My soup - posts tagged 'public transports'

Spooky!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:00:01 GMT

I had to quickly go to Lille this morning (a large city in the North of France) and took the train to go there. Prior to taking the train (which was delayed because of a copper cable robbery along the line, a pretty common robbery these days...) I noticed these weird poles, around which people would stick together! Why, well quite simply, because, as you probably guessed, these are heaters! No very eco friendly I must say, but interesting for a photographer!

Train Control Tower

Fri, 20 May 2011 22:17:11 GMT

With roughly 32 000 kilometers (19 884 miles) of tracks, France has one of the densest train networks in the world. The traffic is of course very important (132 millions passengers in 2010!) and needs to be regulated by controllers. Precisely, this morning I was scheduled to visit the CNOF (Centre national des opérations ferroviaires), that is the equivalent to the air control tower in an airport. Unfortunately I arrived too late (my fault!) and they would not let me in. I still got to photograph their stunning, just renovated building with its "vertical garden" or "planted wall" (on the left, in the photo). Better than nothing I guess. If you're interested, speak French and... are able to arrive on time, you can visit it too. Check here.

Metro for sale...

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:29:18 GMT

It is so cold in Paris at the moment that I gave up using my scooter and... take the metro whenever I have to go somewhere far. That's what I did last night. When the train arrived I saw it was all covered in Christmas decorations. I had never seen that before. Of course, it's not the RATP (the Paris Public Transport Authorities) that wish to celebrate Christmas with its customers, but a brand willing to attract our attention ;-) What brand? Well I'm sure you know it all. But to find out, click here, you'll have a broader view of the train and you'll see the name of the brand.

Thalys: Time to reserve your seat...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:03:00 GMT

... And when I says reserve your seat, it's really reserve the actual seat, not the sitting! Explanation: Thalys is the name they gave to the TGV (bullet train) that goes from Paris to the north of Europe (Brussels, Cologne, Amsterdam...). They've been running for quite some time now and that is why they are renewing them at the moment. And instead of dumping the seats, they... sell them on ebay! Check it, it's even in English. I must say I'm tempted to buy one...

Glorious Gare du Nord

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:08:00 GMT

There are 7 active train stations in Paris (they are listed here, if you're interested) and I must say I'm not too fond of these places (I don't know why there are always full of drunkies and weirdos!), but last evening I had to pick up someone who was traveling from London with the Eurostar at the Gare du Nord. It had been a while since I'd been there and I was really amazed to see how beautiful it is now. I know you don't see much of it in this photo, but, hey... C'est la vie ;-)

Bye bye Paris...

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:23:43 GMT

That's it, it's too hot in Paris, I'm off for the day to Trouville! Well, it's true, I'm going to spend my day in Trouville, by the sea where it will probably be cooler, but not really for the good reasons. As some of you may remember, I have an old aunt there (96 years old!) and the news is not too good on this front. Anyway, let's focus on the photo! I took it at Gare Saint Lazare when I went to pick up my tickets. But right now I need to go to bed as I wake very early tomorrow, precisely to catch the train! (Sorry, I'm not to clear today, must be the heat ;-))

Old Bus

Tue, 25 May 2010 22:01:01 GMT

I know I already showed you some of these old Parisian buses, but I can't help it, I just love them! This one is - if I'm not mistaken - a "TN4H" by Renault and it ran roughly between 1940 and 1971. It has a platform at the back on which passengers could hop on an off, which was very convenient and... very dangerous. There are a million things to learn about old public transportation in Paris especially if you visit the AMTUIR (public transportation museum), which unfortunately for tourists is pretty far from Paris (about 14 miles). Fortunately, you can visit their website (in French only).