Wednesday 28th November ~ To the Tate Modern

Took Enviro400 no.T168 on the 341 from HGL to Fleet Street at around 13.00. Then later at around 19.00 it was Enviro400 no.T150 on the 341 from it's first stop by County Hall (Waterloo) back to HGL.

Harrod's Routemaster RM2621 at the east end of Fleet Street

Thursday November 22nd ~ More wanderings in Paris and retour a Londres

Started with Metro MP89CC no.44 from Mouton Duvernet to Gare du Nord, then on to Metro MF2000 no.070 from Gare du Nord to Laumiére and then a stroll round the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, eventually finding myself at Colonel Fabien metro station from where I caught Metro MF2000 no.008 to Place de Clichy on Line 2. This being the elevated line that can be seen to the north of Gare du Nord station. From Place de Clichy it was a short one stop hop on Line 13 to Liege aboard Metro MF77 no.076 and my lunch.

Bus 3483 heads east on Rue Manin, by the Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Then at around 14.30 it was Metro MF77 no.070 on Line 13 from Saint Lazare to Invalides, followed by RER class Z 20500 EMU no.181A, or 20861 + 20862... these EMU's have two seperate numbers on their ends - the three digits plus letter is the same at both ends, and the five digit numbers are consecutive numbers at either end... I'm not sure which is the 'proper' one!... anyway this was on Line C, and I took it from Invalides to Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel. From there it was a nice stroll along the Allée des Cygnes (Promenade of the Swans) in the middle of the Seine.

Southbound Line 6 metro train crosses the Seine on the Bir-Hakeim Bridge

Looking east towards the Eiffel Tower, as an RER Line C train, formed of a pair of Class Z 20500 EMU's, crosses the Seine.

After that it was Metro MP73 no.6536 on Line 6 (I'd also had this unit the previous day) from Bir-Hakeim, across the Seine to Trocadéro, changing onto Metro MF67 no.3055 on Line 9, one stop to Rue de la Pompe. From there I walked to Avenue Henri Martin RER station for Class Z 20500 EMU no.07A (20513 + 20514), a two unit train with 180A. This was on Line C and I took it back across the Seine to St Michel-Notre Dame. Later on I caught bus 8146 from St Germain (Odéon) to Gare de Lyon on route 63.

Class BB 36000 'Astride' loco, 36007, at Gare de Lyon after bringing in the coaches for the 19.45 overnight sleeper to Venice.

TGV Duplex no.713 at Gare de Lyon with the 19.53 to Lyon Perrache

From Gare de Lyon it was on to the RER, and another Class Z 20500 EMU no.109D (+72D) on Line D, on the 20.00 to Orry La Ville, which I took to Gare du Nord.

TGV Sud-Est no. 04 at Gare du Nord

Finally, at Gare du Nord it was on to Eurostar 3014 + 3013 (I was in the second front carriage) with the 21.13 back to London St Pancras International.

Wednesday November 21st ~ Autumn in Paris

A grey, wet, autumnal morning in Paris. Started with a short ride on articulated (ie bendy) bus 1889 on the 62 from Alésia metro station to Avenue René-Coty. Then after a walk round the Parc Montsouris (as featured in 'Cleo from 5 to 7'), walked to Place d'Italie for Metro MP73 no. 6536 on Line 6 to Raspail.

Bus 6643 on route 88 running west along Rue d'Alésia, crossing Avenue René-Coty, in Montparnasse.

This curious electric bus is heading south along Avenue Reille, towards Parc Montsouris.

Then after a coffee it was bus 7340 on the 82 from Boulevard du Montparnasse (Montparnasse Bienvenue ) to Les Invalides.

Artic bus 4493 on route 91 heads east down Boulevard du Montparnasse, heading for Bastille.

Tour bus by Les Invalides

A coach of Begonia Reizen, from Belgium, outside Les Invalides.

Southbound bus on route 83 (Friedland Haussmann – Porte d'Ivry-Claude Régaud) at the junction of Rue de Sèvres and Boulevard Raspail in St Germain.

In the evening, after a walk through St. Germain, I boarded RER double deck Class 20500 EMU no. 34T on Line C at St Michel-Notre Dame for the ride to Champ du Mars-Tour Eiffel. From there it was an interchange on to Metro MP73 no.6524 on Line 6, from Bir-Hakeim to Denfert Rochereau, and then a short trip on Metro MP89CC no.07 on Line 4 for the short one-stop hop to Mouton-Duvernet, and thence to my hotel.

