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welcome to the showbus picture of the week
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Yes you are looking at the front of a bus! These weird looking electric buses are operated by RATP in Paris and have found customers in Grenoble and Stasbourg, amongst others. The front positioned wheels have an Optare Solo look to them, but the same positioning at the rear gives them something of a crab look. Inside two pairs of seats facing each other are mounted on a platform at the rear, atop motors and, no doubt, batteries. The model is the Aptis and manufactured by Alstom, better known for trams and trains. This might explain the harsh ride, suspension on rails is not as crucial, and it is certainly needed here as 7366 (GA-546-SY) rumbles over the cobbles of Place d'Italie just south of the centre of Paris.
This was taken on a week in Paris so a few tips and observations for intending travellers. I bought a weekly ticket (around 35 euro) on arrival on Sunday, but I could not use it till Monday as the cycle of seven days starts then. Surprisingly it needs a photo ID, so another 8 euro from a photo booth! Don't expect to travel around Paris with your smartcard or tapping with your phone, they are still in the dark ages. Nowhere more so than the Metro. Twenty years ago I took my mother, then 80, to Paris and using the Metro was a nightmare for her with steps everywhere. We found only one Metro Station with a lift for disabled access which would be great if you wanted to see nad try the Metro, as long as you came back to where you started the journey and did not get off anywhere. There has been little progress in twenty years. Also descending escalators are a rarity. Having travelled to my accommodation by Metro my return journey was by bus - no steps! However reporting for my Eurostar train early I was told to come back in an hour. The entry point is up an escalator, but it is down thirty or so steps with your suitcase to the main concourse! Another warning do not rely on Google Maps to get around. Pretty sure all the times displayed are scheduled, not actual, either that or they a work of fiction, or the walking time to the bus stop is wildly optimistic. The RATP app is 100% more reliable. Most stops do have electronic next bus displays which are reasonably accurate. That said RATP does the same as TfL and will terminate a bus short of its destination dumping passengers "in the middle of nowhere" to await the one behind, which is invariably full. With frequencies as low as every fifteen minutes this can result in long gaps between buses. I did wait over half an hour at the Arc de Triomphe for a ten minute headway service, but it was around 5pm. Finally an annoying habit, the favoured front nearside seat often has its coveted forward view obstructed by a notice, often about penalty fares. That said, ticket inspectors were encountered on several occasions, TfL and Yarra Trams take note! I also experienced a French equivalent of Melbourne's left hook turn. In the Australian city where trams cross busy traffic light controlled junctions, motorists are directed to pull over to the left and wait until it is clear to make their right hand turn so cars do not sit on the tracks waiting to make their move and the trams can run unobstructed. In Paris, at some junctions BUSES pull over to the right and await their opportunity to make a left turn.
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See the August 10th's picture of the week and online jigsaw here.
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