Mon Cheri Paris

Jenna Cittadino — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:57:00 -0400

My husband and I decided to vacation in Paris for ten days this past March. What a fantastic city! The food, the wine, the art, the people, the shopping, the fashion, and the mass transportation. That's right-one doesn't always rave about how great the mass transportation is in the City of Love, but I will.

First off, we did not need to use a cab the entire time we were there. We flew into Charles de Gaulle airport and were able to easily find the train that took us into the city. The train dropped us off about a block and a half from our apartment, and we had a short walk to our temporary home. All ten days we were there, we used the (surprisingly clean) Metro, taking us from our home base in the Latin Quarter (where we enjoyed the fashions of the university students) to the outskirts of the city to visit the Marmottan Museum (where we were mesmerized by Monet's masterpieces) and up to the top of Montmarte (where we climbed the breathtaking Sacre Couer and soaked in the best views of the city). It took us everywhere cheaply and easily.

We spent most of our ten days in Paris because we wanted to really experience the city, but we did make exceptions for Versailles (we took a train to explore Louis XIV's celebratory, indulgent palace) and for the Champagne region (we took the high speed train to visit the birthplace of the bubbly drink that Dom Pérignon once described as "drinking the stars;" he could not have described it better).

We played our role as cheesy tourists by snapping photos of the public bicycle stations that were neatly set up throughout the city. Although we did not use the service, what a great idea for all cities! Anyone can deposit coins to rent a bicycle and then return the bike at another bicycle stop within the city. Who wants to lug their bikes down five flights of windy stairs (that is so common in the old Parisian apartment buildings)? Or if you walk somewhere, but decide you want a change of pace, you can rent a bike; what a great solution. My dear Paris has thought of everything!

I was especially aware and in awe of these fantastic mass transportation options because I live 19 miles from work, but I have an average daily commute of 2 hours. It made me wonder about some solutions for Los Angeles, another city that I love. Our metro does not connect the entire city, making it a form of transportation that is not used as often as it should or could be. I think an underground train infrastructure is sometimes thought of as overwhelming, but instead of underground trains, what about above the ground trains like Paris, connecting the various neighborhoods within the city, and even connecting the suburbs outside of Los Angeles? This would diminish traffic, reduce tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions, and although there would still be a commute for those living outside the city, at least those people could relax and read.

Paris has a long history of establishing trends that the world soon follows. (Where do you think our forefathers got the idea that white wigs were fashionable? From a balding Louis XIV who embraced his challenged hairline by making wigs a trend.) America continues to look to Paris for advice on food, fashion, and wine. I hope one day Los Angeles will look to Paris to copy them on their transportation trends.

Public Transportation

Mon Cheri Paris