Traffic in Paris is as you can imagine very hectic. It seems as though the lights and signs are more of guidelines than actual rules to them. I mean traffic in general, taking into the formulae also pedestrians.

When it’s normal to stop at red light, it’s normal in Paris to continue in case no-one is coming. This happens less in larger sections but extremely often in smaller streets.

In case you are travelling by car, you have to be extremely careful and watch out for pedestrians trying to play cars and being in their own world. I would say that cars are always the ones that have to stop where ever pedestrians want to make their maneuvers.

Walking in Paris is hence much easier because drivers are more custom to paying attention to careless pedestrians. The world is yours when walking aroud in Paris, they are used to the fact that they have to stop in pointless places and stay there longer than needed. Well, I wouldn’t suggest pressing the limit though

Watch out for motorcycles and scooters! They do not follow any rules or common sense.

When you have arrived into Charles de Gaulle and gotten on your RER train or a bus, you are just moving towards Paris but you are not actually in it. Getting into Paris is the easy bit; it’s getting somewhere in there, which that can be frustrating. We arrived into Paris through the Gare du Nord railway station. Honestly, it’s not the place you want to start you visit with. It was around 8 PM so it was full of all sorts of people and activities so moving around with a luggage and back-pack is just dreadful and tiresome. I guess it’s the same for all major railway stations – people hurrying and moving into every direction possible, someone having kids running around and suspicious looking people, the kind that get your every cell telling you to keep away. Well, I bet you get the big picture.

By now however you should be accustomed to the live-music on the trains and stations. Don’t worry, you’ll hear it. And it’s very enjoyable actually. I honestly believe that some stars are lost somewhere in the system there. Anyhow, don’t mind them and they won’t hurt you. Only perhaps with their music if you are not the mainstream kind of person.

When you exit the station, it’s a different world. Travelling through popular and big streets may look safe, but they are also full of people trying to profit on you somehow. We did the mistake of standing and deciding while having our GPS out first when leaving the station and momentarily I could see one man approaching us with this “I can help you, if you help me” kind of look in his face. Well, don’t you do it. First, just move into some direction. It may not be the right one, but it does not make you look like a tourist. At least not a tourist with a label “This is my first time in here”. Make it look like you know your way around. And, whatever you do, do not look around and into their eyes. It’s always best to avoid eye contact when you don’t feel yourself comfortable in your surroundings. Learn the places you move in first. And in case someone approaches you, do it the way we did. Just move into some direction, preferably further away from this person approaching. I know this may seem rather extreme and even mean but I have always believed that it’s better to be safe than sorry. Even more so when you don’t know the language either.

So while moving towards your destination, please keep in mind the few points made above and also don’t forget to pay attention to your gut feeling. Paris has a quite good sign-system, which indicates major streets, places of interest, parks and parking areas. Metro-stations are not so distinguishable, they can carry the sign “Metro” or “Metropolitan” and are in yellowish green or red. Between colorful streets and different commercials, signs they can be rather hard to see, but still, they are marked somehow, right?

Really, it’s almost like another big city, so getting around shouldn’t be as difficult if you are used to big metropolis. And in case you aren’t, well, tough luck.

Arriving to Paris by plane is the easiest way. Mind you, France is the country with most motorways in relation to its size. We learned it the mildly hard way. Anyways, this time we were on our feet. You can very easily find out from the Internet the Metro stations you need to use and the stations close to the place you are staying. Arriving to Paris through Charles de Gaulle airport means that you’ll have to take RER trains closer to the city in order to hop on a metro. It very well could be that you do not need to take a metro since RER trains tend to go through the city. Mind you that Paris is not as big as one may imagine. I know I thought it was bigger. Charles de Gaulle airport and all metro or train stations are full with very clear and obvious (sometimes even with translated) signs. Think you don’t know your French, well, no sweat here, trust me. In case you get into any trouble, be aware that even you are lucky enough to meet people who understand some English, they definitely won’t speak it. My best advice, learn your way and have some sense with you. Best of all, trust your instinct. That is what has led us through some very nasty and tough situations. Even the ones we thought we could not conquer. We have even had death at our sight. Well not in Paris, but it has thought us well.

So, arriving Paris is really simple. Just make sure beforehand the terminal in which you are landing, the RER that connects your metro or bus station to the place you are staying and it’s probably best that you but your tickets from the ticket stations in the second terminal. Why? They speak English. In case your plane arrives into terminal one or three, do not worry since Charles de Gaulle has a very swift and neat airport shuttle service which again is orderly marked and very hard to miss. Really, missing out on how to arrive to Paris, is something only a fool could achieve.