The Train into the City of Lights

The RER and Metro were easy to use despite the bad signage at the airport entrance and contrary to all the stories we heard about rude Parisians, we’ve experienced quite the opposite. When observing the locals, it is quickly apparent that propriety demands “Bonjour Madam” upon entry into a store or beginning any conversation with someone you don’t know. Melissa’s French is tons better than my abysmal attempts and yet we’ve had very friendly responses and never a hint of the language snobbery we’ve heard so much about.

For example: at the airport a very nice girl pointed us toward the RER which is quite a walk from the main terminal. Shortly after, the girl at the RER counter was very friendly in selling us our “billots” (tickets). Fast forward to our change over from the RER to the local metro where we had to buy a “Carte Orange” or Orange Card, which is a weekly subway pass. The attendant at the ticket booth was also helpful, if not friendly, despite our poor language skills and the fact that we didn’t know he was asking us if we wanted monthly or weekly (semaine). It has been a string of positive and friendly interactions thus far.

Another myth to be busted, the metro did not seem to be crawling with gypsies or vagabonds targeting tourists for pick-pocketing (and yes, I’ve checked my pockets since we got to the hotel). The metro was clean, very well lit and generally efficient, despite a few long walks from spot to spot.

With our carte orange in hand, we transferred at the St. Michel stop to the Cluny metro station and were shortly at the Duroc station. It took a moment to get our direction straight and a short block later we arrived at Hotel Mayet.