Graziella5b

How do you feel about safety, i.e. pickpockets in Paris Metro.??
Have conditions changed lately in Paris>?. I know for instance that the Madrid subway can be very risky to-day. I know after a sad experience. I feel that as a result of moving
masses from country to country conditions do change.
I found out that there are groups in Madrid that if they target you and you have something that they can take from you they will get it.
So I feel that next time in Paris I will be more careful
than in the past and also I will try to favor buses versus the metro and of course my all time favorite that is walking in Paris.
Am I paranoid or have any one of you noticed that security has changed >?

ira

Hi G,

Just back from a week of taking the metro and buses in Paris.

Less risky than other cities.

Take the usual precautions.

Celiaanne

I must say that while I certainly did take the usual precautions, I did not feel threatened on either the bus or metro in Paris. I'm a member of the money-belt club, so I think that helps.

I have read the horror stories and don't doubt them at all, but fortunately I've always felt more annoyed (how many "gold ring" and "do you speak English" scams can one person stand!

Christina

I personally am not that concerned because I don't do things that would lend myself to pickpocketing, and I'm not careless with my things, and don't carry things in a manner where people could pickpocket me (nor do I carry a lot of the stuff some people do).

However, I would say that if you are worried about this, then the metro is more likely to have pickpockets on it than buses, sure. I think if you are a busy pickpocket, the metro is much more fertile territory and provides an easier and more convenient working environment in many ways.

I don't know if you are paranoid, I guess I do think you are a little, as I've been in Paris regularly for years and have been recently, and I'm not concerned about it -- but I take precautions, as I said, and am not careless nor unaware. I don't do things a lot of tourists do, either, who are pickpocket targets (like people who fall for scams, insist on standing directly in front of the metro doors with things readily available in their pants pockets, etc). I have not noticed any increased security problems nor gangs targeting people in Paris. I don't carry expensive "things" on me that a gang could notice, if that's what you mean (like a camera or something?).

If there are gangs targeting people, I have not seen it and don't know where it is in Paris. Don't know anything about that (I'm not saying that is impossible, I just don't know). I never had any problem in Madrid, either but I think I have read that some of these problems are worse in some countries (like Spain or Italy) than in France.

Travelnut

Been on the Paris metro many times over past 11 years. No pickpocketing events (or attempts that I know of), one drunk guy mocking me was about the most exciting event (he actually turned his attentions to a younger woman, whose boyfriend pushed him off the train and gave him a few licks on the quai as the train pulled away). It was totally non-threatening - we still laugh about him.

Once I <i><b>was</b></i> pickpocketed on a tram in Amsterdam, though.

Mimar

Well, the Paris Metro is the one place I have personally experienced attempted pickpocketing. This was in 2005. We use money belts so nothing was lost. But it's a bit annoying to feel under siege by pickpockets.

Apres_Londee

I was recently alone in Paris for a week and took the metro or bus every day. I don't use a moneybelt, just carry the same purse as I do at home.

The possibilty of pickpockets never even crossed my mind. I always felt safe and comfortable on the metro and bus. I think I automatically hold my purse a little closer to me when the train is packed or in Paris, along routes with lots of other tourists and people singing or playing instruments for money.

So as the others have already said, just take the usual precautions. I think it would be a shame if you avoided the metro for fear of petty crime- for me, taking the meto in Paris is an event unto itself- so efficient and clean, and Parisians on the metro are so quite and polite. A shining example of what a subway system should be.

shelly_m

We took the Metro several times and never felt threatened at all (2 women, obviously tourists).

However, the only time in two weeks in Paris and Rome that I felt like someone <i>might</i> be trying to pickpocket me was on an escalator leaving a Metro station. A guy was standing on the step right behind me, and it just seemed a little too close.

I had all my important stuff in my money belt, and just a few euros in my pocket. I just moved up a few steps, and no harm done.

The only time I thought I <i>was</i> pickpocketed was in Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. I always carried some cash in both front pockets, and all of the sudden I realized that both my pockets were empty. I thought for sure someone had taken all my money. Then I remembered I had spent all my money, just to get in to the darn place!

Graziella5b

Thank you all. I have taken during many, many years the metro in Paris without a second thought. Same in other cities, after been robbed in the metro in Madrid last year , when everything was pointing out to a quiet metro ride, I realized that things have changed a lot.
Hellooo , I finally woke up....
It was not a gang, but a group of Rumanians,3 or 4, ( I can swear because I heard them saying a few words ), they putl up this act and I imagine that it is very difficult to evade them. Only consolation is that we wear a belt and what the robbed was not important. but anyway is the feeling of being helpless.
Also it was in a station out of the tourist route near some embassies.
That is why I needed thereassurance that you kindly provided me and that I highly appreciate. In September our grandchildren ( young kids) shall be visiting Paris with their parents and I was trying to figure out how things are. It will not be easy ,I believe, to be taking taxis all the time because they are 5 persons.
They probably cannot walk as much as my husband and I usually walk in Paris, and I wished to give them good actualized advice. Thank you for everything.

Apres_Londee

I'm so sorry to hear that, Graziella. I can certainly understand how that would make you feel wary about any subway.

