How to go from Paris’ Gare du Nord Railway Station
to our Office, or to our Guest Apartments (in the same building)

You have just stumbled off your train at the Gare du Nord.  Now you have to make your way to our office.

We are the glass-doored commerce, between numbers 2 & 4 of the rue Dussoubs, in Paris’ 2nd Arrondissement.  The closest métro stop is Etienne-Marcel, on line 4, on a direct line from the Gare du Nord.

Here is a link to the Google neighborhood map.


To Reach Us — Generalities
You will be taking the métro, Paris’ underground railway.

Locating Your Train
Find your way into the underground station, clearly signed from the train concourse.

Purchasing Your Ticket
Once at the ticket window or the automatic machines, buy a carnet de billets (pronounced “car-nay' duh bee-yea'” (don't pronounce the t's in either word, nor the s at the end of billets).  If you wish to say please, it is “see voo play,” is said after the “car-nay” stuff, and will be appreciated.) 
This is a batch of 10 tickets, valid for travel on all Paris métro and bus lines.  Unless you are headed immediately out of town, you will have plenty of chances to use them.  They are a bit more than half the price of single tickets, and, to avoid your getting stuck with tickets you can use, we buy any unused ones you want to sell for 1€ each.  The machines will label the tickets with part or all of the following words:  Carnet de 10 billets, plein tarif (not “demi-tarif,”unless you have children under 12 travelling with you).  They are sometimes called “Tickets T,” which is a brand name signifying that they are valid within the urban center, and not for travel to outer suburbs.

One time-saving note:   Thalys and Eurostar trains from northern Europe or London, respectively, sell Paris métro tickets in the café car.  They cost a few cents more, but can save you a lot of time.

General notes about riding the métro:
  • Always keep your ticket until the end of your trip, since it can be inspected at any time by teams of roving tax auditors.
  • If you are worried about being on the correct platform, there is a sign at the center of each platform telling you in which direction that platform’s trains are travelling (the last station on the line defines the direction of travel).
  • Strip maps of the line on which your train is travelling are placed inside the car, over each door, to help you follow your progress through the system.

Making Your Trip

Step 1
Using one of the tickets you purchased (see “To Reach Us,” above), proceed through the turnstiles, and look for signs that say Direction Porte d’Orléans, or M 4 Porte d’Orléans. These signs will lead you to a métro platform.

  • Board the first train (or any train) that arrives on this platform.
  • Exit the métro after 5 stops, at the Etienne-Marcel station.
  • When you detrain, walk towards the front of the train to exit.
  • Go outside.

Step 2
When you come to the top of the second set of stairs, and reach daylight (or night light, but in any event there is no roof between you and the sky), you are at the crossroads of the rue de Turbigo (cutting diagonally in front of you as you reach the top of the stairs, traffic flowing to your left) and the rue Etienne-Marcel (on your right hand, parallel to your direction of movement as you crest the stairs, and with traffic flowing in both directions).

  • Cross both streets.
  • Follow the rue Etienne-Marcel in the direction in which you were walking as you reached the top of the stairs, one short block (you may be able to see a statue of a man on a horse down Etienne-Marcel in the far distance, many blocks away). You will immediately pass a school and an old fortification tower (the Tour Jean Sans Peur) on your right.
  • Make the first right, onto the tiny rue Française. Walk one short block on this, until it “T's” into the rue Tiquetonne.
  • Turn right again, onto rue Tiquetonne, and walk another short block.
  • Make the first left turn, onto rue Dussoubs. Now STOP.

Our storefront is the unprepossessing (it’s your money) glass door between numbers 2 and 4, on your right after you turn into the rue Dussoubs. If the iron curtain is still down it means we aren't up yet. If the curtain is up, but the front room is dark, it means that we've gone out for coffee, or are in the basement. Try knocking on the glass door with a key or a coin (so that we can hear you from the basement), or looking into local bars. Or wait: we’ll be back soon.

Our normal opening hours are here.
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