The Complete Guide to the Paris Métro

The Paris Métro

ISN'T THE MÉTRO JUST A WAY OF GETTING FROM THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE TO THE LOUVRE?

ISN'T THE MÉTRO JUST A WAY OF GETTING FROM THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE TO THE LOUVRE?

The Paris Métro is far more than a cheap, convenient and reliable means to an interesting end: some of its stations are works of art in their own right, and the whole system offers fascinating insights into French culture and history. Tomorrow might be an ideal time to retreat under Paris's pavements as they are due to be pounded by 15,000 runners competing in a half-marathon (21.1km) around the 12th and 13th arrondissements and the Bois de Vincennes in south-east Paris.

WHEN DID IT ALL BEGIN?

A long time after London went underground. After years of dispute, an 1898 law approved the construction of a "metropolitan railway line" in Paris for the "transport of passengers and their hand-luggage". Line 1 was built in 17 months, and tied in nicely with the Paris Universal Exposition (easy access from the Champs-Elysées station). The Métro opened to an apprehensive but curious public on 19 July 1900, the symbolic date of 14 July having been abandoned since employees would have been forced to work on Bastille Day. Today, the system runs 365 days a year.

In keeping with other modern subway systems, the Paris Métro is an impressive organisation. It's estimated that six million people use the system daily, keeping 15,000 Parisians employed. Altogether, the system covers 131 miles of track, on 14 lines, and efficiently shuttles 3,500 cars on a precise schedule between 380 stations, 87 of which provide line connections. No matter where you are in the city, you should be able to find a Métro station within 500m.

In the late 20th century, it was joined by the Réseau Express Régional (RER), a more functional high-speed suburban network that runs beneath central Paris. If you need to get from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon in a hurry, take the RER – but the original Métro is much more fun.

HOW DO I GET ON BOARD?

There are frequent trains during the day, and the last trains leave around 12.30am. A one-way fare is €1.30 (80p). A carnet of 10 tickets costs €9.60 (£6.50), and will save a lot of queuing. The Paris Visite 1-, 2-, 3- or 5-day pass, also valid on city buses, gets you into first class on the SNCF trains that serve the suburbs. Prices vary according to the number of zones and days.

WHAT LINES SHOULDN'T I MISS?

Lines 2 and 6 are the best for anyone seeking unusual views of the city. Both lines have overground stations: from Barbès Rochechouart to Jaurès, via La Chapelle and Stalingrad, line 2 lets you see across Paris before dipping down into the bowels of the earth again, rather like a roller-coaster. The section of line 6 between Etoile-Charles de Gaulle and Nation has superb views of the Seine and beyond, including the Eiffel Tower and the Ile aux Cygnes. Line 1, probably the most familiar for tourists, is fun for people-watching, its trains are bright, and the stations are interesting. According to the US State Department, it is also the most crime prone: "Pickpockets are especially active."

AND THE STATIONS?

Some of them are masterpieces. The Art Nouveau movement inspired artists across Europe at the end of the 19th century. Hector Guimard (1867-1942) was one of the leading members of the French school, and it's impossible to avoid his influence on the city's architecture. His subway entrances are renowned, although he was a relative unknown when commissioned in 1886 to design the entrances as "objects of beauty". Working with forged iron and stained glass, these delicate designs (now classed as historic monuments, and some housed in museums of modern art) are seen as quintessentially Parisian.

Eighty-seven of the original Guimard entrances, with their pale green, curved uprights and flower-like globes, still survive across the city (lines 1 to 8), and range from fairly basic to elaborate. The best examples are at Abbesses, on line 12 (moved here from its original site), and Porte Dauphine stations, which both feature covered pavilions. The railings at Cité station, on the Ile de la Cité, are particularly attractive. For a modern take on the whole Guimard phenomenon, check out the entrance to Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre on Place Colette, where the multicoloured glass balls of the Kiosque des Noctambules shimmer magically at night.

More Parisian Art Nouveau can be seen on the exterior of the Guimard synagogue on rue Pavée (Métro to St Paul stop); the Musée d'Orsay has some beautiful Art Nouveau interiors; and the Galeries Lafayette and La Samaritaine department stores are worth visiting for the architecture as well as the shopping (Chaussée d'Antin-Lafayette).

If Paris does not feature on your immediate travel plans, you can also see Guimard's hand on the underground railways in Montreal, Mexico City, Lisbon and Chicago: the RATP has donated replicas of Guimard's entrances to subway systems in those cities.

LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE?

You could build a history lesson on the 1789 Revolution and subsequent events from the names of Métro stations: Bastille (lines 1, 5, 8) is the obvious starting place. The stormed prison has long gone, but frescos on the platforms of line 1 commemorate the event, and the ruins of the building's foundations are indicated on the Bobigny platform (line 5). Robespierre (line 9), République (line 9 again), Assemblée Nationale (line 12), and Convention (line 12) also celebrate this momentous chapter in French history, while the blue and white tiles at Concorde (line 12) spell out the Declaration of the Rights of Man. In the south-east of the city, the Liberté station recalls the Revolution's motto. The panels at République and Nation both refer to this period. Despite his enormous impact on France, Napoleon Bonaparte doesn't have his own station, but the Gare d'Austerlitz evokes his 1805 victory over the Austrians and Russians.

WHAT ABOUT THE 20TH CENTURY?

Several Métro stations were renamed after the Second World War to commemorate members of the French Resistance, or individuals who had shown courage in opposing the Nazis: Jacques Bonsergent (line 5), Colonel Fabien (line 2) and Corentin Cariou (line 7) are examples. Not to mention Charles de Gaulle (lines 1, 2, 6). Petrol restrictions meant that the Métro was the only form of public transport available during the Occupation, and almost three million people used it daily. Several stations were requisitioned by the German authorities: Varenne (line 13) was used as a radio station. The Musée Rodin is nearby, and the station is now decorated with reproductions of the sculptor's work. From 1944, the command post of the French Resistance forces was located in the tunnels under Denfert-Rochereau. Ironically, this station had been named for the 19th-century general who repelled Bismarck's troops in Belfort during the 1870 Franco-Prussian war. Two stations are named after Second World War battles: the USSR's decisive victory at Stalingrad (line 7, 5, 2), and Bir-Hakeim (line 6), where the "Fighting French" held off Rommel's troops for two weeks and slowed the German advance. Bir-Hakeim is the most convenient station for visiting the Eiffel Tower.

As in London, the deepest underground stations were used as air-raid shelters, and gas-proof doors were installed at Maison Blanche and Place des Fetes.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 MINUTES?

Yes, it can be done (just about). A whirlwind tour of the world's cultures, tastes, and music is possible without leaving Paris's rich multicultural milieu. The French capital is home to thousands of immigrants, mostly from France's former colonies, and the Métro is an ideal way to explore this international city. Belleville in the centre is a vibrant mix of Muslim, Jewish and Asian inhabitants. The sights, sounds, and tempting smells of North African, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern cultures are best explored from Belleville station (carry on down the boulevard de Belleville), as are the markets on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

For a distinctively African flavour, the Château-Rouge or Barbès-Rochechouart stations will transport you to that continent, while the area north of Strasbourg-St Denis station has been described as a direct link between Turkey and India, where Turkish teahouses and kebab joints compete with shops selling saris and spices. Paris has two "Chinatowns" – rue au Maire at the Arts-et-Métiers station, and the Vietnamese area east of Tolbiac.

The Marais district retains a distinctly Jewish character alongside a strong gay culture. Best explored from St Paul station, the area (formerly called the Pletz) is home to kosher stores and restaurants, as well as galleries and bookshops. Nearby (via Rambuteau station) the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme houses an extensive collection of artefacts dating from the Middle Ages, and exhibits tracing Jewish life in France through the centuries.

ANY SINGING IN THE TRAIN?

The Paris Métro started featuring in songs as far back as 1898, when the political battles over its construction inspired an ironic ditty. It has since inspired several songs, performed and composed by some of France's most famous singers.

The best known in France is probably Serge Gainsbourg's 1958 hit "Le Poinçonneur des Lilas", a backhanded tribute to the ticket-punchers who spent their days "making little holes" in tickets (now replaced by automatic gates).

Pierre Perret managed to fit the names of 84 stations into his song "Bercy-Madeleine"; Yves Montand sang about wandering along the Grands Boulevards; and Edith Piaf celebrated the "fantastic labyrinth" of mechanical staircases, automatic gates and rush-hour crowds in her 1960 hit song, "Le Métro de Paris".

More recently, the Eighties rock group Téléphone complained that the daily grind symbolised by the underground commute was "too much" in "Métro (C'est trop!)", while Florent Pagny's 2001 album, Châtelet-Les Halles, refers to what is possibly the system's most crowded stop. French music, from "La Petite Tonkinoise", as sung by Josephine Baker, to Maurice Chevalier's "Valentine", is featured at the Tuileries stop.

