I have done when I started my blog way back in Nov’2010 a series of runs on each line of the Metro de Paris. I figure it is time to update and reduce the non essentials and leave the vital for any visitor and resident as well. Paris not only have Parisians but French from every department of France and even some foreign residents and/or citizens who use it every day. I hope it helps you understand a bit more what Paris metro or subway or tube underground is all about. Of course, remember, this is my take condense information there is a book on the metro !! Therefore, here is my take on the Metro de Paris , part V !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
I am amaze at the number of people coming from places where there is no subway .metro:tube and gladly jump in into the Paris metro and rave about it back home. Like it was a tourist attractions; well , I like to tell you above ground is better but anyway here is the metro of Paris, It has 16 metro lines so far.
I will talk about line 10 of the Paris metro. Its a small line only 11,7 kms long, from east to west of Paris. The first track was done in 1923 from Invalides to Croix-Rouge, which since closed from 1939, stop name after the bishop of Meaux, it became Invalides-Mabillon in 1925,then Invalides-Odéon in 1926, the next line was Gare d’Austerlitz just by WWII in 1939 and then one last one in 1981! Boulogne-Pont de Saint Cloud.
We begin our ride at Porte d’Auteuil, one of my favorites entries into Paris by car. Opened in 1923, in the Village of Auteuil annexed to Paris in 1860. You have the wonderful hippodrome d’Auteuil for horse racing with obtacles, big race here is the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. You can see the jardin et serres d’Auteuil; done in 1898, on the old veggy plot of Louis XV, and today provides vegetables to all the city of Paris! The huge dome for palms is 99 meters long and 16 meters high. see at 3 avenue de la porte d’Auteuil or 1 avenue Gordon Bennett. Move over to Mirabeau, open in 1913, the great man who at the dissoluton of the Assembly cry the famous words ” go tell those who send you, that we are here by the will of the people, and we will only come out by the point of bayonnets”, mais after research we found a fake armory that show his double game as spy, he was a loyal servant of king Louis XVI!!! I past here often on the Pont de Mirabeau, while looking already at the tour Eiffel, a metallic bridge done in 1895-1897, We go next to Javel-André Citroên, opened in 1913, it is by here that a factory was done with chemical products that gave way to javel or clorox in 1777, later it was for automobiles until finally closed in 1970; see the parc André Citroên, 13 hectares on the fields of the auto maker. Quai André Citroên , We are now going to Charles Michels, opened in 1913 as Beaugrenelle, it change name after a resistant figher in WWII killed by the nazis in 1941. You see what I see at the pont de Grenelle, done in 1884, replaced by a metallic bridge in 1984,and by here you see a smaller scale replica of the Statue of Liberty, given to the city of Paris by the American community of Paris in 1885! (yes we are here way back I know for sure 1847).
We continue to Sévres-Babylone, done in 1910, for the rue de Sévres,and rue de Babylone as they were two railroad companies vying for the lines, it was decided to name them after both sides of the streets. Nearby you see that other great Paris dept store, Le Bon Marché done in 1838, see it at 24 rue de Sévres.. Here you see the wonderful Hotel Lutetia, 45 blvd Raspail, done in 1910 by the owners of the dept store. The sculptures are done by Paul Belmondo the father of the fame French cinema actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. The famous stayed here even the children care for by Josephine Baker. Here the deported to concentration camps from returning to France were housed and welcome. You see the wonderful, Chapelle de la Medaille MIraculeuse, or chapel of the miracle medal a sister was awaken in 1830 by a child, who tell her to come to the chapel, make a medal told the virgin, those who wear it, will received great miracles: today weared by millions of Catholics. see it at 140 rue de Bac. Moving onwards to Mabillon, opened in 1925, see the wonderful place de Furstenberg, the abbey of St Germain des Prés in 1689; must go to the Musée Delacroix, 6 rue Furstenberg , the painter lived here from 1857 to his last day in August 13, 1863. So he can be close to the Church Saint-Sulpice where he was painting the chapel of Saint-Anges. Go by the vibrant, market or marché Buci, rue Baci, near there at No 27 rue Mazarine you have a passage little known, two more steps and you are at the wall of Philippe Auguste in a parking at rue de Seine!
