Friday, July 20, 2007
REFLECTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION IN PARIS
I came into Paris by Eurostar, the high speed train that is also high on comfort. It makes our trains seem like antiques. Paris is the transfer place for trains heading South to Rochefort and on to London and the tour of our United Kingdom Sister Cities.
Paris is a city of grand architectural splendor. A center of art and culture with breathtaking gardens and narrow streets and grand Boulevards. Centuries of history abound.
It is also a city of small delights...street musicians, small birds eating bread from a child’s hand, students seated by the Seine with a book, a 200 year old window framing a brilliant mixture of flowers.
A magical city of startling pleasures when the road along the Seine is turned into a sunny beach and the Plaza before City Hall also becomes sand for barefoot volleyball for a month each summer.
Paris is a walking city with a focus on people. Monuments, museums, gardens and cafés are easily reached by foot. Cobblestones and marble halls do take their tolls on legs and feet.
Tired?
Well then, try another way to move around. There are any number to chose from.
In principal visitor areas bicycles are lined up – your charge card in a pay-for-display system unlocks the bike for use.
And then there is the River Seine winding through the City Center. The public batteau bus (literally, "boat bus") stops at 8 locations. An all day pass takes you wherever you choose.
Then continue on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, a connecting to coherent subway or a car parked unseen in an underground garage- no Taj Mahal garages here.
Taxi pick up sites are well marked. Line up as at a bus stop also well marked.
Smart cars-those tiny fuel efficient cars not yet approved in the USA- are prominent.
Motorcycles (not noisy) are parked everywhere in designated sidewalk areas by employees and students who navigate the narrow streets quite skillfully.
Paris is, of course, a huge city – one of the most visited in the world. Annapolis, quite small.
Even though the scale is different, we do share many things in common.
History, cultural center, flowers, a walking city, bicycle rentals, water.
Smart cars, motorbikes without noise, a regular scheduled water taxi service, underground parking, are services we don’t have that might, if available, reduce our perceived car problem.
Make no mistake, there are plenty of cars in Paris, but Paris starts with the premise that the best way to experience the city is by foot, and pedestrian mobility is front and center stage.
There is a wide variety of modes of transportation in Paris, and the city has done a great job of integrating them all into a convenient and understandable system.
Paris is a city of grand architectural splendor. A center of art and culture with breathtaking gardens and narrow streets and grand Boulevards. Centuries of history abound.
It is also a city of small delights...street musicians, small birds eating bread from a child’s hand, students seated by the Seine with a book, a 200 year old window framing a brilliant mixture of flowers.
A magical city of startling pleasures when the road along the Seine is turned into a sunny beach and the Plaza before City Hall also becomes sand for barefoot volleyball for a month each summer.
Paris is a walking city with a focus on people. Monuments, museums, gardens and cafés are easily reached by foot. Cobblestones and marble halls do take their tolls on legs and feet.
Tired?
Well then, try another way to move around. There are any number to chose from.
In principal visitor areas bicycles are lined up – your charge card in a pay-for-display system unlocks the bike for use.
And then there is the River Seine winding through the City Center. The public batteau bus (literally, "boat bus") stops at 8 locations. An all day pass takes you wherever you choose.
Then continue on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, a connecting to coherent subway or a car parked unseen in an underground garage- no Taj Mahal garages here.
Taxi pick up sites are well marked. Line up as at a bus stop also well marked.
Smart cars-those tiny fuel efficient cars not yet approved in the USA- are prominent.
Motorcycles (not noisy) are parked everywhere in designated sidewalk areas by employees and students who navigate the narrow streets quite skillfully.
Paris is, of course, a huge city – one of the most visited in the world. Annapolis, quite small.
Even though the scale is different, we do share many things in common.
History, cultural center, flowers, a walking city, bicycle rentals, water.
Smart cars, motorbikes without noise, a regular scheduled water taxi service, underground parking, are services we don’t have that might, if available, reduce our perceived car problem.
Make no mistake, there are plenty of cars in Paris, but Paris starts with the premise that the best way to experience the city is by foot, and pedestrian mobility is front and center stage.
There is a wide variety of modes of transportation in Paris, and the city has done a great job of integrating them all into a convenient and understandable system.
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