Riding the Paris Metro

In Paris, David and I used the Metro and rode all over the city on that excellent subway system.  

Here in the U.S. we drive our cars everywhere.  It is as if we are turtles who can not live without our cars like turtle shells on our backs. 

Only the poor use public transportation.  In the Dallas-Fort Worth area during rush hour the expressways are crammed with cars, as people drive 30 or 40 miles twice a day, going from Dallas to jobs in Fort Worth or from Fort Worth to jobs in Dallas.  Last week a terrific hale storm stuck during the evening rush hour.  Windshields were smashed, car roofs and hoods pitted with icy stones as big as tennis balls.  60,000 cars were damaged.

Business men fly.  When they land, they rent a car to go to their business appointments.  My daughter’s company sent her to Fort Worth.  Martha flew from Chicago to Dallas, where she rented a luxurious sedan.  Lucky for me, as she came on a Saturday, and we had a great weekend visit before she went to Fort Worth to meet with the firm’s regional manager on Monday.

When people go on vacation, they drive, even if they are going from Dallas to Los Angeles.  I’ve even known people who, going to New York, drove most of the way and parked their car in New Jersey before going into Manhattan.  New York City is the one place where people know it is difficult to have a car – although I’ve done it and paid dearly for parking. 

Traffic and parking in Paris is worse than New York.  The hotel where David and I stayed was in a part of the city laid out in the Middle Ages.  The one-way street in front of the hotel was so narrow that only small cars could get through.  Our rented Opal was tiny, but without a place to park, I was told there was a municipal parking garage only a couple of blocks away.  I drove the car down into that pit and left it there for the entire time we were in Paris.  At the end of our stay the cost of bailing out the car was more than the hotel bill. 

David loved the Paris Metro.  We would get on the subway train and ride a few stops to the central terminal, where there was a big electronic map of the entire system.  I would tell David where I wanted to go (Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Les Invalides).  He would punch some buttons on the wall, and the map would light up, showing our route with all the stations until we reached our destination.  A kind of GPS for the underground transportation system. 

David became my tour guide, always figuring out the way for us to go.  I was impressed with how quickly my 13-year-old mastered the electronic system.  I could not foresee that his fascination with electronics would lead to his career as a computer programmer.