travel

Hi

We are coming into Paris next Tuesday via the eurostar although I believe the metro is very easy to understand the maps I have are not ! an anybody tell me the easiest way to get from the station to the Latin Quarter ?we are staying at the hotel Design la Sorbonne ?

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The best way is for you learn to do this yourself, as you may want to know how to map out other addresses.

Go to http://www.ratp.fr/

Use the %26#39;itinerary%26#39; planner -

on the left you can choose Station (Gare du Nord)

on the right you can choose Address and type your hotel address (123 rue Paris 75005)

Click on Itineraire (Route Planner)

- it will tell you which lines, which stop, etc. and give you little maps of the arrival area.

The simplified version is to just learn to read the metro map. The solid and white dots are all stations along a specific line. The white ones are those that intersect with other lines and you can get off, go to a different platform and board a different line but all on the same ticket.

- so find what are the nearest metro stops to your hotel, see what line they are on.

- see what lines emit from Gare du Nord, follow and see if/where those %26#39;correspond%26#39; with the lines near your hotel.

- I do think the maps on RATP stink b/c they are impossible to work with, exception being the %26quot;Interactive%26quot; map. If you don%26#39;t like that, find another image on Google, such as

ecocompactcity.org/Metropolis/Paris-Metro-Ma…

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Personally what I would do in your place (I always travel on the Eurostar and I always stay in the Latin quarter!)is buy a carnet of tickets at St Pancras before getting on the Eurostar (or a Paris Visite pass if you think you will get the use out of it, but that%26#39;s another topic altogether!), then head out of the Gare du Nord to rue St Quentin and get on the No 38 bus. It starts at Gare du Nord so you will get on easily and no need to trek down into the metro with luggage. For your hotel, you get out at Luxembourg stop. The next stop (Prochain Arret) is clearly announced beforehand and there is a simplified map inside the bus showing all the stops so you can see how close you are getting.

However, to do this you will need to get hold of a good street map beforehand so you can a) find rue St Quentin when you come out of the Gare du Nord, and b) find your hotel when you get off the bus.

I guess you could print the relevant bits off an internet map site to get you started.