We are now in old Paris, Cluny-La Sorbonne, opened in 1930. It was an unused station until use to give access to the RER B And C at Notre Dame St Michel and was reopened in 1988. See the wonderful Thermes et hotel de Cluny, in a museum of atniold spas of Romans times, renovated in 1844 and with the Arénes of rue Monge rest one of the last remnants of Lutéce frm the 2C and 3C AD. The building is with that of Sens one of the best remaining examples of medieval Paris built in 1485-1498. see at 6 place Paul Painlevé. See the magnificent Sorbonne, done in 1257 ,rebuilt in 1625 by Cardenal Richelieu, closed during the French revolution, and reopened by Napoleon I in 1806. The current look dates from 1885, the chapel was done in 1635, and it hold the tomb of Cardinal Richelieu. see at 21 rue Broca, We move over to Maubert-Mutualité, here in 1588 se saw the first support for the duke of Guise, the marché de Maubert done in 1547 its one of the oldest in Paris. See the great Church Saint Séverin, 5 rue Saint Séverin, with the oldest bell in Paris dating from 1412!!! The magnificent Church Saint Julien le Pauvre, 79 rue Galande, just facing the oldest tree in Paris ,391 years old facing the square Viviani, and the church the ancestral burial of the Merovigians kings. Destroyed during the French revolution ,the church came back in 1889 as the Greek rite melkite.
See the Collége des Bernardins, 20 rue de Poissy, here the monks from all over Europe were trained. going for a book at the famous Librarie Shakespeare & Co, 37 rue de la Bûcherie. We arrive at our end, stopping at Cardinal Lemoine, opened in 1931, honoring the bishop of the Cathedral of Bayeux,and later of Arras. Here you see the magnificent Panthéon, order of Louis XV in 1744 to do a church at the hill of the abbey of Sainte Geneviéve, The first remains to be brought here were those of Mirabeau, Voltaire, Rousseau,and Murat. It was named Panthéon from 1830.see at Place du Panthéon see the collection des minéraux de Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, the work of these two great doctor scientists. Come to see for sure the Church Saint Etienne-du-Mont, at place Sainte-Géneviève, done under François I, finished on the reign of Louis XIII, from 1803 it houses the chase or box reliquary of Sainte Geneviève (patron saint of the city of Paris). Go by the Collége de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, done in 1590 and offfers free courses, without giving any diploma,open to all.
I will talk about line 11 of the Paris metro. This line is totally underground, and is 6,2 kms long, being the shortest regular metro line. Also,none of its stations have change name since its beginning in 1935. It goes from Chatelet to Marie des Lilas. The station Telegraphe is cement reinforce of more than 20 meters deep, from 1944-45 it was under direct control of the Nazis. The line 11 was the first metro line in the world to have pneumatics material done so in 1956.
I start my trip at Place des Fêtes, opened in 1911, in honor of the festivities of the village of Belleville. Here you have the wonderful Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, done in 1867, wished for by Napoleon III, main entrance at 1 rue Botzaris. At the angle of rue Compans, and rue Augustin Thierry, an overlook site dates from 1583! one of the vestiges of numerous aqueducts that drained the waters of Belleville since the 12C, We arrive at Porte de Lilas, here inmortalised by songs of Gainsbourg, and the scene of several movies such as the Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain, and Elle a fait un bébé tout seule, etc. You see the Cimetiére de Belleville, at 40 rue du Telégraphe, the telegraphe optique was practice here from 1790-1798. You have the wonderful pool of Piscine Georges-Vallerey, 148 ave Gambetta, built for the occasion of the 1924 Olympic Games, where Johnny Weissmuller, the future Tarzan ,got the record in the 400 meters freestyle.
The official RATP Paris metro : https://www.ratp.fr/en/plan-metro
There you go folks , my dear readers, we have a wonderful metro network overall They take you to all these wonderful spots in my eternal Paris, even if as I said, above ground is better ::) Just for the curious and visitors who dare go underground in the most beautiful city in the world, Paris !!! Again, hope you enjoy the post as I
And remember, happy travel, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 