If you've visited Paris, you've most certainly ridden on the métro (subway). It's often called one of the best systems in the world. It certainly is a great system for getting around in, and increasingly outside, the city. I believe that this station is called La Motte-Picquet - Grenelle at the intersection of the Boulevard de Grenelle and the Avenue de la Motte-Picquet in the 15th Arrondissement. Three lines intersect at this station which is on one of the system's several elevated segments.
When I lived in Paris (1981-1982), the métro and bus system was the best way to get around, other than walking. I certainly didn't have access to a car then, nor did I need one. I'm trying to think of all the rail transit systems I've experienced in my life. Let's see... New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco (Muni, BART, and CalTrain), San José, Los Angeles, Portland OR, Paris (RATP and RER), Rome, Munich, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Montréal, Vancouver BC and, if we're counting monorail, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Disney World!
Without your vast experience of different systems and in spite of the grimy, frankly mostly awful stations, I think New York City's Subway is a winner for me, only over London's Tube because NYC subway trains are air conditioned.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never been on Paris Metro but the photos I’ve seen are always a wonder. Great visual design.
ReplyDeleteLa Motte-Picquet has been ‘my’ metro station on several trips to Paris. Love the metro and the bus systems in Paris.
ReplyDeleteThere was something about the independence of having the Métro in Paris, that helped me feel grown up and independent when we were living there. After all, at only 22 years old, I wasn't even living on my own, back at home in the U.S. I loved the Metro!
ReplyDeleteJudy
Did you notice the graffiti on the stone and on the glass?
ReplyDeleteYou even managed to have a métro train and a bus on the same photo! Wow!
DeleteThe NYC subways got air conditioning only relatively recently. Before that, you could ride to work and have a sauna at the same time. Now they have signage you can read and announcements of stations-to-come that are actually understandable. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteandrew, NYC was the first system I ever rode, back in the early 80s. That was back when all the cars were covered in graffiti, there was no air-con in them, and everything was grimy. It was exciting and a little scary, but I loved it.
ReplyDeletemitch, and it's very human-scaled.
bettyann, cool!
judy, it really does give one a feeling of freedom.
chm, yes, but it's gone now (looking at Google street view), almost sixteen years later. LOL!
emm, "work and sauna at the same time." LOL!
I did not know Paris had a Metro; I learned something :-)
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