Métro Abbesses

Do not go into the Metro Abbesses station looking for any kind of help from the girl who works there. She will work on the computer, talk on the phone, pick her fingernails, stare off into space — and sometimes do some of these things simultaneously. The one thing she will not do — look you in the eye and actually give you any help. I guess she heard rumors of rude Parisians and doesn’t want to miss out on her opportunity to embody the ideal.

It is only one of two metro stations that still have their original art nouveau canopied entrances. Some advice: get the lift up the 5 or so floors and take the stairs on the way back down!