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Thank you everyone for your wonderful responses. It looks like I should get a good metro map and not depend on the maps in my guidebooks. The Monday I arrive in Paris is the 23rd so hopefully the delays will be over. Also, my husband and I will have one rolling bag each and one backpack, do you think this will cause too much hassel with changes and going thorough the metro itself?
One note about luggage - you do have to step quickly to get through if wearing a backpack. If this is an issue, you'll want to take it off and carry it in front of you. Some stations (St. Michel/Notre Dame, if memory serves) had 'pass-throughs' for you to slide your luggage in and then go through the turnstile and snag the bag on the other side...just make sure you remember to push the luggage forward before going through, so you can reach it on the other side!
transportation information, a nearby restaurant (we usually do not feel like going far the first night to eat) - things that you generally do not what to think to hard about upon arrival. Oh - THEN USE IT, once you get there. We had friends who took our advice on this, then forgot to refer to it and got lost and ended up taking a taxi to the wrong hotel at the other side of Rome from where they had booked a room.
First off, I agree 100% with Liz' comment about the exits. If you have a backpack, it can get caught in the danged things after you have passed through and getting it back is not easy and not without some embarassment. er....so I have heard. Take it off and put it in front of you. As for the Metro's, the Paris Metro is one of our favorites.
But you can plan how you have to use to long before you get to Paris, which I always do. You will be tired and focused on just getting to your hotel and finishing with the "getting there" part of the trip. So find the route on a combo Metro/Paris plan and write down the lines. the end destination, the transfer stations, etc. We prepare a "practical tips" sheets in a booklet for things like this before we leave on our trips, which includes the hotel and contact information for it, transportation information,