On 25/02/2012 20:37, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 25/02/2012 13:30, Graham Nye wrote:

Still a single Métro ticket is only 1.70 euros (£1.46) which is rather
more reasonable than the Boris fine if you don't order through tickets
across London.

But the Delanoë fine involves playing hunt the ticket machine,

We found one on the far side of the Gare du Nord, hiding behind
lots of kiosks. However both http://www.seat61.com/Paris-metro.htm
and http://parisbytrain.com/gare-du-nord-photos/ suggest there are
more downstairs, so perhaps we should have headed downstairs
towards the Métro lines before hunting for tickets.

followed by hunt the right sort of machine,

A green one. They even work in English. Spiffing.

followed by hunt the ticket window
when the machine farts in the general direction of your foreign bank
card,

My chip'n'pin card was fine, thanks. There are a number of American
web guides to Paris travel, complaining that foreign cards don't work.
No, just yours.

long queues, and navigating an atrium designed by Escher.

Ooh, it's not as bad as an Ikea. And the staff don't pelt you with
Swedish Meatballs as you desperately search for an exit.

And Oyster pre-dates Boris. In fact the concept predates Ken...

I think the idea of jacking up the cash price to make Londoners
swallow their Oyster cards and hence punish occasional travellers
from outside the home counties is more recent.


--
Graham Nye
news(a)thenyes.org.uk