MATIVO NOTEBOOK: Paris metro, symbol of the city of love

It has been barely three days since I landed in this City of Love from the Green City Under the Sun, Nairobi.

For these days I've been outside my beloved continent, Africa - the first time since my umbilical cord was cut three decades ago, of course ‘there will be many things to write back home’, and one of them is about the Paris Metropolitain (or simply Metro line) - one of the symbols of the French capital which was opened more than 100 years ago.

Unlike in Nairobi where the ownership of a private car is perceived as a status symbol with public transport perceived pro-poor means hence resulting to significant stress on the city's limited transportation infrastructure, here in Paris things are totally different.

Parisians revere public transport, especially the metro - an underground train network with 16 interconnected lines with over 300 stations serving over 12.21 million in the Île-de-France region where the French capital sits.

This extensive public transportation system is built under the city of Paris and extends out to nearby suburban areas of the city.

Metro is close to what boda bodas are to Kenyans in terms of its availability, efficiency, reliability and affordability that helps the Parisians to navigate the city’s different zones - without much fuss.

For many of the first time visitors, the Paris metro system can however be a daunting experience due to different factors; one of them being language barriers especially when it comes to how and where to buy tickets.

One thing I have loved about the metro is that it provides a quick self-service when it comes to purchasing the tickets at the stations and in less than five minutes, in most cases, you are able to ride to any of the three transportation fare zones of Paris.

Yours truly takes only 10 minutes to the Paris Olympics venue Stade de France, and by the way, I have not paid any Euro for the metro services since I jetted in.

This is because as one of the accredited journalists who are here for the Summer Games, we were provided with a Paris Navigo Decouverte - a multi-use transit card covering all of the Metro Paris area. With this Navigo card, I’m accessing any part of Paris with free metro rides!

For those who are not privileged like yours truly, they purchase the tickets at the metro stations in three different packages (daily, weekly or monthly) and then you will insert the ticket into the gate, and once it is validated, the doors will open, and then you need to take the ticket with you to use it while exiting at your destination.

The single ticket gives you access to travel to any metro station regardless of the zone, including metro transfers, as well as the Montmartre funicular for the whole day. It is however cheap to purchase the tickets in monthly packages.

As I drop the pen, at least for now, I pray that subways will eventually be part of Nairobi city transport system!