Transport in Paris and other Paris, France Transportation Tips

'Mode': TO
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Don't drive in Paris : too one way streets, traffic jams, impossibility to park (excepted in very expensive underground parkings), the way of driving of the natives.

Paris has 5 types of transportation :
- Metropolitan (RATP) : it goes everywhere in Paris and has a lot of stations. A bit dirty though regularly clean . Be aware of the pickpockets.
- Buses (RATP) : a large network of bus lines in Paris and suburbs. Pleasant and cheap to visit but not quick.
- RER (quick metro line) : to cross rapidly Paris (from Nation to Charles de Gaulle Etoile for example) and to go to the suburbs or Versailles Castle.
- Train (SNCF) : only to go to the suburbs - Batobus : on the Seine. Less expensive than the 'Bateaux Mouches' but without comment.

+ one : the funicular to reach the top of Montmartre Hill.

Go to the website to get a map.

On the picture : the metro station "Cite" which stays on the Ile de la Cite, at the "Flowers Market", in front of the Law Court.
It has kept the ancient entrance, style Art Deco.

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Website: www.ratp.fr / www.sncf.fr

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: After a short strike, the taxi drivers have obtained a raise of 3.1 pct (1st march 2008).
The maximum price is :
- a fix of 3.22 euros
+ 0.88 euros per kilometer
+29.61 euros per hour when they are still (in a traffic jam for example) or at a very low speed.

The average cost within Paris is 12 to 20 euros. From an airport : 60 to 80 euros on Sunday (my personal experience) according to the distance and time
If you start from a Railway station : + 1€ per luggage.
The normal gratuity (tip) is 10%.
Some accept credit cards.
The best way to find a taxi is to go to a taxi station, generally at the corner of the street (there are 15.000 taxis in Paris but it is not enough for the demand).
But if its roof light is on, you can call a taxi by the street when you are sufficiently lucky.
There are 3 places in a taxi, 4 if the driver accepts a person at its right (we are not in London).
The taxi drivers do not generally speak English (some do not speak correctly French) and they are often rude because it is not a profitable job. Be indulgent.
On the picture : taxis place Denfert Rochereau (see The Lion of Belfort behind the cars)

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Website: www.infotaxiparis.free.fr (English)

'Mode': TO
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: If you walk in Paris in Summer, you get rapidly thirsty.
There are 70 fountains spread in the town to provide water to the pedestrians. They were offered to the Parisians by Sir Richard Wallace in 1872 and maintained in order by the Town.
Initially, they are set up with 3 tin mugs tied by a chain to the fountain. It is for this reason they are not easy to use if you have not a bottle or a cup.

The one on the picture is located in the "Flowers Market", in the Ile de la Cite.

The alternative : in the department stores and some stores there is a free fountain of water.

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Website: www.multimania.com/savoy/instal.html

'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: The last wall which encircled Paris was built in 1840 and demolished in the 50' to be replaced by a large beltway called the Périphérique.

It must not be confused with the "Boulevards des Maréchaux" (or which are large ways, initially devoted to allow to bring troups and ammunitions to the rampart. These are within Paris and have traffic lights. You can use them if the beltway is saturated.

The Peripherique is a highway. It exactly surrounds Paris with 3 or 4 lanes in each direction. The speed is limited at 80 and frequent controls are made by photo-radar.

Almost all the exits are named by a Paris "door" (Porte) according to the doors of the former wall. When you enter in the Peripherique you must know at what door you have to exit.

The motorways are directly linked with the Peripherique.

The beltway is divided into 4 parts : North, South, West, East.

It is also divided into 2 ways :
- péripherique interieur : for the lanes which go around Paris in the directions of watch hands.
- peripherique exterieur : for the lanes which go in the opposite direction.

It is the vocabulary used on the signs. Pay attention.

