Les Rues De Paris: Partie Trois – The Streets Of Paris: Part Three

LES RUES DE PARIS: PARTIE TROIS – THE STREETS OF PARIS: PART THREE

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Well, I made Part One and Part Two, so why not round it off with Part Three? There’s always some tidbit of information that I can’t fit into a given lesson, and there’s usually something that I forget about until after I’ve made a post, so this is (officially or otherwise) all of those things.

As I have (repeatedly) said, I love my book of Paris Arrondissements. It is my savior and it allows me to look cool(ish), even when I get lost. I suffer from an unusual and severe desire to blend in and to not look like a tourist. This, unfortunately, means that I pretend to be mute rather than not speak the native language (a real problem in Hungary), take cursory glances at national landmarks and cultural wonders, and return from vacation with very few pictures.

(I’m a bit better these days about that last one; yes I look like a tourist when I take pictures, but that’s why I’m there!)

At the end of the day, I still like doing things the way the locals do, and that’s why I love Paris Arrondissements.

That said, there is one page of the book that I find to be insufficient: the métro map. In the book, it’s laid out to scale, meaning many stations are smashed into the same space making it difficult to decipher. Luckily, there’s any easy solution in the form of a free (and more user-friendly) métro map available at most métro stations.

When you’ve emerged from the depths (ahem, the subway) at the correct station, and you’re searching for some point of orientation, be sure to look at the walls of the buildings around you. Unlike the American system of posting street names on freestanding sign posts, in France (and in the rest of Europe) street names are posted on the corners of buildings at intersections. Major junctions are sure to have them, so if you find yourself lost on a side street, head towards a bigger road to find where you are.

Any questions? Comments? Horror stories of hours spent (unknowingly) circling the same five blocks in a Parisian neighborhood? These lessons are specific to Paris, but most of the rules can be applied anywhere in the country (save the métro stuff), and I’d love to hear about your (mis)adventures from all over France! What information could have saved you from a stressful situation?