Derniere Minute Travel tips

Bear is ready. I am not...same old, same old.
Bear's bag is neatly packed.
Mine is not, comme habitude...
 A French travel tip I noted waiting at JFK. Many disembarking Frenchies had ribbons tied to their suitcase. The better to spot their bag on the carrousel. Who knew?
My secret tip - take New York apples to Paris. Are all French apples mushy?

I took your advice and bought a ticket to the Vedette boat (save 4 euros online).

I bought an NY MTA T-shirt with matching socks. Let Parisiens get directions from my shirt...

One of my all-time top travel secrets is to hide my valuables in a sport bra - Now everyone knows...ahem

A must-do before I leave is buy Fr Girl her Murrey's bagels. Bagels in New York have become monsterous, but posting this picture, I fell victim. I ate 1/2 a bagel. I hope FG doesn't see this...

Deciding which books to take is maybe the hardest...

I'm crazy for Japanese books on Paris, so I'm take this Metro guide. No, I can't read one word of Kanji but I love the graphics.

No matter how much you prep can you ever be ready for a national transit strike/le greve? Next week in France...

I watched an excellent French film, Human Resources (1999 Ressources Humaines) this morning so I'll be prepared.

I got my Place Vendome drawing done, so I'm almost ready. More to come once I'm in Paris!!

BON WEEKEND!

My Metro

Metro Abbesses Montmartre, 5" x 7"

Did you know everyone has their own Metro?

Metro Abbesses (#12) in Montmartre is not my Metro, but Peter of Peter's Paris was kind and gave me the Grand Tour...

This is my Metro - Ecole Militaire (#8) next to Cafe Terrasse in the 7th and a spit away from rue Cler. This is my Ex-Metro, Etienne Marcel, from a year ago when I stayed in the Marais. And quite nice on the ligne #4, a good line if you like going to the Left Bank... Station Reaumur Sebastopol (#4,9) has never been my Metro much as I like their murals. I've never stayed there and I have an aversion to getting off at Metros I can't pronounce much less spell like Faidherbe Chaligny (#8). This is a BIG mistake as you'll miss out on alot in Paris since many Metros are unpronounceable like St-Sebastien Froissart where Boutique Merci is. Here's a neat Google Maps trick I just picked up last trip by accident. If you tap 3-4 times on the Metro symbol, up will pop the number of the lines that stop there, as well as their routes! Did you know this trick? Who doesn't love Google? It's not enough to know your stop and what direction you're headed. You really need to get familiar with the different numbers of the Metro lignes - there are 14 of them.
Some are "hotter" than others like the #1 (to the Louvre and Marais) or the #4 (St. Germain = Pierre Herme, Gerard Mulot, Sadoharu Aiko i.e. Macaronville). Each Metro ligne has it's own color, but I was disappointed to find the chairs are not color co-ordinated? HMPH! I will never travel around Paris without le passe navigo! You do need a serious-looking photo to get one, but it's good for 10 years and you just refill it each visit. Then you can come and go as you like on the Metro and buses carte blanche! Here's another trick I learned last time using my Navigo card-you can get on and off at consecutive stops on one line... I never would have stopped at Art Deco Station Vaneau (#10)if not for the card...

Station Sevres-Babylon(#10,12) is the next stop and a "must" since Bon Marche is there and lots of fun shopping.

Station Cite (#4) is where you go for the Sunday Marche Oiseaux- it's really the flower market...

Station Tuileries (#1) line spells out Angelina for me, since it's just across the street on rue de Rivoli...

Every time I go to Station Chatelet Les Halles (dans la salle de correspondance RER) to Metro souvenir shop for dish towels it's closed. Horaires: du lundi au vendredi de 10h à 19h (sauf jours fériés). Can I pay them to stay open?

In my mad hunt for Eiffel Tower decor, someone sent me this Metro bedding picture from Bed and Bath. Instant love. Of course it's no longer available, but should you come across it

I know I've said it before, but it doesn't hurt to repeat that the Metro always arrives on your left (except at Station La Motte-Picot). It's nice to be looking in the right direction in my opinion.
See ya on the Metro PB readers!

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BONJOUR METRO