The Paris Metro system is a labyrinth of 16 city lines with suburban RER lines snaking themselves all around the city. It looks pretty daunting, but the system is quite robust and can really aid to the aching pieds (feet) after a long days of site seeing. Oddly enough, the name Metro comes from the company that originally owned and operated back in 1900. As of 2009, there are 384 stops.
If you plan to stay in Paris for few days, you have to get the Paris Visite Card. I got one for 3 days and it cost 20 euro (each ride is about 1.60 euro). Please note that the card begins on the day and time you buy it, so if you buy it at 5pm on Monday, it expires Wednesday evening, not Thursday at 5pm. I learned this the hard way.
Every single station screams Paris from the original nouveau art entrance (1st photo below) to the streamlined signs that simply read ‘Metro’ (2nd photo) to the ones with the most brevity and read ‘M’ (3rd photo). For a comparison from Brussels, I added their metro sign.
Original design by Hector Guimard
The ubiquitous metro sign
Latest metro entrance style (Bastille)
Metro sign in Brussels
RECOMMENDATION 1:
Pay attention to the metro exits, some stations can have over 10 exits. Usually each exit has a corresponding number and a handy map to show you the streets and nearby monuments/museums.
RECOMMENDATION 2:
To aid in navigation and not to look too touristy, I advise downloading a Paris Metro app for you iphone or touch. I simply put in starting metro and where I wanted to go and it took at the guess work out of it. I use Paris Zuti, costs $5 and works off-line.
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