Charts A Course

We spent 4 days traversing Paris and found it riddled with construction, road closures, and pedestrian bottlenecks. We also had some difficulties using the Metro.

All of these circumstances to the international or non-Parisian visitor will culminate in (…prediction) the most negatively, media-hyped, experience yet.

The Metro was very frustrating due to the lack of perceived help from officials. We spent over 30 days in England and always found someone at the station to provide direction or information on tickets. In contrast, after arriving via train from England, which was very nice and relaxing, there was no information person at the station to help us buy Metro tickets. We meandered for 15 minutes and tried a few ticket machines but those did not have translations. Over the next 15 minutes we found other groups having the same problem. Finally, we found Parisians who guided us down the escalator to the Metro white ticket machines. The lines were very long because the purchase process is cumbersome. First you search the destination to find what Zone it is in, then restart the entire process for ticket purchase. If its within Paris you can buy a 1 way ticket but if its in a Paris Zone you have to go click Zone-specific tickets. After that, my wife got stuck in the Metro ‘turn stiles’ doors because it closed on her backpack. She pushed the stroller through then the doors slammed shut. This seems like a regular occurrence because three passerby’s quickly helped pry the doors ajar.

During our strolls in the city walking along the many beautiful landmarks there were countless road closures and redirections due to construction. It took 1 hour by car to go a 15 minute walk. On the day of our private tour to Versailles, the start time was accelerated 30 minutes to account for a road closure because construction burst a water main. Every local is emphatic that construction will not be done in time for the Olympics. All of this is on top of the normal pedestrian traffic which will be compounded with visitors.

Separately, I know it is expensive to host the games, due to all the improvements and construction, and hope the French government has a solution. It was unfortunate that Greece had a debt crisis partially as a result of hosting the Olympics and do not want that for French people.

After our Paris experience, I will rather happily watch the Olympics from the comfort of my home or neighborhood bar.

Your thoughts?