Taking a snapshot of the Moulin Rouge, our last tourist destination in the Montmartre area, we hopped on a metro towards our next Parisian landmark, which turned out to be my favorite building.

I figured out our metro route via station names, and we got on at Blanche station and changed lines at Villiers. I tried serendipitously taking shots inside the train, but I happened to point my camera out the window, which I usually don’t do. Using my route planning skills, I determined that I captured this scene at Place de Clichy.

With a bit of luck, a single frame yielded these passengers waiting on the metro platform — I love their varied expressions. Given that I often shot inside the train without detection, I’m surprised this group saw me. Shot at about 50mm, a classic street photography focal length, I enjoyed recording a slice of Paris Metro life.

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