Bus question for Robespierre or other Paris experts
 

I've become a real bus aficionado and rarely take the metro anymore. But there's one big problem I have: In unfamiliar neighborhoods, at a large intersection, I find it so difficult to find the right bus stop for my preferred bus going in the right direction.

Surely one doesn't have to run around the nearby streets looking at every bus stand. I know how to use the route maps online. And I use the neighborhood maps. But those neighborhood maps only show that a bus stops....not which bus.

I seem to recall a couple of times I saw maps on the wall of metro stations....neighborhood maps that showed which bus stopped where. Is that right? Do all metro stations have such a map?

Is that what everyone else does when they don't know where the bus stop is....they go down in the metro station and find that map? It would be just like me to have overlooked such an important feature. But I hope you tell me I did and that such maps do indeed exist !!!!!

FYI:

http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...considered.cfm

> I seem to recall a couple of times I saw maps on the wall of metro stations....neighborhood maps that showed which bus stopped where. Is that right?

That's right.

> Is that what everyone else does when they don't know where the bus stop is....they go down in the metro station and find that map?

Not only at Metro stations. There are a bus map at bus stops, at least at the main ones where several lines passe. Something like this ( that you find at metro stations as well?)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KdjlC8xmX0...ES%2BOTHER.JPG
You can see e.g. Bus 43, direction Gare du Nord in the middle and direction Neuilly below on the other side of the street.

I'm afraid Robespierre passed away some time ago but yes he was definitely an advocate of being on the bus in many ways.

I'm so sad at the news about Robespierre. He gave me such a wonderful gift with his tutorials on: Get off the Metro and Onto the Bus!!!

Thank you, kappa!! That's exactly what I needed. Bus 28 in that photo is a perfect example. If one were at the "you are here" spot, without the map it would be difficult to know to go around the corner and down the next block to find 28 going in the other direction.

What a great resource it would be if someone took photos of those maps at every neighborhood and posted them on a website in searchable format. I noticed it even had stairs symbols, either for pedestrian underpass or, more likely, the metro. That could be a timesaver, too.

Thanks again. I hope this helps others. But then, maybe I'm the only idiot who didn't get this from the get-go!!!

Some métro stations do have maps detailing the location of specific nearby bus stops. Porte Maillot is one such station which has not only maps, but signs showing directions for the pickup locations of various bus lines.

You will probably not see detailed bus information at smaller métro stations which might have very limited, nearby bus options.

The bus stops themselves do have large signs with the route numbers of the buses which stop there.

There is a really good transportation guide, and particularly good for the bus service, and the need you have mentioned. Michael Middleditch's guide--maybe someone can give the complete name.

YOu can always ask a metro clerk to give you one of those maps, they are free. I have several as I get a new one every few years in case of changes. They have bus lines on one side and metro/RER on the other. I think it is called "Grand Plan de Paris", and that one is number 2.

We miss Robes a lot!

Robes is certainly missed.

No need to carry around a map! There is also a great app you can download to your smartphone. It's called RATP Lite and is free. There is a pay version or "premium" app and that's just a few dollars.

RATP Lite has the Subway/RER Ile de France, the Bus Network and others.

And - it does not require an active internet or wifi connection to use it.

While you're at it, there are some great translators you should download on your smartphone also.

Yes, I've had the smartphone apps for a couple of years. It really makes me sick to think of the time I've wasted running around looking for the right bus stop!

<<No need to carry around a map!>>

It's just a piece of paper, not really a big burden.

Me too, Jeanne B.

Christina, your snarky comments are often times misplaced and unhelpful. She asked how to get a map of the entire Paris system, which would include buses and the Metro. Folks gave good advice IF she is at a manned kiosk or ticket booth IF she is there during business hours. She can clearly navigate one district based on that station's map, but her question involves the whole system, buses in the right direction and getting from point A to point B. She is familiar with the apps online. The app shows the planned routes. A one dimensional map does not. The app solves those things. You should try it. That is, unless in all of your many travels you have NEVER take a wrong turn using your trusty paper map.

Do you prefer to blend in a bit or do you want to look like the target American tourist carrying around a map? Or maps? Maybe a few guidebooks too? How about a fanny pack? Why not throw in a camera and some tennis shoes for good measure?

Makes me wonder how much have you actually traveled. Hmmmmm...

Well, I pretty much agree with Christina--and it is the Michael Middleditch grand plan I think. I found no snark in that one.
AND If I don't have a phone and an app--color me a dinosaur.
and yes, a map can make you a target--but so do the sneakers, camera and lost look.
Blending in is at best difficult, but hey, Drifter, have at it.

Actually, some of my favorite family pictures in Paris is of DH or others looking at a map on a street corner!! LOL
We are what we are.

Actually, some of my favorite family pictures in Paris is of DH or others looking at a map on a street corner!! LOL
We are what we are.

Jeez, Parisians carry maps around all the time and look at them whenever they are out of their local turf. I have never understood the map paranoia.

Just one of the many handy things about an app compared to a paper map is that you can have it plan the route for you. And plan it for quickest, least transfers etc. An app like Paris-ci will even show you which carriage to be in for the street exit you wish to use.

I love paper maps and have a huge shelf full of them but apps sure are handy too!

Sitting next to a Parisian lady on a bus there not long ago, and I was following the bus route on my map, and the lady asked me where I got such a nice map as she wanted one.

Off topic, but I was walking out of my apartment yesterday (live in San Francisco) and a man was walking toward me, older, gray ponytail, casually dressed, with a backpack and a laminated map on a string around his neck. I live in the center of the city so I started edging away from him, thinking he might be a kook. He says, "Excuse me, lady do you know where I can find the house where the Grateful Dead lived?" French accent, clean with a fancy camera when I saw him up close. So I told him and sent him on his way.

Not a homeless person, just an old French hippie looking for the epicenter of the Summer of Love.