Travel in Europe - Paris 信步巴黎 - 2

To get the most from cosmopolitan¹ Paris, go beyond the obvious. For instance, the best view in town may not be from the top of the Eiffel Tower, but from the top of the Montparnasse Tower. It's cheaper and easier to get up here. The view includes the Eiffel Tower as well as everything else. This is an ideal place to start off. They sell a great photomap of the city. Orient yourself, pick out the big sites on the map and find them out there. There is the Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame². Just like on the map. An orientation³ from a viewpoint like this makes it much easier to find your way around down there. For another easy do-it-yourself orientation, we can join a ride on a public bus. Guidebooks through the local tourist office can recommend the most scenic⁴ routes. I like the views from Line 63. Or we can cruise through Paris in one of their river tour boats. Make a point to figure out the urban lane of the land as soon as you arrive in any of Europe cities.

On any city map, we travellers can usually ignore the urban sprawl⁵. Normally, what we want to see is in the old city center. Now, don’t sweat the details. Let’s see how the concept works. Here’s where Paris was born - Ile de la Cité. That’s where it all began. And it’s where the city’s most historic buildings like the Notre Dame sit today. Paris grew beyond the island’s natural fortifications onto the right bank and onto the left bank, then it grew beyond its Medieval walls. In modern times, many congested cities like Paris replaced their ingrown Medieval walls with grand circular boulevards. So most of the historic points of interest lie within these ring roads.

To cover more territory, traffic and streets for you, I ride the subway. Many European cities have subway systems, the one in Paris is about the best in the world. So let’s figure out what the locals call, Le Metro⁶.

You can go anywhere in town for one reasonable price. Save about 40 percent by buying a carnet of ten tickets. Pick up a free metro map and reorient yourself using the metro lines. Metro stops are city landmarks⁷. They appear on maps. Locals use them for giving directions and guidebooks list the nearest metro stop parenthetically after the address of the site or hotel. There is a metro stop within a short walk of any place in downtown Paris. We are going to our hotel over here in the Lecleir neighborhood. And to get there, we find our route on the subway map, we will have to transfer. The metro lines crisscross. To determine our direction, we look for the names of the last stops on the lines we need. If we start at Odeon,we will head off in the direction of Bolon and transfer at la motte picquet. Then in the direction of Critair to ecole militaire.

1 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

2 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

3 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

4 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

5 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

6 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

7 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句