Tuesday November 20th 2012 ~ Across to Paris

An early start with a Piccadilly Line tube from Manor House to King's Cross, then it was aboard Eurostar 3219 + 3220 with the 07.55 London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord. I was in the second rear carriage of the train, on/in 3220.

Scenes from Paris Nord. Class BB 215000R (a sub class of BB 15000) no. 215031, regular BB 15000 no. 15008, and TGV Sud-Est no.71.

 After getting my Mobilis pass I decided to get bus 5160 on the 26, from Gare du Nord to Gare Saint Lazare.

Articulated bus 4679 on the 43 outside Gare du Nord

Bus 5165 on the 26 outside Gare Saint Lazare

Then after a coffee I decided to have a go on some of the suburban trains from Saint Lazare. First off class BB 27300 'Prima' loco no. 27346 (pushing) from Saint Lazare to Argenteuil on the 13.27 to Gisors. Loco hauled services are push-pulled with loco's at the Saint Lazare end. Then it was  27334 from Argenteuil at 13.50 with a stopping train back to Saint Lazare.

27346 propels the 13.27 Paris Saint Lazare to Gisors away from Argenteuil. The '8' prefix is to denote that the loco belongs to the Ile de France division of SNCF.

Then it was class BB 17000 no. 17041 from Saint Lazare with the 14.31 to Ermont-Eaubonne which I took 'all the way', and then the same loco back to Argenteuil on the 15.12 to Saint Lazare. Chainging there for 27366 at 15.30 back to Saint Lazare.

A bus exits the bus station at Ermont-Eaubonne, just to the north of Paris.

17041 at Ermont-Eaubonne at the head of the 15.12 to Paris Saint Lazare

27366 arrives at Argenteuil with the 15.30 to Saint Lazare

At Saint Lazare I hopped on to bus 3645 on the 20 for a trip across town to Gare de Lyon, followed by a class MP89CA Metro no. 01 on Line 14 back to Saint Lazare (the difference between an MP89CA and an MP89CC being that the MP89CA's are driverless). I needed to get south to my hotel in Montparnasse so I decided to go the long way round, first 17058 from Saint Lazare at 17.57 to Ermont-Eaubonne, then a new Class Z 50000 EMU no.15H (with 20H leading) on the 18.46 to Gare du Nord. These units are pretty stylish, with extra large windows and seats with a bright multi-coloured square pattern. I was pretty tired now and was glad to get class MP89CC Metro no. 06 on Line 4 from Gare du Nord to Mouton-Duvernet and thence to my hotel.

Monday November 19th ~ Piccadilly and back

Took Gemini WVL481 on the 19, from Finsbury Park to Waterstone's on Piccadilly. Then at 2 o'clock, after browsing the books and something to eat, I got Gemini WVL495 on the 19 from Hyde Park Corner back to Finsbury Park

OmniCity 15028 is about to enter Finsbury Park Interchange at the end of it's journey from Whitechapel on the 106. Meanwhile President VPL585 turns on to Seven Sisters Road as it heads to Archway on the 4.

Sunday November 18th ~ Sunday in the City

Aah lovely sunny Autumn day. Went out around midday to catch Gemini WVN51 on the 259 from Manor House to it's terminating point at King's Cross. Then it was Gemini WVL231 on the 68 from Euston to Kingsway. A walk round the corner to Aldwych and on to Routemaster RM2060 on the heritage 15, which I took to Monument. Later on after the Whitechapel walk I got Enviro400 no.9463 on the 35 from Bishopsgate to London Bridge. Finally at London Bridge it was on to Gemini VLW78 on the 141 back to HGL.

Saturday November 17th 2012 ~ A Chinese and the New Routemaster

Started with Solo OS16 on the W5 from Harringay Sainsbury's to Waterlow Park, Highgate. I do quite like this bus route. Then at Highgate Village we boarded President TP414 on the 271 for a slow and arduous journey down  Highgate Hill and Holloway Road to Highbury Corner. Traffic wasn't particularly bad, it was just the bus went slowly! Then onto the Victoria Line at Highbury & Islington to head for Victoria and some Chinese food...

At around 15.00 we boarded Enviro400 no.9544 on the 211 on Victoria Street for a run to it's terminus by the concourse at Waterloo station. Walked over the Thames to Trafalgar Square for Enviro400 T264 on the 29 for the short journey up Charing Cross Road to Foyle's bookstore. Then it was Gemini DW413 on the 38 from Shaftesbury Avenue to Victoria, and at Victoria it was on to New Routemaster (I'll call them that for now) LT1 on the 38 for a ride to Bloomsbury Square where we got off to get a Piccadilly Line tube from Holborn back to Manor House.