Of the free maps, I don't like the ones Galeries Lafayette maps because it gives the metro stops as numbers which you have to then match to the list at the side. Also, they have a big glob of type around their store location (for the purpose of obscuring the street location of Au Printemps, IMO).
We've used the same blue Paris Plan (by arrondissement) for years and it suits us fine. I like that it's got notes scribbled in the margins from previous trips, with stars noting our favorite shops, etc. I think of it as my work in progress, adding a bit to it on each Paris trip.

Well, just to belabor the point, I can see that the "Let's Go" mapguide's Metro map has the error. From Denfert-R going south, it lays out M-line 4 over to the right, and RER over to the left (basically reversing how they actually lie). I think if someone were consulting the system map, they might head off on foot in the wrong direction and not realize it until they started looking for the stop on the street map.

If anybody cares to see what I mean, just go to Amazon.com, and look inside a copy of the Lets Go Paris map guide - it will page thru about 8 times until the Metro map comes up.

That's it - I'm done.

I have used the "Paris par Arrondissement" map since my first trip to Paris in 1979. You can look up the street name in the front and it gives the arrondissement number and location on the page. Then it's just a matter of focusing your eyes to find it! The "Streetwise" maps are good for an overall view, but lots of the little streets (which I love!) are not on them.

I need to find a slightly larger Paris par Arrondissement since my eyes are not what they were in 1979! If anyone knows if they are making it a little larger, let me know.

joy/luvparee

<i>Oui, Michel, c'est &ccedil;a. <u>Pigalle</u> aussi.</i>

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but computerization has addressed all the issues people allude to above: the maps zoom to any resolution needed, users can set pushpins at galleries, shops, restaurants, and anything else they might want to go back to, and both the pushpins as well as general addresses can be zipped to without the least bit of searching.

Everyone who objects to the idea of carrying a navigation computer can now get microsoft.com/pocketstreets and install it on their SmartPhone.

I used a Streetwise map during both of my trips, it takes a beating.

Robespierre, that may be true, but I CHOOSE not to tote around a PDA. I LIKE carrying around my low-tech dog-eared book.
Also, the notes I've written in the margins go beyond mere pushpins.
Yes, I know how to use a computer, we have plenty of devices at home, but the paper version is my CHOICE. It's not that I &quot;object&quot; to carrying an electronic device, I simply CHOOSE not to. I respect your choice to go electronic and of course you fully respsect the choice of others NOT to, right?

I don't give a damn what anyone chooses to use, I'm just offering an alternative here to those who might not have considered it or are ignorant of what it can do for them.

PocketStreets allows one to annotate pushpins with text of any length - FAR beyone mere marginal notes.

Why are you so wound up tonight?

Thank you Ben Haines for the addresses where I may find a replacement for my very old but best Michelin Map on Paris I have ever seen (1cm:100m).
Thank you also to Robespierre for the iPAQ info - this will be the first thing I will put onto mine(with help!)as I launch myself into the 21st century of electronics - with an old safety back-up called a paper map!!

Roger on the backup requirement - but I figure if the iPAQ goes missing/bellyup, I can always get back to the hotel by finding the nearest M&eacute;tro and acquiring a map later.

I'm not wound up and it wasn't night in Europe when I posted. It's just that I don't want this thread to go down the road similar threads HAVE gone in the past where posters were hectored and mocked for not wanting to go the electronic route. YOu know, where every time someone mentioned that they preferred to go with a hard copy map or guidebook, someone would immediately shoot back and say that electronic versions were better in every way.

By the way, my marginal notes aren't just text, they've also included sketches. Plus notes from friends traveling with us at the time.

Why do you care where the thread goes? This forum is for sharing information, and that's what I'm doing.

As far as &quot;hectoring and mocking&quot; - this is a debate. When, in an effort to make a point, someone says something that is simply flat wrong (such as &quot;pushpins don't carry text&quot, I correct it.

I think you are entitled to use paper maps and graphite pencils if you choose to. Some people are technophobic for a variety of reasons, and others' pros are others' cons. I'm just telling the world why I don't lug trees.

<i>p.s.</i> Sketches and notes by others can be entered into the software I use.