Sunday 23 December - Tramway T3b extension from Porte de la Chapelle

It was wet today and we decided to postpone our visit to rue de Mouffetard until next week. I took the metro to Porte de la Chapelle and rode the new section of tramway to the temporary terminus at Porte d'Asnieres.  The trams were running at eight minute intervals and they were full and standing with plenty of intermediate traffic.

Tram from Porte de Vicennes arriving at Porte de la Chapelle.

Porte d'Asnieres

Porte d'Asnieres

Leaving Porte d'Asnieres and about to pass under the railway from St-Lazare

Porte d'Asnieres. The entire right of way is grassed except for the platform areas in the stations which are concrete.

The line has been open since November 20 and is well used, probably because the connecting buses have been adjusted. Platform widths are good and there should be no problems with overcrowding.  The trams used are standard seven unit ones on lines T3a and T3b and the internal notices relate to both lines. The earlier metro lines went into the centre of the city This line is part of an orbital system that has been developed in the last ten years or so which gives people the opportunity to make a journey without coming into the city center,  Tramway T3a and b now run about three quarters of the way around the city. Tram T11, opened just over a year ago runs in a similar fashion although further our from the center.

A map of the railway lines in the area of the Porte d'Asnieres. The tram extension terminates at the bottom left.
Good job the tramway goes under the main line to St-Lazare.

We started our Christmas celebrations early with this buche de noel from Diva et Chocolat.
It was larger than we wanted but was the only one with mango flavor.