Super Dumb Question

Ah, this one will allow all of you who may be harboring really dumb questions to let them flow!

Okay - ready?

We were grumbling after we got home about how stupid we were not to conserve our change. We got stuck twice without carnet tickets and no open ticket booth and only those machines to buy from (and none of our plastic cards would work). We needed change. Fortunately, each time, we just squeaked by.

But - are those booths/ATM-looking things that say (I think) CHANGER on them - change machines???

Also - we noticed a scam that hasn%26#39;t been mentioned here (my husband says it%26#39;s common in the European capital he grew up in - not Paris). At the same station where there were no ticket booths and one machine wasn%26#39;t working, and we were getting nervous about our change - there was a French-speaking man who was trying to sell two tickets for 3E. I would have wanted to buy them and skip the line for the machine (this would have meant giving him 5E but it was late and I didn%26#39;t care). DH said no way - the guy would disappear and the tickets wouldn%26#39;t work. NO one bought his tickets and everyone brushed past him like he wasn%26#39;t there. Later, we read that this is a common scam. You pay, they disappear, carnet doesn%26#39;t work.

Anyone ever hear of that?

I%26#39;m sure I have more dumb questions still - stay tuned.

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The scam of the people selling tickets to people waiting in line is not that the tickets will not work but that they are half price %26#39;large family%26#39; tickets and are valid only if you have a special card. If the ticket checker catches you, it is the same as not having a ticket at all.

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Well, my french isn%26#39;t great by any means - but I do know Changer is the verb for %26quot;to change%26quot;. But I am inclined to believe it is refering to exchanging (changing) money in thise case - not getting change back.

I%26#39;m sure I%26#39;ll be corrected if I%26#39;m wrong.

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Change machines are generally marked either %26quot;Monnaie%26quot; or %26quot;Changeur de billets.%26quot; %26quot;Monnaie%26quot; is the more common sign.

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Thanks, Kerouac! I feel less dumb.

We did assume they meant that they were for exchanging money - in which case, boy are there are a lot of them in the 4th and 5th arrondissements! Way more Changer booths than ATM%26#39;s, actually. I suppose the rates are not favorable are we%26#39;d be using them, right?

Also, thanks for the words for the change machines - we%26#39;ll look for them next time.

The guy was selling tickets that looked identical in every way to our carnet tickets.