Wednesday 14 September 2011

Station to Station - Gare du Nord to Gare de l'Est

The major railway stations of Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est are joined by Metro lines 4 and 5, the journey time being 1 minute. You will see from this that the stations are quite close together and with weather and time permitting it possible and preferrable to transfer between them on foot. (For those familiar with London, the distance is comparable to St.Pancras to Euston).

There is a choice of routes one of which avoids a flight of about 50 steps which might prove difficult for anyone with a large amount of luggage of or who finds steps a problem.



1a) From the front of Gare du Nord turn left along the front of the station and carry on in a straight line on Rue de Dunkerque until its junction with Rue d'Alsace where you should turn right and keep going until you reach the flight of steps which will take you down to the left side of the Gare de l'Est. You will be able to see the train shed and platforms of Gare de l'est over a small wall on the left hand side of the road.

1b)  From the front of Gare du Nord turn left along the front of the station and walk along Rue de Dunkerque until turning right (south) onto Rue du Fauberge Saint-Denis and then left onto Rue des deux Gares at the end turn right by the Cafe Au Train de Vie onto Rue d'Alsace and continue as above.

2.) To avoid the steps take route 1b, above, but instead of turning up Rue de deux Gares, continue on Rue du Fauberge Saint-Denis until Rue de 18 Mai 1945 on the left hand side. Turn left and continue on Rue de 18 Mai 1945 until you reach Place du 11 November 1918 where you will see the impressive frontage of the Gare de l'Est on your left.

Sunday 11 September 2011

If you have problems with public transport then speak to the locals

If you are stuck abroad then the easy way to resolve problems is to speak to the locals.

Don't speak the language? Then an easy to follow, fun way to learn French is with "Rocket French" - take a look at their course:

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Bon chance!