As a Texan, thoughts associated with transportation include a traffic-congested commute, hours of long drives to get from one city to another and long, expensive international flights for travelling. However, I’ve found that here in Paris and the rest of Europe, going to and from place to place is a breeze.
During my stay in Paris so far, I have yet to ride in or drive a car. Paris’ metro system is by far the easiest, cheapest and quickest method of transportation. I have class across the city at 9 a.m. and am able to leave the house at 8:30, walk to Gare de Lyon, a train station and metro stop and take an underground train to class every day.
The Paris Metro is one of the most extensive and interconnected in the world, with a train at each stop every two to four minutes. It completely eliminates the need to drive or take a cab, except for at night after 1 a.m. on week-days and 1:30 a.m. on weekends when it closes.
The city is relatively centrally located, so it’s very easy to walk to many places as well. It’s possible to walk to several of the city’s large tourist attractions — from the Louvre to the Centre Pompidou, to the Notre Dame — in just under 45 minutes.
In Europe, partially because of the continent’s smaller geographic size, but also because of its vast train system, I’ve been able to travel with ease to cities both within and outside of France.
Normally, while in the states, the thought of a weekend in Brussels, Belgium, or a day on the beach in Marseille, France, seems impractical and expensive. However, I’ve been able to travel every weekend to another city.
My first weekend in Europe was spent in Brussels, Belgium, just an hour and twenty minute train ride from my neighborhood metro stop Gare de Lyon. My roommate and I woke up at 6:30, caught our train at 7, without even as much as a metal detector line and by 8:30 a.m. we were in a completely new country where a heavenly aromatic blend of chocolate and waffles float through the air.
I have a new love, and that love is Belgian chocolate. We visited a chocolate factory — with free chocolate samples. I ate the famous Belgian waffle along with a side of free chocolate samples and drifted from chocolate shop to chocolate shop sampling — you guessed it — chocolate.
We ventured through the city’s winding streets, leading up to la Grande Palace, where we sipped a small espresso overlooking the city’s main square. At the end of the day, we hopped right back on a train and in no time at all, we were back home in Paris before 9.
This past weekend, I was also able to venture to Marseille, just a three-hour train ride. A charming city on the glittering Mediterranean coast, Marseille is beautiful. Several of my friends and I visited the beach, a nice reprieve from the hectic city life in Paris. We picnicked, saw breathtaking views of the coastline from a Ferris wheel and had a delicious dinner while gazing into the Mediterranean Sea.
With such close proximity to one another, as well as a very intricate transportation system, cities and their people are much more interconnected to one another. I continue to be baffled by what one can accomplish in a day’s travel here in Europe.