If you are in the wrong direction, go out from the Peripherique. You must find the corresponding entrance for the opposite direction.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: It is an art to park in Paris if you decide to not use one of the numerous and expensive public parkings.
Avoid to park in front of a car entrance (a curb), at a taxi place (they ask the police), on a "Axe Rouge" (red axle = urban thruway), at a bus stop (yellow marks on the ground).
Be careful when you park on a forbiden place especially if the sign showes a tow away car. At night and the Sunday your risk is low.
Nethertheless, last Sunday morning, I left my forbiden park place at noon just when the police arrived....

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'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: Often, VT members ask where to park freely and safely.
I suggest La Defense, on Voie des Sculpteurs or Voie des Batisseurs (they are covered ways)
You need a precise local map to find these 2 ways which are at the same place. To find a place, you must go either 12AM to 2PM or after 5:30 PM or during the week end. Avoid to park where it is written in yellow LIVRAISON (delivery) your car would be towed quickly.
The area is free and frequently visited by the police (the police office is nearby).
The RER station La Defense (line A) and the metro station Esplanade (Line 1) are nearby.

Some VTer's ask me how to know more about this place. It is a true tip. That means you never find it in a guide, you do not have to follow a sign FREE PARKING. If that occures, do not waste your time to look for the parking : it will be surely full.
Buy a Paris map with a map of La Defense and be cuning.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: Look at the photo of Gare de l'Est. On the left side of the station there is the entrance of the parking ALSACE.
If you take it you have an access to a paying underground parking.
But have a look at the way, before the barrier of the parking. You will see a lot of cars parked, FREELY. They are owned by SNCF (transport authorities) employees but they have no sign or card.
So if you have a French rented car and if you go there early in the morning or late in the evening you will get a free covered parking.

As the previous tip. This information is not in the guides and when it will be, it will not be a tip.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bicycle
Getting TO/AROUND: If you wish to stop walking : ride a bicycle after renting it at RATP (the metro company).
You can get a bicycle at Les halles, Hotel de Ville, Bassin de la Villette, Bercy, Porte d'Anteuil, Bois de Vincennes. They are open from 10AM to 6PM.
You must leave a deposit of 150 euros and if the bicycle is stolen you are charged with a sum of 76 euros.
The week end, 1 hour = 4 euros, 1/2 day = 10 euros.
A week day : 7 euros for 1 day.

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Website: www.ratp.com

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bicycle
Getting TO/AROUND: Brilliant idea of the Paris mayor : settle bicycle stations in the city.
The service is called VELIB and it has begun 15th July 2007.
You can take a ticket for 1 day (1 E) ou 7 days (5 E) at each station using your credit card. There is a caution which is debited only in case of problem.
With the card provided by the automatic station, you can take a Velib. Each person must have ones own card. You can go everywhere in Paris with the bicycle and leave it at an other station.
The first 30 min are FREE, the second worths 1 E, the others 4 E.
Each station is 300 meters from the nearest one.
The cunning way to use the Velib is to make a daily itinerary and to notice the adresses of the stations you need to use. You can check if the closest station from your hotel has ,at the moment , enough Velib, you take the Velibs you need and you go to your first stop to leave the bicycle there. If each ride lasts less than 30 min you do not pay any money.
At the time I write this tip, the experiment is new. So all the stations I saw are full of bicycles and it is the only concern because the users cannot leave their bicycles.
The City has forgotten to put less bicycles in each station than the number of bases but they transfer bicycles from a station to an other one to get the balance (see the 5e pictures)

The alternatives are : the bicycles of RATP (Metro) which are more expensive or those of VINCI Parking (the major parking lot company in Paris) which are completly free for their clients only (they even have tandems)

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Website: www.velib.paris.fr

'Mode': TO
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: This is the bus which was on duty during my youth (my children say I am kiding because the bus was not still invented when I was young...).
The engin was noisy and the smoke produced stank.
There was a plateform on the back of the bus to go into in the vehicle and we liked to stay on it to watch people.
A RATP employee was there and rang a bell when everybody was climbed in the bus.
Now this bus can be seen in the Musee des Transports and it is a rare event to see one by the streets.

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