The Paris metro

[bazfaz]

Kerouac's mention of the smell of the old Paris metro has brought back memories of my early visits to Paris. The metro did inded have that distinctive electricity smell - why didn't other underground railways have it? And there used to be the smell of black tobacco in cigarettes - French cigarettes used to be the only ones that had a good smell. There used to be 1st and 2nd class carriages. And there was an infuriating gate between the corridor and the platform that would swing shut as a train approached. Tickets used to be valid for 2 journeys - quirky that.

[bjd]

I find the Paris metro still has a distinctive smell. I have found the same smell in the metro of Buenos Aires, but nowhere else. Odd that I don't remember the smell of cigarettes though, since I suppose people smoked there.
I remember the 1st and 2nd class carriages and the gate that would close as you ran down the steps to get the subway.
I also remember the London Underground the first time I went. There were smoking and non-smoking cars, so people with lit cigarettes would run along the platform to get into one of the smoking cars. In those days, the seats were plush, so I imagine they really stank.

[Deleted]

I remember the smoking cars on the tube. Horrible!

It's funny that now that smoking is forbidden in all public places in France, if just one person lights a cigarette at the far end of the metro station, I can smell it almost immediately.