Paris Metro People
 

OK, so I don't expect you to visit Paris to see the metro, but I really like the transient nature of the people throughout the day so have put together a photo gallery of some of my favorite scenes.

Hope you like it.

http://parisbyphoto.com/galleries/me...ple/index.html

Thanks for posting these. We used to have a regular poster here who told everybody they were stupid because they went down into the "hole" of the Metro (or in London the Tube) and "never saw anything" when they traveled. Of course, he was constantly busy staring at his laptop but thankfully there are other folks who travel.

I am glad you like them! I love the Paris metro, even if you only consider how diverse the designs of the stations are it is pretty interesting to see. Arts et Metiers is my favorite for how it looks. A lot cheaper than the Tube too:)

Some really good shots there, thanks for posting. I love the juxtaposition of the rush hour trains and those with a much lonelier wait.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Paris metro. On the one hand I love using it to get around, and the design of some of the station platforms puts the Tube to shame, on the other, I've seen things and smelled odours that I could happily have gone my entire life without experiencing.

Never a dull moment though.

Ha ha yes, luckily the camera does not capture the smell! I find Opera, where I get off every day for work, has a really bad smell sometimes.

Nobody's ever been able to adequately explain to me what causes those smells, as it seems sewagey and yet somehow like rotten food all at the same time.

However, I'll take the smell any day over the woman with clear mental health issues and no fixed abode pleasuring herself openly on the platform I once had the misfortune to encounter. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if I wasn't help lead a group of 40, 13-15 year old girls around Paris at the time. And no, I'm not joking.

Liking your trainerspotter work too, but one of the models looks like he could do with a good solid meal. Maybe he's been on the horse diet?

OK, that is something that thankfully I have never seen. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to handle that!

The Trainerspotter shoot was great. You know the brand? Yes, one of the models was super slim, but we liked his very French look overall plus he was a great guy to work with.

Better the horse diet than the horse meat diet that people in the UK have been on I think:) Though I do not really mind horse, but not something I look for.

There aren't enough hands in the world to shield 40 pairs of shocked/inquisitive eyes, whilst simultaneously shepherding their owners down the platform. One of my more memorable moments in Paris...

I don't own any Trainerspotter stuff myself but have seen it in Size? in London. It's always been a little too 'street' for my taste but their newer stuff looks a lot more wearable (for me anyway).

The model definitely has a French look about him, combined with that effortless insouciance that a certain type of young Frenchman has mastered. He'd probably look good in the proverbial 'sac a patates'. I was being unnecessarily mean about his frame, I'd kill (well maybe seriously maim) to be a teenage model in Paris.

Your shot in the Jardins du Palais Royale is particularly strong I think. I love that arcade of shops. And the rest of the gardens of course.

Jay_G your story made my day. Thank you for sharing that.

parisbyphoto, your pictures are absolutely lovely! My favourite is the one of the young man bending forward and sticking his tongue out at the camera.

Yikes, Jay! I used to shepherd similar groups, and had some awkward experiences, but fortunately none like that!

Thanks for the photos. Love the Paris métro scene!

Those are some really great shots!

Thanks everyone, very kind !

Terrific photos. Thank you so much for sharing those.

Interesting shots, pbp.

To be seen by anyone who wants to know what to wear in Paris.

I think you can see why some lines are a field day for pickpockets. Look at the crowds around the car doors and the empty spaces in the spaces between the doors. Everyone getting on and off has to push through the crowd, and when the crowd is bad guys, you can see how easy it would be to relieve others of their wallets or even waist belts.

But it is the same in the US. The commonest cry from driver on Boston's Green Line is "Step to the middle of the car, please!" Nobody wants to miss his stop!

I was robbed once, though at Gare du Nord waiting for line b to chatalet. Was so tired from a trip to London I did not notice my phone had been stolen until I got home! So annoying, as I now remember the woman who stole it.

I think Gare du Nord must be getting close to being one of the circles of hell. The combination of tourists, beggars, pickpockets, disaffected youth and heavily armed police never fails to make my heart sink whenever I arrive there.

In all my trips on the Paris metro I've thankfully never had anything pinched, nicked or lost.

I've spotted people who looked like they were up to no good, so gave them the 'don't even think about it' death stare©, to let them know they'd been clocked, and so far it seems to have worked...

it is truly an horrible station, which I ofhen have to go to to get to London or Brussels. Tomorrow is my next trip:(

Parisbyphoto,

I agree with Michael who said, “To be seen by anyone who wants to know what to wear in Paris.”

Touche – guess your pics answer the perennial question about wearing jeans, eh?

Merci for sharing…

My favorite is Liberté.

Thanks again everyone for the feedback. @latedaytraveler - I see so many people wearing jeans - it really is not an issue. Wear what you like I say.

LOVE the first shot across to the opposite platform, and the Art et Metiers shot--I stayed in that neighborhood on one trip and loved that copper-clad tunnel!

Cool and interesting pictures, parisbyphoto. A true snapshot of daily life on the Metro.
Last October I spent a week in an apartment located between Alesia and Mouton Duvernet (off Ave Gen Leclerc), so I know the insides of those two stations very well. Your pics of them took me right back and made me wish I was in Paris again !

Funny, but I was also robbed last year at Gare du Nord, and didn't realise my loss until I arrived in London.

Thanks for sharing your great images.

thanks Patti and Mathieu. not good to be robbed at gare du nord:(

No, not pleasant to be robbed/pickpocketed that's for sure. I won't go into the details of my experience except to say that Jay_G's description of the scene at GdN is spot-on and it was during my decision to stop and spend a few minutes observing this fascinating melee of people and goings-on that I'm convinced is when I was robbed. I wasn't harmed, but the annoyance of the situation spread over several days, and even resulted in my missing my final flight home and being stuck at a CDG hotel for 36 hours trying to get another one.

I must say that the Police at GdN station were very helpful and super-efficient in assisting. They're obviously used to this. Just before I left after all the note-taking procedures, the attending officer apologised to me for the occurrence and intimated gravely about the severity of crime at that station. Indeed, it was the first time I've ever been robbed in all my travels over the past 30 years and I'm pretty travel-smart about such things.

Parisbyphoto, your pictures reminded me of something else - seeing tourists (I'm assuming) almost missing their station stops, because they stood in the train waiting for the doors to automatically open, not realising that at certain metro stops you have to unlock the doors from the inside to let you out.

I love the Metro! I even like the smell - well, that burning rubber-type of smell, mainly because um...it reminds me of the Metro. ;-)

Thanks for posting this, parisbyphoto. So many good shots, but I love the empty train one.

@mathieu - yes, I remember when I first started taking the metro, some lines the doors you need to open, not even with a button but some strange handle that you need to kinda rotate upwards to open. Confusing for the first time!

@YankyGal - thanks!

Thanks Parisbyphoto - great pics.

"Confusing for the first time!"

Also confusing on my 12th trip to Paris after sharing a couple of bottles of vin rouge.

((H))