ILUVPARIS

I know it's probably been done a million times but, my husband and I are traveling to Paris in October (again) and I was thinking it might be fun to photograph in black & white some of the unique Metro station signs & entrances. First, has anyone done this before? If so, would you be able to tell me what stations have the wonderful architecture or is there a website that might show it or list them? I know I've seen posters when we were over there and now I wish we bought one!

Many thanks!!

Robespierre

I just googled <b>paris metro deco</b> (images) and it returned quite a few for starters.

Sounds like a project that would make a good on-line album (hint-hint).

yk

The Abbesses metro station in Montmartre is one of the originals designed by Hector Guimard.

I don't know where you live, but you can actually find an authentic one by Guimard in Washington DC - in the sculpture garden at the National Gallery of Art.

moldyhotelsaregross

I just tried a quick google search. It resulted in many images but few specifics. I'm posting now so that I'll remember this thread in the event that I do run across the info you would like.

I've taken similar photos but it was simply by saying &quot;Wow.... look at that... I should take a photo since I'm here.&quot; Very scientific, eh?

Christina

I just read an article on this last month -- I think it was in a French newspaper, I'll see if I can find it. There were a lot more of them still existing in Paris than I had thought (probably dozens)--at least some parts of them. There are only a couple that still have the canopy, that is the unusual part. Abbesses is one of the most wellknown that is still existing, and I think Porte Dauphine. Some others without the canopy are all over Paris -- Raspail, Bastille, St Michel, Place d'Italie, Monceau, etc. Other than the ones with the canopy, they aren't that different, except for the names. YOu need to look for something by Guimard, he's the architect who designed them (and they are not Art Deco, but Art Nouveau).

cigalechanta

The only other original one( besides the Abbesses) by Guimard is at Place Victor Hugo. Unfortunate the rest were stupidly torn down.

LoveItaly

Just a thought, and it might be way off base. But with the extra security due to the bombings in London I wonder if it is a good idea to be photographing transportation entrances etc. as I have read that Europe has much tighter security now around their transportation stations.

LarryJG62

The entrance at Porte Dauphine waaaaaaay out on the west side is one of the Art Nouveau entrances. If I remember correctly, the Pere Lachaise entrance was too (might have been the Phillippe August). The entrance for the Palais Royale station is unique and worth a look, but probably should be photograph on color film.

Art_Vandelay

All line 2 entrances, from Nation to Belleville, are Guimard originals, though less known, since tourists normally don't roam around Avron or Couronnes. But it would be fun to take a picture with a kosher food shop or a Tunisian bakery in the background! To remain on the original side, you might also consider photographing some of the elevated lines, at Gare d'Austerlitz, Bercy/Quai de la Gare (another Guimard BTW), or the new ones on line 14, such as Biblioth&egrave;que de France.

wliwl

I agree with LoveItaly. You could end up in a potentially nasty confrontation with security. It's just not good timing.

Travelnut

If a sign looks like this:
http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk.../3ccb6440.html

...it is a Guimard. There are two covered entrances, however there are many simpler entrances still standing.

I found a website once that had a list of them - here is the list:

Abbesses
Alexandre Dumas
Anvers
Avron
Bastille
Blanche
Boissiere
Bolivar
Botzaris
Br&eacute;guet Sabin
Cadet
Campo Formio
Chardon Lagache
Chateau d'eau
Chatelet (Rivoli)
Chatelet (Ste Opportune)
Cit&eacute;
Colonel Fabien
Couronnes
Crimee
Daumesnil
Denfert Rochereau
Eglise d'Auteuil
Etienne Marcel
Gambetta
Gare de Lyon
Gare du Nord
Kl&eacute;ber
Louis Blanc
Louvre
M&eacute;nilmontant
Mirabeau
Monceau
Mouton Duvernet
Nation
Palais Royal
Parmentier
Pasteur
Pere Lachaise
Philippe Auguste
Picpus
Pigalle
Place Clichy
Place d'italie
Porte Dauphine
Porte d'Auteuil
4 septembre
Raspail
R&eacute;aumur Sebastopol
Richard Lenoir
Rome
St Marcel
St Maur
St Michel
Temple
Ternes
Tuileries
Victor Hugo
Wagram

Robespierre

The Algerians got their independence. What security threat?

wliwl

Yeah, well, that's true...

Christina

excellent, Travelnut--that does look like the list I saw in the article, only it had more information on them and several types of categories. I remember there were some metro names I had never even heard of.

walkinaround

this is an interesting photography related post...why not keep it that way? i think there was enough security related rubbish posting over the weekend. we don't need any more opinions about this.

cigalechanta

Iluvparis. Buy the book by Susan L. Plotkin: &quot;The Paris Metro&quot;(a ticket to French history) The cover has a lovely drawing of the Abbesses the one of two only remaining fully covered entrances of Hector Guimard.
If you have time, look for his Castel Beringer.

Spygirl

IluvParis: LoveItaly's post is spot-on, and kudos to her for mentioning it right off the bat. You absolutely MUST be aware that this could be a problem right now in Paris. And you don't fool around with the French police-they'll take you in a red second if you try to give them any lip or protest what you're doing.

If I wanted to do this, I would FIND a policeman and ASK AND EXPLAIN what it was that I wanted to do, and request permission FIRST. That could save you a lot of grief, and possible arrest, in the long run.

And by the way, the French have been doing an excellent job on the anti-terrorism front-this country's intelligence services work with theirs hand in glove-and they have been an ENORMOUS resource-contrary to what so many think about US-French relations.

sandi_travelnut

Love the one at St. Michel

cigalechanta

Here's a sampling of what to see:

http://www.paris-eiffel-tower-news.c...mard-land.html

AnthonyGA

It's perfectly legal to photograph M&eacute;tro entrances. You don't need permission from a policeman or anyone else. Nobody is going to give you a hard time about it. France is not yet a police state.

Inside the M&eacute;tro, transit authority ordinances technically forbid photography without permission. This is not a security issue, it's just a routine restriction that has existed in the Paris M&eacute;tro for years and exists in most of the world's subway systems. I've never seen anyone bothered because he was taking pictures, however; enforcement against ordinary tourists and others is very light. But if you pull out a tripod or spend an hour photographing a station interior eventually someone is likely to ask if you have a permit.

No permit of any kind is required to photograph the exterior of M&eacute;tro stations.