Métro, Paris

METRO:
the works started in 1898 (Fulgence Bienvenue), LINE 1 was opened on July 19th, 1900, after 17 months of work. Now there are more than 290 stations and 200 KM of metro line.

LE GRAND LOUVRE
The project was decided in 1984 and the Architect Ieoh Ming PEI was the project manager for the Underground Project.: Cours Napoleon and cour du Carousel.
Le forum du Carousel (the underground city). The pyramid was finished in 1989: 793 glass losanges and triangles.

Some of the platforms on the Metro are amazing, we kept passing one in paticular and just had to stop and have a look at it. This was the stop Arts et Metiers, it is covered in sheet copper with port-holes along the platform with all art works inside.
We did this a couple of times just to wait for the next train.

2 more images

If you are already in Paris and you lack money to visit expensive places..I suggest an interesting place that you can spend nice moments and even take "unforgettable" phtographs: Paris metro stations. In fact, in Paris, metro stations are more than simple palces to take a subway train. With the variety of people they contain (musicians, clowns, artists etc), the many posters, beatifuls lights , etc...you can enter into a very special world where each time there are new events and different people. Thus you can spend hours in those beautiful places without need to spend!!!!

When visiting the Louvre, take just a little time to cast a glance around the metro station. Not only is the inside built to resemble areas of the museum with various artefacts on display, but some of the entrances above ground are also a quite mad display of modern art - as they are adorned with hundred of baubles.

In addition you can also enter the main museum directly from the Metro stop, without having to go above ground.

The Paris Metro cannot only be very helpful to get around the city. It also can be a very interesting source of information. On line 1(the yellow line) there are three stations the are interesting:

- Station Bastille shows you a cartoon-alike image of the French history that took place on the square above the station: The French Revolution.

- Station Tuileries shows lots of articles from the whole of the 20th century and gives you a nice image of the history of the past century.

- Station Louvre-Rivoli is all designed to show the wealth of the museum above. Lots of nice statues are exposed in, to my opinion, the most beautiful station you´ll find in Paris.

Despite my grumbling about the stuffy subway in summer, I have to admit it is entertaining to take a ride on the metro. Why? Well, each time I hopped unto a train, my attention deficit disordered personality was kept at bay with buskers. I saw puppeteers, trumpeteers, pianists, mime artists who brought a smile to my face.
And what's more, the buskers have real talent.
It was only later that I found out that the busking scene in Paris is tightly controlled by the the Paris Metro authority's busker programme (known as the Accord on Metro Space, or EMA) . Every year, artists go through an audition every year to win one of the 360 licenses to busk on the Paris underground, or the chance to perform for the 2.5 million commuters who use the Metro every day. Who knows, some of them might be talented spotted for a big break..

I was switching from the Metro line to the RER line at the notoriously busy Châtelet station when the noise, a loud wind-like buzz gripped me.

I took this picture. The stress of noise pollution was beautiful in an eery, cryptic sort of a way.

These art nouveau signs were once the standard metro station signs but were fading away. Recent efforts to preserve and restore them mean that they are more in evidence. Not spectacular but bring to mind the soul of Paris as a world art center and just add to the ambience. Look for them as you travel the city.