i find it encouraging to know that there are only male pickpockets. that certainly narrows the scope of potential trepedation.

what does one call a female chauvanist?
a sow?

I don't think women are likely to "hump" others on the subway. I believe that was the 2nd caution - of being sexually harrassed by men, not having anything to do with sex of potential pickpockets.

"I don't think women are likely to "hump" others on the subway..."

Damn, I was just going to go out and buy an airline ticket to Paris.
((H))

The one metro pickpocket attempt I experienced was by a teenage girl.

Here is a very funny pickpocket story that appeared on the AOL board a while back.

Once incident comes to mind that had us laughing for hours afterwards and we find it hard to keep a straight face anytime we have thought of it since. We had just toured the Musee D'Orsay and had enjoyed it immensely (much more so than the crowded Louvre) and were out on the plaza in front of the building and were watching some mimes do their thing. My husband nudged me and pointed to a woman a few steps in front of us and a guy had just removed his hand from her huge purse with a wallet in his hand. Almost simultaneously the woman's husband saw the same thing and reached out and grabbed the guys other arm and started shouting "pickpocket!" The guy quickly dropped the wallet but the husband wasn't about to let him off so easily. He grabbed the guys other arm and hoisted him in the air and proceeded to turn him upside down and started to just shake the living daylights out of him. Everything in the guy's pockets fell to the ground and some nearby young kids had a grand time picking up his change, wallet and other stuff that had been in his pockets and was now spread over the area under him. The whole shaking incident must have lasted for a good 3-4 minutes and by then a crowd had gathered and was shrieking in laughter. A single policeman came out of the museum within a minute or so and he must had radioed for backup for we soon heard that sing-song sound of a police car. The husband didn't let the guy go until the police arrived and were able to take him off his hands. (We learned later that the husband is a world-class weight lifter so the load of this puny pickpocket didn't strain him at all.) We did hear the policemen chastising the husband, in fairly decent English, saying that pickpockets frequently work as a team and this guys accomplice could have caused a great deal of trouble. The husband's response was that he was so mad at the nerve of the guy picking his wife's purse that he just never thought of anything other than stopping him. I don't know what the punishment in Paris is for pickpockets for we did hear that it is a very common crime but we laughed ourselves silly at the idea that there was one who, besides getting arrested, left with less than he started with?.no change, wallet or keys! The little kids were all the richer and the onlookers had a great laugh and something to talk about for some time to come.

LOL great story!

I've used the metro in Paris and it is fine. There is nothing to be afraid of. I would suggest keeping aware of your wallet, but not because I've ever had a problem on the metro. I only suggest that you do that at all times in any big city in a crowd. It is a great system and once you ride it once or twice you will look back on your fears and laugh.

We just returned from Paris and took the metro all over the city. It has a wonderful metro system and I felt safe the whole time. I was aware of looking for pickpockets, but no one ever bothered us. We always felt safe.

TC, I'm puzzled. What's scary about the DC Metro? My wife takes it every day, and I ride it occasionally. It seems like a model of civil society, I'm sure with some few exceptions.

Just act like your halfway conscious of your wallet and you'll be fine. The Paris metro is a joy to ride and gets you just about anywhere. I don't understand all the paranoia, then again, I'm a big city person.

I think that does make a difference in one's comfort level, martytravels. I'm not a big city person at all, so the first time we went to Paris, it was a little unnerving. But once I realized I was really in PARIS, OMG WOOOOO HOOOOO (lol) it was awesome, and we just exercised common sense on the Metro, and everywhere else we went.

Every time I go to NY I get massively confused about the subway. Within one day in Paris I had the metro totally figured out. In beginning of June we never had trouble finding a seat and had some of our most interesting encounters on the metro. Our favorite was a young attractive girl who got on at one stop and started shouting in French but since I couldn't make it out over the train noise we couldn't understand. She got off right after and we spent the rest of the trip debating what she might have been saying because she didn't appear agitated at all. More like a town crier. As for pickpockets, keep your stuff in a safe and hold on to your bag. After all the posts on here, I was expecting to be physically tackled and ransacked but honestly thats just so untrue. Its part of a grand adventure and SO much faster than the bus. Your kids will go nuts on the slow hot busses. Save your feet for the sightseeing.

I have been to Paris three times, twice with small children. I've found the metro amazingly easy to use and convenient. We've used it morning, rush hour and late night. Never a problem. Just be aware of your surroundings. If you get on the wrong train, just get off on the next stop and start over. Good luck.

Hi

The first thing we did when we went to Paris was to buy the Carte Orange so that we could travel on the Metro as much as we wanted. I think that the Metro is great...you can walk around Paris until you get tired and then you are never far from a Metro station and you can use this to get back to the hotel...it is great. I have posted a trip report from our trip to Paris on my homepage www.gardkarlsen.com. Maybe you can find some useful information there :-)

regards
gard
Stavanger, Norway

1) yes, girls do pickpocket and usually with help. it happened to my husband who was a sitting duck because we were with our suitcases during rush hour. Very bad timing.....2) the regular riders can be very helpful. one gentleman pointed out the gilr and she ended up returning the wallet and all contents! 2) Usually staring down the kids scares them off. they are looking for people who are unaware. 3) we found the pickpockets it south italy much more persistent!! 4) don't let it stop you from using the wonderful mass transit in europe. just be aware!!!!

Wonderful stories and advice here. It was great to read all since we will be on our way to Paris very soon.
Thanks to all the great posts and advice. I'm sure we will need them as we make our way through Paris using it's famous metro. Has anyone experience with the trains called the RER? Are these also metros? Any ideas on how best to use the buses in Paris?

The buses are great because you aren't climbing stairs and you can see something besides walls. (If you have a Carte Orange you can hop on and off when your feet get tired)

The routes are a bit tricky because of the one way streets. The bus stops have a route map. The maps that are in the hotels have subway maps as well as bus maps. It really is quite easy.

From nickiefal:

"Has anyone experience with the trains called the RER? Are these also metros?"

The RER is a suburban train system and yes, you can use it interchangeably with the metro in central Paris with metro tickets. Sometimes it can save time to take the RER because there are less stops, but take care that you know where you are going and that you know where the stops are for the train you are on. If you travel outside of central Paris on the RER, special tickets are required.

The RER can be a great alternative to the metro within central Paris--it's almost like riding an express metro since there are far fewer stops. And some of them are air conditioned.
One note, though. The RER C was a great way to get from St. Michel to Les Invalides (only two stops) but it's currently out of action due to renovations/other work. However, there is a bus substitute that runs from the banks of the Seine by St. Michel, stopping at the Musee d'Orsay and Les Invalides (and vice versa). Although it can be crowded, to make up for the inconvenience, it is also FREE. No metro tickets or anything else required.

...and don't forget, the RER requires that you insert your little ticket to EXIT the station, so hang on to it until you're out...