Classical statuary and even a tribute to Bardot — the Metro is a revelation
IN PARIS guidebooks, the Metro features as a means of travelling between the attractions of the city. It’s not billed as an attraction in itself. But whereas the London Underground (of which I once wrote a history) is interesting, the Paris Metro is beautiful.
We’re going to hear a lot about the Metro in the coming years because, under the banner ‘Grand Paris Express’, it will be hugely expanded.
There will be line extensions — the first opened late last year, adding four new stations to the northern end of Line 14 — and four new lines will be built by 2030. But here are some virtues of the system as is.
THE TYPICAL STATION
ONE benefit of going to Paris on Eurostar is that you’re plugged straight into the system: you’re on the platforms of Gare du Nord Metro after descending just a few stairs.
The Metro was built near the surface by digging a wide trench, inserting two tracks, then covering the trench over. This creates vault-like stations, pleasingly reminiscent of the wine cellar of a chateau.
Most of the Metro was built between 1900 and 1920 following an elegant design template, with white tiles that have bevelled edges, so they sparkle under electric light, and the station name is written in white on a blue enamel plaque. This remains the basic look.
CLASSIC ENTRANCES
THESE consist of a green iron railing from which two triffid-like stalks arise, with orange lanterns shaped like flowers at the tip. These Art Nouveau entrances by Hector Guimard were installed to give the impression that the radically modern (because electric) Metro was something organic and natural.
LINES 12 AND 13
MOST of the network was built by the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer
Métropolitain, but in 1910, a separate company, the Nord-Sud, built two lines: 12 and 13. Their stations have the white bevelled tiles, but with extra detailing in rich autumnal colours.
The best-preserved Nord-Sud station is Solférino on Line 12, but see also the concourse between Lines 12 and 13 at Saint Lazare, the Piccadilly Circus of Paris. This masterpiece of the Nord-Sud has a Moorish look and has been compared to a Turkish bath.
WE LIKE A THEME
THE Metro has about 30 special, themed stations, in which advertising is not permitted. Louvre-Rivoli station on Line 1 is full of Classical statuary — replicas of pieces displayed in the museum above. The walls of Tuileries station, also on Line 1, are like a scrapbook dedicated to important moments in French cultural life, including the birth of Brigitte Bardot, and the erotic 1920s dance performances by Josephine Baker, who is depicted topless.
LINE 14
THE NEWEST so far, and deeper than the others. It was the first to be automated, and I like to sit at the very front of the train, pretending (discreetly) to drive it. (On the older trains on the line, there is a mock-up of a control panel,