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Post by goldenmama on Jun 25, 2007 5:29:19 GMT -5
I hope I'm just not being an idiot here, but I'm really unclear as to whether the RER stations are the same as the Metro stations, or are they separate places? Thanks!
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Post by iank9 on Jun 25, 2007 5:55:01 GMT -5
goldenmama This is what the forum is for!!! Hope I get this right. The RER is different from the Metro, but you do have interchange stations that will cater for both RER and Metro. The RER is used to bring travellers into Paris from further a field than the main city itself, and has its own stations. On a metro map, the RER is marked as a heavy, black colour. Hope that helps- locals please jump in quick if I got this wrong, I don't want Goldenmama sitting at an RER waiting for a metro or vice versa!
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Post by kasthor on Jun 25, 2007 6:18:38 GMT -5
Some are seperate and some overlap, others are seperate but have a connection tunnel.
However there are no two different trains or metros leaving from the same platform, even if a metro station and a RER station overlap, the departure for both are in completely different areas (M°/RER Charles de Gaulle-Etoile for example), the RER tunnels have been digged much later than the metro tunnel and are usually further underground.
In 80% of the cases you can walk from the RER to the metro (and vice versa) by staying underground.
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Post by goldenmama on Jun 25, 2007 7:11:21 GMT -5
Here we are, waiting for the RER at the metro station. Thanks for the input; I think I get it. To be sure: in simple terms, if I'm staying near the Louvre and need to get to the RER, just where the heck do I go?!
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Post by Truffaut on Jun 25, 2007 7:13:11 GMT -5
I can't believe you're thinking of dressing like that. Such outfits are only worn in the south of France. Harruumph!
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Post by cybee on Jun 25, 2007 7:14:09 GMT -5
LOL, GoldenMama! You guys certainly don't look like tourists (of the suboptimal sort) at all! (NOT!)
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Post by terezacz on Jun 25, 2007 7:18:07 GMT -5
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Post by andi on Jun 25, 2007 7:18:19 GMT -5
Goldenmama, this is not intended to put you off using the RER in the slightest, I found the Metro much easier to navigate than the RER.....It may only be me being a scaredy cat, but I was a little more unsure of myself on the RER and backed out incase I got on the wrong train. Trains to different locations use the same platform just like a normal railway station......the metro I could navigate and ride all day long, as they only go to the same places each time. I am sure someone will be able to clarify it for you. I think on my part that my French let me down when reading the message boards.
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Post by goldenmama on Jun 25, 2007 7:44:37 GMT -5
I've just got to use the RER twice: once to Versailles, and once to the park that I'm afraid to admit that I'm going to!
Thanks for the link, terezacz. Its perfect!
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Post by Happygoin on Jun 25, 2007 7:46:38 GMT -5
That picture is laugh-out-loud funny....good one! I think that's rue Cler in the background.
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Post by annettecinca on Jun 25, 2007 9:03:39 GMT -5
Goldenmama--on most metro maps, the RER lines are marked with letters rather than numbers (i.e. RER B is blue [the line that runs north & south and serves CDG] and RER C is yellow and serves Versailles).
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Post by Penny on Jun 25, 2007 12:49:06 GMT -5
if you have not already looked at this, check it out. it is a very easy to read metro/RER map. the thinner lines are the RER lines. LOL I'm still trying to figure out what the circled ones are. www.amadeus.net/home/new/subwaymaps/en/paris.htm if it opens huge, sorry once I hit magnify I couldn 't figure out how to reduce. Also stops that have both RER and metro lines are usually a very long walk from/to the street. ie Charles de Gaulle-Etoile
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Post by sistereurope on Jun 25, 2007 12:58:09 GMT -5
Goldenmama - no question is stupid! But those outfits...now they're another story ;D
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Post by annettecinca on Jun 25, 2007 13:06:59 GMT -5
Penny, I think the circled ones are stations that are interconnecting (like the ones with the little black lines between them, but so many metro lines are coming together they drew a circle instead of black lines?)
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Post by arrowcapet on Jun 26, 2007 9:54:42 GMT -5
....the metro I could navigate and ride all day long, as they only go to the same places each time. There are a few exceptions to this, like Line 7, and since it's talked about so often on here, most notably is Line 13, which "forks" at La Fourche. So those traveling to St. Denis on Line 13 will want to be certain to get on the train in the Direction of St. Denis-Universite to get off at St. Denis-Basilique. In EVERY case, however, RER or Metro, the single most important thing to pay attention to is the Direction. It will always be the last stop, and every train will be identified that way. Except for reference purposes on Forums like this, I an generally oblivious to line numbers, colors, etc. When using the Metro, one only needs to know the Direction, the Correspondance (when applicable), and the stop. Of course, the Sortie is pretty important too.
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Post by Happygoin on Jun 26, 2007 14:22:07 GMT -5
Good reply ArrowCapet. You made me think of my first trip to Paris. It was with my sister in the 80's. We had both taken French in school and were pretty confident we could muddle through on it. We marched down into the Metro station and jumped on our train...in the wrong direction, of course. So we learned pretty quickly how THAT worked. The thing that gave us fits though, was that I was so sure that sortie was the janitor's closet...
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Post by sistereurope on Jun 26, 2007 14:46:33 GMT -5
My daughter's 3 words of French- (I quizzed her not long ago on what she remembered from our trip in Dec): Bonjour, merci... and sortie
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Post by goldenmama on Jun 26, 2007 14:57:51 GMT -5
???OK guys, make me look the smartest one in my family. Sortie means.....?
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jun 26, 2007 15:10:38 GMT -5
;D "sortie" = "exit" (almost as important as that absolutely crucial map designation, "vous êtes ici"!)
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Post by Shoesy on Jun 26, 2007 15:48:08 GMT -5
That picture is priceless, Goldenmama. ;D
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