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Handicapped accessibilty in Paris 2013 (part two)

The trains were incredible. They have accessibility coordinators that help you to the cars that are set up for wheelchairs if you contact them a little before the train is to depart. They attach ramps to the trains so that you don't fall in the gap to the tracks. These folks then call ahead to your destination and another is awaiting you there to help you get off the train. Some attractions even had small lifts on the sidewalk beside stairways. There is a down side. We tried the metro a couple of times but the constant stairways that popped up in the tunnels were too much for me. So unles you can walk enough to get up and down stairs of 10-24 steps, the metro is not a good way to travel with a wheel chair. Our hotel had a small lift. This was very helpful to get up to our 3rd floor room. However, I was in considerably worse shape when we were leaving than when I arrived. I was depending on the lift to get downstairs to the Taxi to the airport. We were leaving at 4:30 am but the lift was automatically turned off and would not come back online until 8:30am. So I had to scoot down four flights of stairs on my bottom on step at a time to descend to the taxi. I was nearly in respiratory arrest by the time I got to the lobby. Overall, we were amazed at how well we were treated and how easily we were able to go every where in Paris. It extended to our side trips to Versailles, Chartres and Tours (where we attended the end of a stage of the Tour de France)

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