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Pay for it, about 8 bucks, I think.
Download the maps you need.
(at home in the USA !!) Turn off voice directions.
For Paris, you need to download *France North*
Now use it !!
e.g.
When you get out of your hotel or whatever, locate yourself on the APP.
Then when you get ready to come *home*, let that APP tell you how.
You can do the same in the USA when you park your car in a huge parking lot !
Find your car back !!
Use it as a regular GPS thingy. As good as a high end Garmin !!
^Or the OP can just buy a prepaid SIM card in France.
I'm looking into that but I'm getting conflicting information. I am trying to find out if I can unlock the phone before I go. I have Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 in year one of a two year contract. When I went to the Verizon store they wouldn't even talk to me. They gave me the number of their international department which is probably going to try to convince me to pay $25 for 100MB of data to use my phone in France.
I like the idea of paying for maps before I go. I'll look into that.
There are plenty of app offering city maps for free, you don't need to pay. Do a quick search in the android store.
If you buy data from Verizon, you can download the RATP app. You can use it to find the quickest way to go from one place to another using public transports. As a tourist, I would advise you to take the bus instead of the metro. Cleaner, same price, just a bit slower and you get nice views of the city.
But you can enjoy almost all tourists attraction here without using any public transports. Walk from one to another and you'll see plenty of hidden gems which aren't in tourists books.
Just remember to keep your important stuff hidden, we have some troubles with pickpockets in the most touristic places.
Why do you think it's horrid? It's regularly ranked as one of the best in the world
Really? Ok.
I think it stinks, transferring among lines is a major pain in the ass(Chatelet-les-Halles, for example, is hell. I was just there like 3 hours ago and gurl it was terrible), the pickpockets are scary, the image of all those beggars is unpleasant, the signs and directions are confusing, and the trains have no AC.
But for a system of its age, I guess it's good enough, and it is indeed really extensive.
I think it stinks, transferring among lines is a major pain in the ass(Chatelet-les-Halles, for example, is hell. I was just there like 3 hours ago and gurl it was terrible), the pickpockets are scary, the image of all those beggars is unpleasant, the signs and directions are confusing, and the trains have no AC.
But for a system of its age, I guess it's good enough, and it is indeed really extensive.
The Paris system is old, rundown and dirty, but that's true of all the great subway systems in world cities. Paris, NYC, London were rich and important 100 years ago, so built subways a long time ago. A new subway system just means a city was poor or small potatoes until very recently.
But the Paris system (while, yes, old, rundown, dirty) is also the densest metro system on earth, and covers the entirety of the city and inner suburbs. Along with RER, the system is (almost) unmatched.
The Paris system is old, rundown and dirty, but that's true of all the great subway systems in world cities. Paris, NYC, London were rich and important 100 years ago, so built subways a long time ago. A new subway system just means a city was poor or small potatoes until very recently.
Being old is just an excuse. It's not like the trains running today are actually 100 years old.
Besides, Tokyo's metro system is only 20-30 years younger yet it's much better kept than the one in Paris, and way more extensive, due to the gigantic size of the city.
Quote:
But the Paris system (while, yes, old, rundown, dirty) is also the densest metro system on earth, and covers the entirety of the city and inner suburbs. Along with RER, the system is (almost) unmatched.
I didn't disagree with this. I agree that it's really extensive and overall convenient.
The Paris system is old, rundown and dirty, but that's true of all the great subway systems in world cities. Paris, NYC, London were rich and important 100 years ago, so built subways a long time ago. A new subway system just means a city was poor or small potatoes until very recently.
But the Paris system (while, yes, old, rundown, dirty) is also the densest metro system on earth, and covers the entirety of the city and inner suburbs. Along with RER, the system is (almost) unmatched.
Agree. It is only matched by Tokyo.
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