On my way to Vanves on Saturday I had to change trains at Montparnasse-Bienvenue. I had never been through that station before, and happily discovered that the long passageway that connects the 12 and 4 lines with the 6 and 13 lines is outfitted with one of those human conveyor belts. These things are a godsend if you’re in a rush, whether in mass transit or at an airport (Zurich has a ton of them), but they also make for a fun, leisurely Jetsonian ride.

Though I’ll explore the relative conveniences and shortcomings of the Paris metro another time, one thing I have to commend it on is judicious deployment of design, for educational as well as advertising purposes. Just as many of the blue streetsigns in Paris offer a historical note on the man or event whose name they bear, and landmarks and points of interest are well marked with the “Histoiré de Paris” shields, the Metro has its own textbook style history lessons peppered throughout.

What I liked about the Montparnasse station was that, in addition to the little educational posters – usually placed on the platforms to pass time between trains – it had a long graphic presentation of the Metro’s cultural history along one of the long walls of the trottoir. Lines, trains, conductors, itineraries, vendors and even cockroaches are all touched upon, with brief explanatory text – made to be read while standing still – accompanied by crisp illustrations – meant to be enjoyed in passing. The overall effect is pleasantly diverting the first time it is encountered, and I walked halfway back down the trottoir to look at it more closely and understand what I could of the text.

My favorite section was the one on old logos, at top. I love old trademarks in general, and I think that seeing these side by side offers a nice visual conceit on the historical trajectory of subways through modern imagination. It begins very florid, tightening and becoming more linear as it goes through the belle époque, past the fin de siecle, and emerging in a more restrained midcentury incarnation before acquiring its smooth contemporary form. In much the same way the Metro went from a Victorian wonder, to a modern commonplace, to finally a grande dame of a system in need of a freshened visual identity to offset its aged reality. I’d say the Metro is a fine old lady, who wears her age well, but is lucky to have dabs of quality cosmetics.