Getting Around in Paris Dispatch 2

This is a continuation of a previous entry.

Parisians are practical. And it's practical to ride a bicycle, motorcycle, take a train or bus to get around. So, that's what most of them do. And like everything else they do, they do it in subtle style.

Paris' roads are interesting. It has virtually no potholes, but they have a bunch of cobblestoned streets which is why I think these three-wheeled scooters are very common:

Parisians are so practical, that if a large item delivery of appliances or furniture to a high-rise apartment has to be made, they just go through the window:

Another practical thing they do is their ticketing system. One ticket for both the train and bus. One ticket gets you unlimited transfers for 90 minutes after first use. Which means, you can cram as much transfers from train to bus to train or whatever for the small price of 1,80Euro.

Paris has two types of trains. The most common are the ones that go underground (or the subway) and there are some that go above ground. I think the ones that go above ground are special because they have rubber pneumatic tires – just like a bus' which drastically tones down the noise level which significantly lowers noise pollution.

And if you need to go out of Paris, there's a train for that. And they're the fast ones:

And as far as cars and trucks go, be it a Benz or a BMW or a Renault, Citroen or Peugeot they all have compact models that are very common. There are not a lot of hulking SUVs or overkill pick-up trucks.

Another common thing I noticed is that some new models of cars have a start-stop system. I first noticed this on a brand new Peugeot Uber we rode on . Whenever it stopped, the engine turned off. And when it's time to go, it starts up and goes. Which is genius in a cramped city with red lights every 10 feet (I'm exaggerating).... as long as they figured out how to minimize all that wear on the engine... which they most likely already did.

I love Paris.