The End of the Line

Kung Fu Master and Kung Fu Panda! (art sized ads in the Metros)

Gotta get the bread!
At the end of the line 4 at Port D’Orleans, we started our journey to the Parc Floral for the Paris Jazz Festival on Saturday afternoon July 12th. As J. is hobbyist boulanger, we made a brief detour to a local bread shop, Max Poline, that is quite famous for their traditional round loaves of bread. It was featured in his master bread book. The bread was intended for our Jazz picnic. Across the street was the Saturday morning book market and a group of American high school band students playing Gershwin. We enjoyed our treats as we promenaded and listened to the music.

YUMMO!




We then boarded the metro and burned some rubber to the end of ligne 1 at a stop called Chateau De Vincennes. I mean we literally burned some rubber. The wheels of the metro are Michelin tires with almost no tread. Inquiring minds want to know if these tires ever get a flat? The underground metro stops often smell like burning rubber on a hot day. The tires make it much quieter than the normal metal ones on the train. Whoosh!
See the tires in the photo.


The riders also tend to be very quiet and polite on the trains. The metros are only loud when the contemporary troubadours make their rounds with singing and merry making.




The Main Event
Voila! We emerged from the underground at the end of the line to see that the Chateau is still standing. I was very surprised by this as I had not expected it. Um, may this explain why we were accompanied on the metro by an army troop with very large guns! The Chateau was once surrounded by a moat and you cross a drawbridge to enter the grounds which has a church and round tower used as a dungeon. The location of the Chateau was the original location of the fort and home of King Louis IX. It was base camp for his crusades into the Egypt. The fort was torn down to build this Chateau and it now is the home of the military museum. I just happen to be reading a book about King Louis IX. He went to church everyday. They have planted a tree to remember King Louis IX’s home. The jazz concert in Parc Floral was very relaxing and featured Ousman Danedjo and Zap Mama. We sat next to the fountain and watched everyone dance and cheer. The park had a variety of gardens from water lilies, to bonsai, to forest, to bees and butterflies exhibits.

Parc Floral - water lily pond and the Close Encounter at the Parc...




Homeward Bound
For a brief moment we contemplated taking the bus home b/c we had done this once before and the bus rides are quite enjoyable for city viewing. I highly recommend them as a way to see Paris. J has this handy palm program that actually will tell you the fastest route home from a particular stop. It can also tell you how to only use the buses or metro or RER to get someplace which is very handy when there is a strike. There have a been a few since we have been here. We opted to take the metro instead of a bus b/c we would only need one ticket and the bus would require two tickets. When not on a strike the metro, buses and RER are very reliable. The metro stops even tell you when the next train is coming. Here is the journey home.

1) We walked back to the end of the line 1 at Chateau de Vincennes to start our journey.
2) Then a long long walk so we could transfer to ligne 6’s end of the line stop called Nation. There are often long walks at transfer points. At Montparnasse there is such a long transfer they have built a moving path that goes 9KM hour!
3) Unexpectedly we found ourselves at the other end of line 6 at a stop called Bercy.
The palm does not know about construction work I guess. Ligne 6 is not supposed to end at Bercy but due to construction work it had a new end of the line. Voila! J. noticed that instead of rushing to the transfer bus we could take a boat to another stop that might get us home. Yeah boat! It’s a public boat that just opened up to ferry folks along parts of the Seine. After a walk through Bercy Park taking note of the concert venue with walls made of grass, a wooden carousal and fountain running down the stairs we finally found boat stop. Waiting for the Navette Fluvial (the boat) we enjoyed our apples and discussed if the new library buildings really looked like books. I am not convinced- maybe if I squint?
4) Then after a 10 minute ride on the Seine we reached the end of the line for the boat at Gare D’Austerlizt. At this point there was a choice to ride either the RER line or continue on with the metro. The RER is the suburban line and very interconnected with the Metro. It’s great! Chicago does not have this. We went back to our crystal ball metro palm program and it told us the metro would be faster. So….
5) We board Ligne 10 and ride to where? The end of the line at Place D’ Italie. Still we are not home but we are in the homestretch.
6) We transfer to ligne 6 so we can transfer to where we started the day on ligne 4 and ride to the end of the line at Port D’Orleans and HOME!

Adhoc Metro Musings –
I find the little bunny telling us to watch our hands and feet in the door very amusing. The only complaint I have about this metro is the arrangement of the seats. They face each other and the space between is quite small. You often find your legs in the lap of the other person. Other than this it’s reliable and normally fast and I have not found a place I can't get to yet via public transportation.

POP QUIZ - How many end of the lines were there?

Other Metro Photos

little bunny fufu.....and what? a surfer in Paris on the metro?