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== Hitchhiking out ==
There are plenty of excellent spots for hitchhiking North (''Aire La Courneuve''), East ([[petrol stationhitchhiking|petrol stations]]s and ''[[péage|barrières de péage]]'') and also South (''Aire de Lisses''). It's all about how much you are willing to pay in public transportation, and how daring you are.
=== Northeast towards [[Lille]] and [[Belgium]] ===
==== Porte de la Chapelle ====
This option costs one local ticket. Porte de la Chapelle is where the [[A1 autoroute (France)|A1]] starts. Local drivers say they often see hitchhikers there. To get there take a metro 12 to ''Porte de la Chapelle'', then walk to the roundabout. You can try getting a ride on the roundabout (there are traffic lights, which means that cars have to stop) or you can stand on the opposite side facing the roundabout where the motorway starts. Another good option is to start hitchhiking in the same street where the metro is. There are 2 petrol stations in that very street, just 50m deeper into the city. They aren't overcrowded, and at the same time quite a few cars going up the North stop here for refill; nonetheless, at such places much is depended on your luck, and according to some hitchhikers this place won't make to the TOP10 best hitchhiking places in France. It is therefore rather recommended to hitchhike at the roundabout where a quiet lane right by the traffic lights gives you a good opportunity to get onto the motorway (avoiding at the same time all the traffic that heads for ''Boulevard Periphique'').
'''THIS MOTORWAY ENTRANCE IS NOT CURRENTLY OPEN DUE TO TUNNEL RECONSTRUCTION'''... Reopening is scheduled in summer 2012. There's an entrance still in operation, for the cars coming from the Peripherique (ring highway), so the traffic coming from inside Paris is diverted through Porte d'Aubervilliers (the next Ring entrance east). You can get there taking the "PC" bus from Porte de la Chapelle east or from Porte de la Vilette west. There's a roundabout with traffic lights and cars going to A1 take the outer ring entrance ("Périphérique extérieur"). Frequent traffic jams (which may also be helpful), and this access might be closed too on evenings, nights and weekends.
You can take a train to Nemours Saint Pierre (transilien R from Gare de Lyon) and walk 45min to the service area ( http://tinyurl.com/2bs24sf ). Then you're already on a paying section (no local traffic), far out from Paris (80km), and can get a ride to Châlon, Mâcon or Lyon in a few minutes.
=== A10 South to [[Orléans|Orleans]], [[Bordeaux]], [[Spain]] ===
This motorway follows the route of the '''A6''' (see above) from Paris, and splits afterwards near [[Antony]]/[[Rungis]]. The first [[péage]] in that direction is St-Arnoult, 40 km Southwest of Paris, before the splitting of A10 and A11. There are no service station directly on the motorway before the péage.
[http://maps.google.fr/?ie=UTF8&ll=48.739447,2.302011&spn=0.001638,0.003455&t=h&z=18 this one] (good enough one, according to some hitchhikers).
=== A11 South-West to [[Le Mans]], [[Nantes]], [[Rennes]] and all parts of [[Bretagne|Brittany]] ===[[File:Zoe.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Hitchhiker Zoe in Paris during the [[project 888|888]] event]]
This motorway splits from the A10 near ''Dourdan''. There are several possibilities go get on this motorway:
[[Hospitality exchange#Hospitality exchange networks|Hospitality exchange]] networks can be a great choice when staying low-budget in Paris. However, one must plan usually such staying well ahead since Paris is a popular destination for many backpackers, and many hospitality exchange networks' members are usually overloaded with requests to have guests.
It is also possible to sleep in the ''Champs de Mars'' in front of the Eiffel Tower - police generally lets you sleep until 9 or 10 in the morning. There are many trees that offer you a protection in case of a rain. You can also put up a tent (at night) in a discrete spot although keep in mind that police officers will wake you up around the sunrise. You can also sleep under the bridge at the Seine river on the other side of the Eiffel Tower. During the first European Hitchhikers Week ([[project 888|888]]) around 50 people slept in front of the Eiffel Tower.
There are also good places to sleep in the tunnels of Montsouris, which are part of old railway network. It is a hidden place, and maybe the most well-known unofficial entrance to the famous Paris Catacombs. You must climb over a wall near the intersection of Avenue Jean Moulin and Rue de Coulmiers ([http://is.gd/hC1Px Google maps]). Be advised that you should not enter the Catacombs alone or without a person who has a lot of experience climbing around the Paris underground. It is an extremely complicated system of tunnels, perhaps the second largest in the world. In many rooms of the Catacombs you can find a luxury of places to sleep, but you can just as easily get lost in areas where nobody has been or will go for months.
