Making our final plans for May. Any comments or helps for this Paris itinerary part. I know that picking up the rental car may be problematic. I think we will all ride the Metro to Gare du Nord. That is where i rented it thinking we might stay near there. When I found a better place, there were no bigger cars for that time period at Gare de Lyon or even at Gare du Nord. There are 5 of us: mom, dad, 2 teenage boys that are bigger than me and my 9year old girl, so we got a minivan as I didn't think we could fit 5 carryons and all of those people in a midsize car. Paris Itinerary Saturday Check into St. Pancreas at 1pm Buy the Carnet of tickets there for Paris. ( 2 adult sets and 1 child) Train to Paris: 2:02- 5:23 Check into hotel near Ledru Rollin stop. Take metro From Gare du Nord to Bastille and change to purple line. How do you know exactly what line to take. To be honest the metro confuses me. I see different colors on Rick's map but don't understand what they mean. Eat and Eiffel Tower after 8 Possible cruise (could take it to the Eiffel tower instead of back.) Sunday Eiffel Tower if weather was bad the day before Napoleon's Tomb and Army Museum ( 10 am – 6) Take the Paris walk in Rick Steves Book: Notre –Dame, Deportation Memorial, Saint Chappelle - Notre Dame ( mid afternoon before church services are over, organ recital at 4:30, vespers at 5: 45 Arc de Triomphe open until 8:30 Monday We are scheduled to pick up our rental car at 7am at Gare du Nord.
Drive to Bayeaux stopping at the Caen museum on the way Christine
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
The metro looks much more complicated than it is. It's really just a matter of following the lines. This site has a great explanation with a little 'test yourself'. Give it a try. http://www.tomsguidetoparis.com/HowToUseMetro.php
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
Also, concerning the Paris metro, if you'll look at Google Maps you can see where the lines are in relation to the streets. Just go here then either drag the map to Paris, or search "Paris, France" then slowly zoom in (or out) and re-center as you go until the metro and RER stops start showing up and the scale is what you'd like (blue circles with 'M' or 'RER' in them). Zoom in until the labels/names of the metro/RER stops show up, too! When you click on the 'M' or 'RER' circles, the lines that station serves will pop up. While that line(s) is 'lit up', you can then zoom out if necessary to see the ends of the line(s). The very ends of the lines have numbers and names (the last stop) for metro lines, and letters and names for RER lines. It's like 14 different shoes laces, each with it's own color to keep them straight, and with The Same Numbers written on the ends (meaning, the 'lavender' shoelace has the number '8' on each end; it's 'Line 8', the 'green' shoelace has a '12' written on each end - Line 12, etc.). Then, stops all along the way are marked on all of them, including the very ends of the laces. Those names are how you know which direction of Line 8 to go in, for instance East or West. (cont.)
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
(cont.) You just figure out where you want to go, then see which line will get you from Here to There...with the occasional transfer ('correspondance'). And stop using the color of the line; do start using Line numbers. If you want the 'pink' line, it may look like a 'magenta' or 'lavender' line on the next map...and that = trouble :-( The different colors just help to tell one NUMBERED line from another in that plate of spaghetti! It sounds like you need to take (from Gare du Nord): Line 5 Dir: Place d'Italie to Bastille, then correspond from there to Line 8 Dir: Creteil-Prefecture to the Ledru-Rollin stop. If someone wanted to send you to the canned soup aisle at Kroger, they might say 'go down Aisle 7 Dir: Meat market, then take the Center Aisle Dir: Fresh Vegetables/Fruits and go to Aisle 9 Dir: Hair Care. From there, stop about 1/2 way down (Stop: Canned Soups), and there's the soup! Now, IF you'd taken Aisle 9: Dir Dog Food instead, you'd be going in the wrong direction for Canned Soups! I hope that also helps; please come back with any more questions. The metro is very simple, but at first it can be a bit overwhelming!
Posted by
Park Ridge, IL
524 posts
Hi Christine Don't worry your kids will figure it out the Metro! They look at it as a game and will probably look at the map inside the Metro stations. Then try to beat their sibs in trying to figure it out! My 6 yr old took great delight in shepherding us through the metro. One of the many wonderful things about the Metro is that in many guide books, web sites, the Paris info, they publish the nearest Metro Stop in their address
(businesses and restaurants and shops). So easy! Before you leave your hotel to pick up your mini van, check with the hotel and have them plan out your route on a good map how to get out of the city in the direction of Bayeux. Also determine if you want to go the highway route or the scenic route. Make sure you have a decent map, not just the one from the rental car agency. Buy a Michelin map of the Normandy area with area covered and proportional size determined by how much exploring you will be doing. You can buy these in advance (strongly recommended) at Amazon.com. Why waste your time getting it in Paris. Or GPS in ENGLISH. And some one who can easily learn this unfamiliar brand of equipment. Buy several Carnet at St. Pancras. With the 5 of you, you will only get 2 uses of the 10 tickets! Check out where this booth is in the rail station, so you are not wandering around. Have fun with your family! Bobbie
Posted by
Park Ridge, IL
524 posts
Hi Christine Don't worry your kids will figure it out the Metro! They look at it as a game and will probably look at the map inside the Metro stations. Then try to beat their sibs in trying to figure it out! My 6 yr old took great delight in shepherding us through the metro. One of the many wonderful things about the Metro is that in many guide books, web sites, the Paris info, they publish the nearest Metro Stop in their address
(businesses and restaurants and shops). So easy! Before you leave your hotel to pick up your mini van, check with the hotel and have them plan out your route on a good map how to get out of the city in the direction of Bayeux. Also determine if you want to go the highway route or the scenic route. Make sure you have a decent map, not just the one from the rental car agency. Buy a Michelin map of the Normandy area with area covered and proportional size determined by how much exploring you will be doing. You can buy these in advance (strongly recommended) at Amazon.com. Why waste your time getting it in Paris. Or GPS in ENGLISH. And some one who can easily learn this unfamiliar brand of equipment. Buy several Carnet at St. Pancras. With the 5 of you, you will only get 2 uses of the 10 tickets! Check out where this booth is in the rail station, so you are not wandering around. Have fun with your family! Bobbie