Maubert-Mutualité

 Maubert-Mutualité is my home station Paris. I learned the Métro system well in my first years there. In those days I was in love with the Métro; it was a magic carpet to every part of the city. I once read that there is no place in Paris more than 600 meters from a Métro station. In those days you bought a Carte Orange by the week or month and could use it to ride the Métro or the bus as often as you wanted. I learned Paris in her Métro stations and from her Métro maps. In rare waits for a train to arrive I would study the map on the wall, planning a visit for tomorrow or sometimes changing today's plans out of curiosity. One day my magic carpet took me to, instead of home, Jules Joffrin. Who knows why except that I had never been there. Brasserie Nord Sud, at the top of the stairs of the Jules Joffrin Métro station, found by accident, became my favorite Friday night dinning spot. Much of the Paris I know and love was found this way. I got to know the stations and I learned much about French culture and language in these stations from the large advertisements. How the words were used, what the French cared about, how department store sales were arranged, where the interesting exhibits were, what was new in cell phone technology, all of it was there on the wall in front of me. Later, I learned the marvels of the bus system and now we use a Navigo instead of the old Carte Orange but from time to time I find myself back in the Métro. The map on the wall holds fewer mysteries but the memories are good, very good.