Busted!

I was out Friday morning at around 10AM on an errand and got on the number 1 Metro line at our stop, Hotel de Ville. I encountered a group of American tourists struggling with the ticket kiosk because they were (according to the woman I approached) reluctant to try to talk to the agent in the station. I offered to help but one man in the group who was directing the man at the kiosk and trying desperately to maintain his image of expert, waved me on and they continued to try to use the machine.**

The trains were running 5 minutes apart so they eventually caught up with me on the platform and I heard their fearless leader tell them that they only needed their tickets to enter the Metro and directed them to the trash can on the wall. I contemplated telling them the awful truth about how wrong he was but I%26#39;d already worn out my welcome so I decided against it.

We all got off at Tuilleries and, VOILA! The RATP ticket auditors were waiting in the hallway near the exit where they wouldn%26#39;t be seen till you rounded the corner and it was too late to turn around.

They were busted. The auditor demanded their tickets to electronically read them with their hand-held terminals. Two of the women had saved their tickets but fearless leader and the rest didn%26#39;t. I tried to testify (in my caveman French) that I witnessed them buy their tickets but that just got my Navigo pass audited and then I was sent on my way. The RATP police have a zero-tolerance policy on Metro %26quot;gate jumpers%26quot;.

Moral of the story: When you are inside the system, you need to be prepared to prove that you paid to enter it. Even if you have a Carte Orange, you need to validate it on the way in (the only time you don%26#39;t validate a Carte Orange is on a bus).

On the Metro, you don%26#39;t actually need a validated ticket to get out... unless there%26#39;s an auditor standing in the middle of the Sortie. The RER however, requires the entry ticket to activate the exit gate.

Occationally, a station will have a system failure with the ticket readers/gates so the RATP just opens them and allows free access. In this case, write down what station you entered and keep it with you in case you get audited. Their equipment tells them if the system is down in that station and they%26#39;ll let you exit with no problem.

**BTW - Fearless leader was (accidentally I think) CORRECT in waving me on when I offered to help them buy their tickets. There are many scams where someone (who usually speaks English) hangs around stations and offers to %26quot;help%26quot; you buy your ticket or sell you a ticket themselves.

Most of the time, it%26#39;s just someone who bought a %26quot;carnet%26quot; (pack of 10 tickets) for 1.05EUR each and is selling them for the individual price, 1.40EUR to gain a small profit. Either way, don%26#39;t even engage in a dialog with these people. The agent in the ticket office will sort out what you want and without the risk.

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HEY ITS THE BUNNY FROM THE WATCH YOUR HANDS SIGN!!!!!!!

ahh i miss staring at that thing on the door waiting for my stop