This won't mean much because I was only in Paris a week, but when I was in there in April I never saw anything or any groups who looked suspicious, not did I witness anyone being robbed. I'm sure it does happen, but from what I've read here on the boards, it seems to be a bigger problem in other cities (like Madrid, unfortunately) than it is in Paris.

My only suggestion for a family with young children would be to try and avoid riding the metro or bus during rush hour, because when it's busy it's easier to lose track of what's happening with your purse or wallet while focusing on herding the kids in and out, keeping everyone together, etc. but I'm sure this is something you and your children already know.

JeanneB

When I take the bus it's usually just me and a bunch of old ladies. They certainly don't look like pickpockets, so maybe that's the way to go!

Travelnut

The bus system is great and you are 'out in the open' the entire time, and it's easier to get off with kids if you need to.

kerouac

&quot;Bus pickpockets&quot; never actually ride the bus. When there is a big crowd waiting at a bus stop, they are among the people behind you apparently trying to jostle themselves aboard. But if they get what they were trying for, they drop back and slip away.

nytraveler

Have ridden metro, bus and trams in many cities all over europe and never had a problem with pickpockets - although I have SEEN 2 incidents. In both cases the victims were asking for trouble - one wearing a backpack and oblivious of who was behind him, another a woman with a shoulder bag with open top that had slipped around behind her back.

In my experience, in general (not bad neighborhoods late at night) if you are careful of your belongings - and aware of everyone/thing around you there should be no problem.

If you won't - or can't - do the above - or are easily flustered/distracted by being in a strange city - suggest you take cabs instead.

(I have ridden the NYC subway regularly for more than 20 years and never had a problem. But I have a friend who has had her purse picked numerous times - in the subway, in stores and once even in a restaurant. But - it's plainly her own fault - since she is oblivious to her surroundings, constantly dithering about things, pulling items in and out of her gigantic tote bags with open tops. So far two banks have closed her accounts, since she made so many claims about stolen credit cards and checkbooks.)

Graziella5b

Hi, thank you all. THis is the thing, in Madrid, I do not think we did anything wrong, the station was not even in a tourist area, what really alarms me is the way it happened : Sunday morning, a fairly quiet station and a few persons here and there, when the train arrived three to five guys come from no where, one in front of us and he bend like if he was picking up something from the floor and the other 3 pushed from behind. He even smiled and told me: I drop a cigarette....everything happened inside the train but of course they had time to jump out of the train and so did we but they run and got lost.
I am telling this story because I believe that it can happen to any one, I also lived fourteen years taking the NY subway, and have been many times in Europe and took lots of subways.
Three to five guys that were not together but scattered in the station , there was not a crowd, ....obviously we were not aware enough we are guilty of that but at the same time let me
warn everybody this bunch of pickpockets knew their
metier.I imagine the only way to avoid a bad moment is not to carry anything. I am convinced that if someone is targeted there is no way out.
I agree that most likely the bus might be better than the metro unless of course they do the same at the moment of taking the bus as kerouac says. I am sure they do it.

francophile03

I think it's good you shared your bad experience here. It is very helpful and perhaps it will help others. If I were in your situation I would never have considered that these guys were there to steal.

KathyNZ

I was lucky enough to have ten days in Paris a few months ago and did not feel threatened at all on the metro. I was accosted in the Tuileries gardens though with the gold ring scam and made a reasonably quick exit. I always glance in to the carriage on the metro to take note of the people in each one before rushing on board, this is in the quiet times during the day when there maybe only three or four people in one. No guarantee but this small tip might help.

Celiaanne

Gaziella, I agree. Sometimes there really is nothing more you can do. Sorry about the incident and thank you for the warning.

josephina

I understand what you're asking: Has Paris changed greatly in safety since you've last visited? And you are very concerned about the grandkids,especially since your Madrid experience.

I don't think Paris metro crime has spiked, especially in comparison to that in Madrid. I've often wondered if Paris uses a lot of undercover cops like New York's MTA.

I agree with you is that the greater worry and most realistic danger is just getting on and off the Metro on a busy line at a busy time of day with little ones. When my kids were tiny, Line 1 used to terrify me during rush hour. We did lose my octegenarian father on that line once.

Luckily, we always travel with a &quot;if we get separated&quot; plan. Since the kids were old enough by the time we lost Grandpa, the plan for this trip was that in case of separation, all would get off at the next stop and wait for the lost person. And that's what we did.

When the kids were little, the kids were told if separated to go directly to the Metro stop guichet. In those years, I also pinned labels into the kids' coats and little backpacks their names and our hotel number and address, etc in French, plus they were given a little cheat sheet to read to someone in the guichet, wherever. They never needed to use it, but...

d_claude_bear

Ms. Bear and I returned home a few days ago from 4.5 weeks in Paris (after a brief detour to visit family in New Jersey). We used the Metro almost every day, often 4-5 trips using at least 30 separate stations in all. We also took about 10 bus trips. We experienced no threats of any kind: no pickpockets, no scams, no aggressive people (except those crowding onto the Metro line 1 at rush hour). Caution and awareness are always in order, but there is no reason to be especially concerned about Paris in this regard.