These days, it's a rare journey that doesn't involve at least one group of musicians getting into your carriage and performing, before walking round with a tin for money. At transfer stations, buskers take up position in the long corridors between stops.

ANY POETRY IN MOTION?

This month, lines of poetry are taking over on the lines. France's annual Printemps des Poètes festival starts on Monday and runs through to next Sunday. The Métro is joining in. The three winners of an RATP-sponsored competition will have their poems displayed in all Métro and RER stations, and in trains, throughout March, in turn with greats such as Hugo, Baudelaire and Verlaine. The winning poem imagines the feelings of a homeless man sleeping near the top of an escalator. A hundred poems from the competition are due to be published later this year, and poems used in Métro trains, or about the Métro, have been collected in Les Transports poétiques.

WHAT LIES IN THE FUTURE?

Line 14 (also known as the Météor line) is fully automated – there are no drivers (children will love the window view at the front). The trains are separated from the platform by transparent barriers, rather like the eastern half of the Jubilee line in London. This high-speed line, which currently has only seven stops, is due to be extended from Madeleine to Gare St-Lazare in December 2003, and later to Olympiade, a new station in the south. It is the only line with wheelchair access. Until the end of March, four platforms on this line (Gare de Lyon, Madeleine, Bercy and Pyramides) will display graphics by arts students.

More prosaically, computer access is being introduced at 24 stations on the RATP (which runs the Métro) network, offering 10 minutes of free internet use and practical information on transport.

IS A TRIP TO PARIS NECESSARY?

Armchair travellers can take a mini-tour of the Métro by watching French films. The Paris underground has been used by film-makers since Louis Feuillade made the 43-minute Fantômas in 1913. More recently, the mysterious and anarchic territory beneath the city's surface has been used to great effect in films such as Luc Besson's Subway, starring Christophe Lambert, and Jean-Jacques Beineix's cult debut film, Diva. Métro-spotters should also watch Le Samouraï (a 1967 thriller starring Alain Delon), and the more recent Amélie and Les Amants du Pont-Neuf. François Truffaut's 1980 film, Le Dernier Métro, starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, evokes the war years of struggle, shortages and curfews.

20,000 LEAGUES UNDERTHE STREET, AND OTHER SURPRISING STATIONS

Step out of the carriage at the Arts-et-Métiers station, and you may wonder whether you're in a submarine or a ship's boiler room. Decorated with portholes and copper panelling, the station pays tribute to Jules Verne. Head upstairs to the Musée nationale des Arts et Métiers (on rue de Réaumur) for more technology. Founded by an abbot in 1794, the museum is a treasure-trove of scientific instruments and machines from the pioneers of France's industrial revolution.

The themes of Paris's Métro stations are diverse, and hopping on and off trains to enjoy the show is worth the extra journey time. Liège station (line 13) reflects a little of the city's turmoil – originally named Berlin, it was closed down in 1914, only to reopen a few years later decorated with mosaics of the Belgian city.

Would you like fries with that? At Parmentier on line 3, the pomme de terre features prominently, in tribute to Antoine-Augustin Parmentier after whom the station is named. In 1786, he first introduced the humble tuber to France.

WHAT ABOUT ART?

The Louvre-Rivoli station is practically an antechamber for France's greatest museum: reproductions of statues and works of art are arranged along both platforms, where spotlit installations are in sharp contrast to the subdued lighting.

Nine stations were redecorated to mark the Métro's centenary in 2000, and the designs were intended to highlight the continuity between the 20th and 21st centuries. Worth visiting: the Europe station (line 3), with its TV screens broadcasting from stations across an expanding continent), and Bonne Nouvelle (line 8 and 9), a cinema-buff's dream.

Even in the nondescript parts of the capital, Métro stations can produce grand flourishes. At St- Jacques – an unimportant station on an inconsequential line, far south in the 14th arrondissement – Moorish brickwork is enlivened by typography at its most sublime. And the mosaic at the Bobigny-Pablo Picasso station was based on Picasso's 1949 Dove of Peace.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

Two books are worth reading: The Paris Métro: A Ticket to French History, by Susan L Plotkin, Xlibris 2000; and The Paris Métro Handbook, by Brian Hardy, Capital Transport Publishing, 3rd edition 1999. Also useful are the RATP website: www.ratp.fr (includes link to English site); and the RATP English Information Centre: 00 33 8 92 68 41 14.

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