Châtelet les Halles

Chatelet les Halles, originally uploaded by kaysha.

No se si es porque me duele pagar tanto dinero por un taxi (45 € o mas), o por que no quiero explicarle en frances al conductor a que hotel quiero ir, o por mi fascinacion con los transportes urbanos masivos. Pero cuando he tenido que volar a Paris prefiero tomar el tren/metro desde el aeropuerto.

Algunas veces hay mucha gente y lo mas probable es que me tome mas tiempo (y escaleras) llegar a mi destino, pero asi siento un poco mas la ciudad. En esta ultima vez iba en el RER B, a punto de bajarme para tomar el metro propiamente dicho.

Estoy viendo por la ventana y leo Châtelet Les Halles en las paredes de la estacion, mientras el tren aun se movia, recorriendo la larga estacion que alterna columnas con espacios abiertos, con gente parada o sentada esperando su tren. Pense "esto lo he visto en alguna parte." y aunque no habia musica, escuchaba 7 seconds (de por ahi del '95)

Pero ahora que lo pienso bien no estoy seguro si en verdad lo "vi" antes. Muy probablemente es una amalgamacion de recuerdos : una pelicula checa que vimos en un festival de Vancouver con esa musica, una fotografia en un libro que compre gracias a Colors de algunos metros del mundo, alguna otra pelicula o tal vez algun video del Lonely Planet.

Pero no importa, ahora recuerdo el momento muy agrdablemente, aun cuando estaba apretado con mis maletas. Tal vez por esos momentos prefiero tomar el tren.....

I don't know if it is because it hurts to pay so much money for a taxi cab (45 E or more), or because I don't want to give explanations to the driver in French on how to get my hotel, or because of my fascination with urban mass transportation. But when I've arrived to Paris by plane, I prefer to take the train/metro from the Airporte.

Sometimes there is many people, and it is very likely that it will take me more time (and stairs) to reach my final destination, but I think that I am able to feel the city better. This last time, I was in the RER B, just about to get off it, to transfer to the Metro.

I am looking through the window and read Châtelet Les Halles on the station walls, while the trains is slowing down, going through the long station that alternates columns with open spaces., with people standing or sitting waiting for their train. I thought : "I've seen this somewhere", and even though there was no music, I could almost hear 7 Seconds (from about '95).

But now that I think of it, I'm not even sure if I "saw" it before. It is very likely an amalgamation of memories : a czech movie we saw at the Vancouver Film Festival with that music, a photograph in a Global Metro book I have (which I bought thanks to Colors magazine), another movie, and maybe even a Lonely Planet show.

But it does not matter, now my memory is pleasant, even though I was standing a bit tight with my luggage. Because of these moments, I prefer to take the train...