You might not have the luxury of catching up on phone messages while riding the Paris Metro during the Olympics.
Someone in a Facebook group was looking for advice on how to get to Paris, where to stay and when to go to catch the men's Olympic marathon on August 10.
There are a few things to know. First, the men's and women's marathons are among the few events that are free for spectators. Others are the triathlons, road racing and time trials (cycling), and the opening ceremony. Expect lots of people. Secondly, it's probably going to be hot, where you're staying will probably not have air conditioning; it is going to be expensive, air quality might be bad but you probably won't notice it after a while – and, cherry on the cake, some essential service workers, including Metro staff, might be on strike.
But if the French can survive France, so can you. Just be like them and come up with a "système D."
The D in système D stands for débrouille, which basically means to make something work by whatever means are available to you.
Go avec le flow
Public transportation – the Metro, buses and commuter trains – is the best way to get around Paris and its suburbs. Usually.
Both the men's and women's marathons happen on a weekend, so while the Metro starts running early, commuter trains and buses from some suburbs do not. If the races have an early start and you are staying in the suburbs and want to catch the start at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, you might have to get a ride (see below). But really, a bunch of fast runners leaving the starting line is probably the least interesting part of a marathon. So plan on catching them somewhere else -- like near the Eiffel Tower, then out by Versailles, and then back in Paris. That isn't going to be your biggest concern, though. There might not be any trains or Metros during the Games because transportation workers are among those threatening to strike.
A man waits to board the Paris Metro. Wait times may be very long during the Olympics if transportation workers go on strike
The section representing public service workers in one of the main unions has filed an official "intention to strike" that runs from April until September. Another major union may follow suit. One of the unions' demands involves the very French preoccupation with going on holiday. They want their "right to go on holiday/take leave" to be guaranteed this summer, but the Games happen in July and August, both peak months for French workers' vacations.
Devise a système D
Talks to avert a strike are ongoing but you might want to have a "système D" in place.
Here are a few suggestions.
Bring a bike helmet and gloves. As of September last year, there were 620 miles (1000 kms) of bike lanes around Paris. Some are completely car-free. Some go down the middle of busy roads but are segregated from vehicle traffic. City Hall has published the best map of Paris cycle lanes that I've seen. Download it here (big file) on Freewheeling France's website. Solid red lines are existing bike paths that are solely for cyclists, while solid blue lines are shared bike paths, i.e. where motor vehicles also go. The dotted lines are paths under construction. The marathon route (below) will go along the Seine, heading to the left when you're looking at the bike route map, and then continue out to Versailles before coming back to Paris along the other side of the Seine.
Paris has lots of bikes for rent via apps, a fairly new phenomenon. Bonjour RATP, an app and website that will map out a Metro, bus, tram or walking route for you, and tell you how much it will cost you, will also tell you how to use an app-accessed rental bike in Paris. They have Lime, Tier, and something called Dott in Paris, but the English version of Bonjour RATP only provides information about Vélib, which might mean it's the only one that doesn't require you to take out a long-term subscription to use a bike. Or, it could mean that the person responsible for translating Bonjour RATP hasn't gotten as far as Dott, Lime and Tier. Vélib offers single-trip passes for up to 45 minutes, or passes that allow you to take several bike trips over a 24-hour or three-day period. All of the passes allow you to extend bike hire for a fee if you need more time. The 24-hour classic pass, for instance, lets you to take a traditional bike (the kind you have to pedal) and use it for up to 30 minutes, after which – such as if you've decided to pedal all the way to Versailles from the Trocadero, which is ill-advised because there's a long uphill section after Meudon – you can extend the rental period by paying 1 euro per 1/2 hour. The pass itself costs 5 euros for the day, and it says on the Vélib site that you can take up to five bikes at a time. Not sure if that means five bikes at the same time or five bikes in a 24-hour period, but I've asked and will get back to you. Vélib has pedal bikes and electric ones.
If transportation is running, you can take a bike on commuter trains on certain days and times. Freewheeling France explains how.
2. If you want to try something other than app-based bike hire, there are bicycle cafés in Paris that allow you to not only have coffee or whatever else you like to drink but also to rent bikes and buy whatever you need to ride one. One of them is Steel Cyclewear and Coffeeshop in the 11th district of Paris. Their bike rentals come with a saddlebag containing everything you need for simple repairs; a bottle holder and bottle; a small pump; a Kryptonite U-lock because there are many light-fingered people in Paris (and will probably be even more during the Olympics); and insurance. If you think you might be interested in this, think about reserving a bike now, as they have a very limited number of rental. bikes. And bring a helmet and gloves, although, if you forget, they do rent helmets for 10 euros per rental.
The map below shows other bicycle cafés in Paris.
3. BlaBlaCar. This pairs people who have space in their car with people looking for a ride to the place the first person is going, or somewhere along the way. It could be a way of getting to Paris from somewhere else in Europe, or from Paris to the suburbs and back during the Games.
It's the brainchild of a French guy who couldn't get a seat on a train to go home for Christmas, and noticed when he begged for, and got, a ride with his sister that most of the cars on the road had one person in them – the driver. After you've signed up for BlaBlaCar, you can either enter information on the website, saying when and where you're looking for a ride, or do that on their app, which is available here for Android and here for iPhone. Rides are usually posted two to three days ahead of time, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are rides offered in the Paris region during the Olympics if public transportation goes on strike. Or even if not, because the price of gas/petrol is pretty high in France, and passengers are charged a fee for each ride. You'll see the total price you'll pay when you're browsing for a ride, and when you send a request to a driver who's going your way, BlaBlaCar will put an authorization hold on your card. If the driver approves your request and your ride goes ahead as planned, BlaBlaCar will send the money to the driver 24 hours after the ride takes place. Payment is made through the BlaBlaCar app, not to the driver. A friend uses BlaBlaCar often and recommended it to me when I got stuck at the border of France and Belgium because of a strike in France. I ended up not using it then because I had a train pass and just turned around and caught a train to southwest Germany and Strasbourg, where there was no strike, and caught a fast train to Paris.
