The Metro is the subway system in Paris. Compared to London's Tube, it's a much more extensive system, less crowded, and filthy! There was a prominent smell of sewage in many parts, litter all over the place, and it was generally not clean looking. But, there was no way around it, so we were given 2-day passes to make our way around the city. After dinner Friday night was our first encounter. We went to the station just down the street from the restaurant, went down the stairs and through the stalls, and were immediately confused! So there we stood, against the wall with the big fold-out map of all of the different lines and stations. After a good minute of staring with little still little success at figuring out how to get back to the hotel, a nice young Frenchman stopped and asked if he could help. He apologized for his "crappy English" (which was far better than our French) and showed us which lines to take and where we had to transfer. We thanked him and went to the platform.
Once on the platform, we noticed some other major differences from the Tube in London. With the Tube, we are used to separate tunnels for each direction (with some exceptions - like the older district and circle lines have dual tracks and platforms on both sides of the tracks, and separate outside of the station. In Paris, the two tracks for each direction are side by side within one large tunnel. The trains are different too. The doors of the trains on the Tube all open automatically at each station. In Paris, you have to either push a button or pull up on a lever to open the door. One of the trains that we were on in Paris had no doors between each car - you could walk the entire length of the train with no doors. The cars were attached like the center of a bendy bus.
The worst part of the Metro - and the whole trip - was getting my wallet pick-pocketed on Sunday morning. We were starting the day with a walking tour of the Latin Quarter, among other areas, and needed to take the Metro to get to our starting point. I had put my pass in my wallet that morning, so I knew that I must have had my wallet when I entered the first station. We had been warned at the beginning of the semester in London that pick-pocketing is a big problem in European cities, and that it was better for guys to keep their wallets in their side pocket. I followed this advice and have never had a problem in London, but Paris does have a particularly bad reputation for this sort of crime. After we had transferred to another train, I was reaching for something and noticed things didn't feel right...that's when I noticed that my wallet wasn't in my pocket. I checked my other pockets and my messenger bag, and it was nowhere to be found. I knew that it was gone for good, and called home to get my card canceled. I wasn't thrilled, but I was determined not to let it ruin Paris. In the scheme of things, it wasn't that much cash, and my friends covered me for the rest of the weekend. The bank confirmed that the last time my card was used was when I had taken cash out of the ATM the day before. So that's my wonderful introduction to the Paris Metro!
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