Art Nouveau Paris metro entrance

Here is one of the last "édicule" (that is an Aedicula - I'm sure you all know what it is ;-), but just in case, here is a link to Wikipedia!) from the famous metro stations designed by Hector Guimard, the famous French architect that was a big Art Nouveau player. I photographed it at Porte Dauphine (the other one is at Abbesses) last Saturday, while it was sunny. It's a real work of art and a definite must see.

A new Paris metro line

There are 14 metro lines in Paris (16 if you count the "sublines" 3 bis and 7 bis) for a total of 220 kilometers (137 miles), but it's not enough! On top of that, the city limits are probably going to change: what's now in the suburbs will progressively be merged into a "greater Paris area". That's why the next "Paris" metro line - line 15 - will run exclusively in the suburbs, going from Pont de Sèvres to Noisy-Champs (see here, if you're interested). It will be totally underground and fully automated (therefore never be "on strike"!). Its construction should start next year and it should be completed in 2020 (yeah, right!) 

Metro

As you may know, we have several open air metro (métro aérien) lines in Paris. This one is on the Boulevard de l'hôtital, in the 13th arrondissement and I took the photo just when the metro is about to go back under Paris. The big VP in the foreground simply means Ville de Paris! Have great weekend everyone.

Giant Metro Map

I came across this building in the 13th arrondissement by sheer coincidence, after a business meeting. I was intrigued by the metro signs (the big M, the Maison Blanche board...) and the various white lines on the facade. Then I understood... This is no less than giant local metro map! What a clever idea. 

Playing with Metro station names...

You may have already seen Metropolisson if you're interested in what's going on in Paris, but if not you may have a look at some of the content (I'm fortunate enough to have been given it ;-)) Anyway the purpose of this book is to show scenes photographed in the Paris metro that are related visually to the name of the stations. For example, at Rome you can see an Emperor, at Invalides a one legged person, at Champs de Mars (Mars field), an astronaut, etc. Some are easier to figure out than others... I think the idea is great and here is my modest contribution to this fantastic project ;-) "Muette" means "mute", so I guess, this is pretty self explanatory!

Sunny metro

It's not so much for this famous metro station that I already featured twice on PDP that I'm posting this photo, but because of the extraordinary light that I was lucky enough to catch it in. FYI this metro station is called the Kiosque des noctambules (night birds kiosk) and its structure consists of two domes made of glass spheres (that obviously catch the light very well!). It was made by Jean-Michel Othoniel for the RATP (the French public transportation organization).

An unusual metro station

When you think of the Paris metro, you probably have in mind one of the typical Art nouveau entrances designed by Hector Guimard. Well, he did not do them all... Hence this one, near Place Monge, located at rue de Navarre, probably one of the oldest streets in Paris (it takes you to the famous Lutèce arenas, that were built by the Romans, when they used to live in "Paris" - which was called Lutèce at that time). I did not find any information about this station - who built it -  but I really like it.

Spooky!

Can you guess what this is? A new Mc Donald's? A Macarons vending machine? A Morgue? All wrong... this is a brand new metro station! I found it yesterday, while I was coming back from a little gathering with the vacation rentals service ParisSharing community. It's located at Porte de Vincennes, that is in the very east side of Paris, where they recently installed a new tramway - and therefore reshuffled the whole underground public transportation. Pretty cool isn't? A quite a change from the traditional Hector Guimard's Art Nouveau style!

Metro spotting

I'm not a train spotter, but I happened to find myself at Pasteur metro station today where the line leaves the underground and continues all the way to the 16th arrondissment (including the crossing of the Seine on the typical Bir Hakeim bridge) on the open air. When the metro was built, the idea of having elevated sections like this one was pretty controversial as you can imagine. People were afraid that it would destroy the nice perspective of our streets... Which it does! But only partly, and only in areas where going underground was difficult (at that time anyway). It is also noisy, but less since they replaced the steel wheels with tires.

Empty metro

Not very glamorous, but very unusual scene today: the Paris metro without anybody in it! How did I manage to take this? Simple, I took it at "dawn", when no one was in it! It felt very weird actually for normally you have to fight to get a spot (well, not me for I drive my scooter, but I've experienced it!). Facts and figures? Well... In 2009 no less than... 1,479 billion people used the metro - that is roughly 4 million a day! Not bad for an area that counts about 10 million inhabitants!

Perspective (theme day)

Here we are, the 1st of the month and since I've been away these past 5 days I had not anticipated the theme day... Shame on me. It's only yesterday that I found out it was "Perspective". So here you go, a quick and dirty "Tenin perspective" from the Metro, more precisely Line 14, that I took on the way back from the Gare de Lyon where I arrived from Nîmes. Go visit the "Dailyphotoblogosphere" and find out what they chose for the theme day... Back to work now!

Back to work

It's been a very quiet long weekend in Paris, the city was almost empty, but now the time has come to go back to work... I actually took this photo last Friday, when I had to take the metro to pick up my scooter that was being serviced. I saw this scene and thought it would make a good photo. The rectangle tile you can see on the wall is typical of the Paris Metro.

Barbès

Here is a famous area in Paris, called Barbès (after the name of the boulevard that starts from right after the metro line. It's famous because that is where a lot of people from northern Africa (mainly Algerians) gather (that is where a lot of reporters went to get reactions from the Arab community after Bin Laden's death for instance. Lately, it was a lot in the news, because there is mosque nearby and it's too small for everybody to fit in, so people have to pray in the street, which is against the rules of our secular state. Touchy topic, as you can imagine ;-)

Free-zing!

The cold is back again... Of course in January it's pretty normal, but since we already had a cold wave in December - which is rather unusual - I was hoping January would leave us alone! Anyway, I thought this photo was and excellent illustration of winter. I took it avenue Monceau where they have a huge air grating, probably leading to the Metro. It's much less sexy than Marylin Monroe's famous photo, but that is all I could find in the middle of winter!

Metro for sale...

It is so cold in Paris at the moment that I gave up using my scooter and... take the metro whenever I have to go somewhere far. That's what I did last night. When the train arrived I saw it was all covered in Christmas decorations. I  had never seen that before. Of course, it's not the RATP (the Paris Public Transport Authorities) that wish to celebrate Christmas with its customers, but a brand willing to attract our attention ;-) What brand? Well I'm sure you know it all. But to find out, click here, you'll have a broader view of the train and you'll see the name of the brand.

Public Transportation

First of the month=theme day! You must know that by now! And this month, I paid attention and did not forget about it, like last month ;-) This November theme day is "Public Transportation" and God knows that when it comes to underground transportation, buses and even funiculars we have the choice in Paris. I chose a rather futuristic view of the Metro; the brand new turnstiles. Now have a look what public transportation looks like throughout the world.