3. Not all trains go on strike during a strike. But service may be seriously reduced if there is a strike. The Bonjour RATP app – available on Google Play and the App Store – will usually tell you when a line of the Metro or RER (commuter train) is running, if it's running smoothly or if there are delays. It does get it wrong sometimes, but if there are multiple ways of getting to your destination, as is the case with Versailles, which is at roughly the halfway point of the marathon, you can look at all your options on Bonjour RATP and, if need be, catch a Versailles-bound train from a different station.
Note: There are two main train stations in Versailles: one is called Versailles Chantiers and the other Versailles Rive Gauche, which is the one by the famous palace where Louis XIV held court. The marathon will pass in front of the château, so Rive Gauche might be a better station for marathon spectators. That said, Chantiers isn't far and according to the excellent video released by Versailles City Hall, the marathon will also pass close to that station. But visually, it will be better to have the château as a backdrop.
Road cycling events will also pass through Versailles, and the palace will also host equestrian and modern pentathlon events. There will be free shuttle buses from the train stations to those event venues.
4. Pair the Bonjour RATP app (which comes in an English version) with a Carte Navigo. There are two Navigo cards for visitors: the Navigo Decouverte and the Navigo Easy. If you're staying longer than two days, get a weekly card, but note that the week for Navigo runs Monday to Sunday.
If you have a European credit card, you'll be able to refill your Navigo card or buy a ticket directly on Bonjour RATP or on the Navigo site, but up to now, it hasn't worked with my U.S. credit cards.
You have to go to a ticket window where there's a human in train stations to get your Navigo card, but once you have it, you can reload it at the machines in train stations -- and there, you can use a U.S. credit card. There's a one-off payment of 2 or 5 euros for the card, depending on which one you get. I have the Découverte, which is non-transferable, but apparently the Easy card can have multiple tickets loaded onto it and be handed from one passenger to another. I would check that with the human when buying a card, though.
When you pay for the card, you can also pay for your travel ticket. If you're planning to go to or stay in Versailles, you'll need a pass for all zones. And, honestly, Olympics or not, Versailles is worth a visit.
Versailles and its palace are at around the 21 kilometer mark in the Olympic marathon. The men's marathon is on Aug. 10 and the women's on Aug. 11.
While it says on the website that you need a picture to get a Navigo card, when my son was visiting one Christmas, the human at the Gare du Nord simply took his passport, made a photocopy of his picture and put the photocopy on the Navigo card. No need to scream "identity theft." There was no card or data skimming and he did not give them any other personal information. An aside – the French are fascinated by American passports. Once, when I was taking the Eurostar to London from Paris, an American man had his passport lying open on the bench next to him. A French person walked by and craned their neck to look at it, and then, seeing me watching, felt he had to explain himself. He said American passports are so much nicer-looking than French ones, with all the pictures of purple mountain majesties and Mount Rushmore and such like in them. So I asked him to show me his, and he did. He's now doing time... No, he showed me his French passport and he was right: bo-ring. Just blank pages with no pictures.
Getting there
From Germany, Spain, southern France, Belgium and many other nearby European countries, the best way to get to Paris is by train, in my opinion.
That's France as seen from the P&O Ferry . The Eurostar was fully booked after a strike in the UK.
From the UK, if the Eurostar is full, get the ferry from Dover, the shuttle from the port in Calais to the bus station right by Calais-Ville train station, and then catch a train to Paris. Note: You have to be in Dover at the ferry terminal something like 90 minutes before the ferry leaves. They will come up with all kinds of reasons why you can't take the ferry if you arrive 80 minutes before departure, the main one being that the guy who drives people to the embarkation point won't come back and pick you up after making one trip (the boat is 200 meters away, max). I asked if they would call him and ask if he would come get me and an American basketball player who played for a team in Lille and had to be back that day or they'd fine the heebie-geebies out of him. Begrudgingly, the man at the ticket counter said, "Oh, all right, but I know what he'll say because I know him." So he calls and says, "'Allo, mate, I got two passengers who got here late and you don't have to do this at all but they want to know if you could make another trip and take them to the ferry." And the guy said, "Sure, no problem." So we got on the boat.
I offered the amenable driver a tip but he refused to take it, saying it was his job to drive people to and from the boat. If you are flying into Charles de Gaulle, get your Navigo at the airport before you get on the RER B. If you arrive at Orly and take the Orlyval shuttle into Paris, you'll have to get tickets for the Metro or RER, or your Navigo card, once you get to Antony station. The Orlybus, which plies the route from Denfert-Rochereau to Orly, does take Navigo if you have zones 1-4 (or all five zones) on your card.
Now that you know about BlaBlaCar, you could also see if anyone else is heading to Paris the day you want to.
When in Paris, eat cake
Lastly, if you arrive at or pass through the Gare du Nord, get off the train and leave the station via the rue de Dunkerque exit. Turn left, cross the street and go to the Bayat boulangerie and pâtisserie on the corner.
They're amazing.
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