Paris – Métro Bastille - 4me

Plate XLI - Metro Station Bastille…

Although the majority of métro stations are underground, there are a few exceptions, Bastille being one of them. (It is the reason I was able to record at least one métro with ‘le little camera’). Named after the fortress that offered the exact opposite of light, air and the freedom to come and go at will there’s a certain irony in that!

Unlike the tube stations of the London Underground, no two Paris Métro stations look alike, each having a very distinctive atmosphere which, through instant recognition, makes the metro system very easy to use once you have covered a few routes. And, of course the iconic Métro map has become the design standard for all other world subway systems.

The two stops that stand out the most in my memory are Rivoli, where the smart ambience promotes the neighbouring Louvre museum, and Bastille - partly for the reasons mentioned above, but also because of the colourful tiled mosaic depiction of the most notable historical event in the area, the Storming of the Bastille – symbolising the demise of the rule of the Ancien Régime.

Vive, La République!