Paris 7: On the Rails

We went to Paris by Eurostar - which mean we went from the wonderful pristine splendour of the new St Pancras to dour and dull Paris du Nord.

But that may just be a fair reflection of the respective National psyches.  We think of rail travel to Europe as still something new and special - whereas for much of the mainland it is, well, just normal; so why make a big fuss? (*)

Once in Paris, of course, there is great pleasure to be had from the Metro and RER services.  They cover the city commendably efficiently, while at the same time remaining quirky and occasionally quite weird.

I particularly loved the old-world feel of the Gare d'Austerlitz, which we used when we went to the Jardin des Plantes.  But there are also real oddities further down river, near the Eiffel Tower:

Take this bridge - the lower level is a road, but the upper level (supported on pillars in the central reservation) is for metro trains. 

Like this:

This is the Pont de Bir-Hakeim (previously the Pont de Passy) - built for the 1900 World's Fair and featured in many films, including Inception, for those of you who like that kind of thing.

Just a little way further along the Seine is the Pont Rouelle,which arcs across the Seine carrying the RER C:

This is the viw back to the Tour from the bridge, taken one dark and lowering evening:; the Bir Hakeim is just visible.

And the Bir-Hakeim from the RER station at the Champs du Mars:

An underground railway station - under a major road - that looks out over a river. How cool is that? 

Of course, the other great wonder to us Brits, is that the RER has double-decker trains.  We can't imagine such a thing happening in the UK, with our tiny National loading gauge.

(*) This is a little overstated of course.  For years the boat train left for the continent from Victoria, via Dover.  But somehow, still, that was incredibly romantic and special by comparison with much (not all) cross-European travel.