Paris

Paris is one of the most amazing cities on earth. History and the 21rst century clash head on. Tiny alleyways branch off of four lane roads. Cobblestones become concrete. Roads change in to pedestrian malls with bollards that rise from the street. It can be very challenging for a North American boy to navigate but I have a few tips.

I generally have a good sense of direction. I get my bearings and I am good. That works well in North America where most of our major urban streets run in a grid iron pattern.

If you can get lost here you may consider having a GPS implanted in your body.

www.lonelyplanet.com/.../canada/calgary/

Paris, like a lot of European cities, is set up more like a spider web. Roads radiate out from the centre and are connected by a series of rings. It is a very efficient method if you know the city well. I used GPS and I wouldn’t go through Europe without it. Everybody should keep in mind that GPS is a serving suggestion. Never ever ever blindly follow GPS instructions. The GPS in my rental car tried to send me the wrong way down one way streets. It is not the machine’s fault. Things change and they do their best to keep the machines up to date but there is no replacement for common sense. I liked that my passengers could sit back and enjoy the ride. Nobody was buried in a map trying to locate the street signs that the Parisians are adept at hiding. The GPS unit did seem to get a bit upset when I missed a turn but it never failed to send me the right direction eventually.

Welcome to Paris

www.classiccitybrew.com/paris.html

I knew that motorcycles and scooters were much more popular in Europe that in North America but I was not prepared for the volume and aggressiveness of the drivers. In North America we generally assume that if we are on the sidewalk we are safe. You cannot make the same assumption in Paris. The scooters race around like swarms of angry chainsaws. They go in every direction. They go on any flat surface they can find. About the only time you can let your guard down is inside and even then I was keeping an eye open. On the road they will also sneak up in between lanes of traffic. This can be more than a little disconcerting. They will come out from any direction at any time, usually when you are busy looking for a street sign or landmark.

A swarm of scooters waiting to hunt.

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/races10/tdf10/tdf10paris-scooters.jpg&imgrefurl=http://pezcyclingnews.com/%3Fpg%3Dfullstory%26id%3D7617%26status%3DTrue&usg=__d7NhZ63qiGkdWywDIxqiOJs2S2E=&h=349&w=465&sz=55&hl=en&start=3&itbs=1&tbnid=cjOXmu1abPRlBM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscooters%2Bparis%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1


If you are renting a car you may want to familiarize yourself with their vehicles. Most of the cars over there are diesel. This gives you great fuel economy but you will see a drop in performance. Most of the vehicles over there have manual transmissions. If you need and automatic triple confirm it with your rental company and bring the confirmation e-mail. They will still not have the right car for you but it will make it easier and more satisfying when you argue with the person at the counter.

All over Europe they use roundabouts but in each country they are a little different. The German ones are very straight forward, efficient and easy to use. The ones in England go the wrong way around but they do everything on the wrong side. The roundabouts in Paris are an insane dance. First, they are about 6 lanes wide without any lane markers. You dive in head first. If you hesitate you are likely to get hit from behind. Now you are in the flow, it is you and every sort of vehicle you have ever imagined. Bikes, pedestrians and tour busses jockey for position with cars, trucks and scooters. Some of the roundabouts have crosswalks in the middle of them. Many of the roundabouts have six or more exits. So while you are trying to keep an eye on the scooter that has created a new lane in the six inches between you and that tanker truck, you are also trying to look for a street name. It is a bit of a rush.

Roundabout at L’Arc de Triomphe (a close up but a good shot to show what I am talking about)

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://lh4.google.ca/abramsv/R9WRs6tLeuI/AAAAAAAALOA/c9EBNLvzt4k/s640/40337-crazy-traffic-at-arc-de-triomphe-paris-france.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/03/worlds-worst-intersections-traffic-jams.html&usg=___nnoif1wKaQhGYRKzTC3sNK5qQQ=&h=375&w=500&sz=66&hl=en&start=16&itbs=1&tbnid=hffs_BTf5rmabM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparis%2Broundabout%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1


I rented a car because we were doing some traveling around Europe. If we were staying in the city I wouldn’t have bothered. Paris has a comprehensive and easy to figure out transit system. The subway system connects with the train system. The train system will take you to anything you may want to see. You do need to make yourself street savvy. I had never had anybody pick my pocket before. It happened twice in Paris. Fortunately, I had done my homework. I kept my wallet in a zipped pocket in my jacket and kept an empty wallet in my back pocket. The people to watch for are easy to see if you know what to look for. We were able to kill an hour wait in the train station by turning it in to a game of spot the bad guys.

Try not to look like a tourist. Don’t pull out a wad of bills in public. Be extra vigilant when you are checking your map. Be protective of your personal space. If anything is sketchy get away from it. On top of catching two hands in my pocket we had somebody try to sell us bogus Eifel Tower tickets, somebody try to run the “found ring” scam and the “deaf card” scam we also ran the gauntlet of interesting people at the exit of many of the tourist sites.

This is not to say that Paris is any more dangerous than any other tourist area. One just has to play with their head up. If something doesn’t feel right get out. Unfortunately, any place that attracts tourists will attract the criminal element as well. Fortunately, in Paris most of them are easy enough to spot if you know what to look for.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/France/Ile_de_France/Paris-99080/Warnings_or_Dangers-Paris-Beggars_Aggressive_Vendors-BR-1.html


This is a good place to learn about the scams you are likely to see.


I may have got off the automotive track a bit but hey what do you want for free?