Thursday, October 05, 2006

Doorway to heaven


Like in all big cities parking spaces are so scarse in Paris that people would kill for a place to park their car! It costs about 150 €/ month minimum to have the right to drive down 5 floors and slide your car into a tiny slot... And you dream of living in Paris?!

33 comments:

  1. I do sometimes, but I would leave my car at home. Or sell it and buy a moped!

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  2. 150 EUR per month? That's not bad for a bigger city.

    From what I've seen, Paris is not very expensive compared to other places...especially NYC. I spent more per day there than Paris!

    By the way, the Louvre has partnered with the High museum in Atlanta so part of Paris is here now! I'm going to go check it out next weekend.

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  3. :D
    Read your comments, it seems that doorway tries to show its beauty to lure people living in Paris.
    glorious doorway~~
    ...Jing

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  4. Oh, yes, these spots REALLY ARE TINY!!!

    Parking in Paris is even harder now that they have planted all these posts into the sidewalks!! Ha! (nope, it's not a typo. Parisians will park wherever they can if you let them!)

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  5. With that golden glow in the photo, it looks like the gates to fort knox, which probably what you'll need to aford parking!

    Steve in chilly Chicago where they sell parking slots from $25,000 up to $60,000 and more.

    PS: I live in the inner city along the lake and finally, after 45 years of owning a car and always parking it on the street, have ditched it and now use igo which is modeled after European plans. You become a member and can rent a car by the hour and the car is sitting in a parking lot of a grocery store two blocks from my house. I've been using my bike, my legs and public transportation most of the time, and aside from it taking a bit longer, seems a wise choice.

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  6. In Boston, most of my salary seems to go to parking, plus the guilt of thinking I should be spending my money on something more worthwhile.

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  7. I think that Paris' public transport is quite good, so I'd rather use it and save some money (considering that you have to buy a car, pay the gas, repairs whenever it needs them, plus the parking...)

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  8. hahaha your last line made ma laugh....mais bien sur! i still dream of living in the City of Light and Love....just without a car :-)

    j'aime bien le metro!

    Also, when I was in Montreal last spring, I saw that they had stop signs that read "ARRETE" rather than "STOP..." I guess they take the preservation of their language very seriously......

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  9. Oh and I want to thank Michael and Tomate for the advise regarding apartments in Paris!

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  10. La question est plustot (d'apres moi) est ce qu'une voiture est utile à Paris ? pour avoir vecu à Paris, j'ais bien vecu sans voiture. Avec les transports en commun et si on est courageux (peut-etre meme fou) il y a aussi le velo.
    Sinon vivre à Paris est un reve.

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  11. The dream of Paris for me never includes a car. Walking! Metro!

    Driving in a big city that has such a famous Metro seem silly.

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  12. the equivalent of Euro 150 for a month is only possible in suburb here, in downtown I think it should be at least 3 to 4 times...

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  13. Ha, I remember driving into Paris some years ago when we had a VW Caravelle - too high for almost all the parking spaces in Paris. WSe had only one day in Paris, and drove around for I don't know how long........Now we have a Peugeot, so next time it will probably be easier :-)

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  14. I gave my car up in San Francisco almost 11 years ago...and I still wish I had one at times[especially when it is raining like today]but I feel that people living in SF that are so attached to their cars really should be living in the suburbs[where most of them came from]as they aren't really living a city existence in my opinion. My Paris dreams never include a car and when visiting in Paris and riding in the car of a friend I almost always wish I wasn't in the car...it's crazy!! Worse than New York!! In Paris one can always walk just a block or two to a wonderful cafe, or bakery or almost anything one needs, but here in SF many people have cars because things really aren't so accessible and they haven't got the "planning ahead" thing down!! C'est la vie!! Maybe I could live in a nice garage space? Find me a heated one! LOL!!!

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  15. Heaven you say? Driving down 5 floors and pay outrageous fees look more like Hell to me...

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  16. I've certainly got some way to go before the site about Travel Information meets the standards of your blog.

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  17. I couldn't and wouldn't drive in Paris. We drive through it from the airport each year when we are staying in Paris. I keep my eyes half closed since I am the nervous passenger. Dave braves it out. The metro is more than I can handle. Everyone is in such a hurry. They push and shove. Then you are crowded in like cattle. We prefer the bus instead of the hole in the ground. It works for us.

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  18. I think just visiting Paris will be enough for me. I like my big parking spaces!!

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  19. From what I recall these are just a hole in the wall (literally), where a passerby wouldn't have a clue that it's a parking garage. Nice photograph using the no parking signs to frame.

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  20. This is when a Smart car is very smart indeed! Or a Fiat Bambino.

    Parking costs way more than that in Sydney. I am lucky to have use of a parkign spot for free under my work building if I need it, but I don't generally drive to work. Walk and train for me.

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  21. What I like about Paris is the great public transportation. I love not needing a car to get around and walking more. Where I live in California, the only public transport is a bus system that runs only hourly--not exactly convenient.

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  22. Yes, I agree that this fact about Paris only makes it more appealing. If you can get by with public transportation and walk around so freely...how wonderful! I'll take it any day over the suburban misery here in America!

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  23. Yes, I agree that this fact about Paris only makes it more appealing. If you can get by with public transportation and walk around so freely...how wonderful! I'll take it any day over the suburban misery here in America!

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  24. Yes, I agree that this fact about Paris only makes it more appealing. If you can get by with public transportation and walk around so freely...how wonderful! I'll take it any day over the suburban misery here in America!

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  25. I don't drive, I live perhaps ten minutes' walk from a métro station - and in Paris the métro has far more lines than in Montréal. One of the more interesting comments on this thread was about carshares - we have one too: Commun'auto (Comme une auto!) Friends of mine set it up. That means people who want to go to IKEA or other hypermarchés, or go for a weekend excursion, don't have to consider buying a car. It is extremely successful.

    I ride my bicycle except in the depths of our horrible winter, and I'm a middle-aged woman. My car is an old black Raleigh Sprite.

    I do dream of Paris, the problem is not transport - the Paris métro and buses are most reasonable in cost (except for those who have to live in faraway suburbs) - but the cost of housing. No, not as bad as London, but pretty steep. Who knows? I have a lot of friends there, but we're all past the age for prolonged couch surfing.

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  26. Living in Paris, yes; driving in Paris, non! ;^)
    -Kim

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  27. well, i used to pay some 250€ a month in downtown Stockhom and had the pleasure of having my car both vandalized and broken into...now i just leave it on the street. Hardly use it - don´t want to give up my parking space.

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  28. I like the shot - especially the angle! :)

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  29. Nahal: you're welcome!

    Johnny Parsons: (Thanks for the compliment on the previous thread. Well, even I have to get off line now and then! ;-) If you like the bus, you're in for a treat. Buses are getting much faster than they were in the past due to these lanes that Delanoe has opened. Driving a car - and especially parking it! - is not getting any easier in Paris.

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  30. Oh mon dieu! I'm moving there this month! I lived there as a student and it was an amazing year! Maybe I was lucky enough to meet some 'friendly parisians'. Haha.

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