metro dicey in winter?

I%26#39;m just wondering if it%26#39;s more of a problem during the winter months in the Metro stations regarding homeless/beggars/ thieves. I%26#39;m traveling with my mom and aunt and am trying to decide the best -- and safest -- ways for us to get around the city. I read an earlier post about buying a two-day pass on the hop on/hop off bus, which I think is actually a good idea. Our family of four rode the hop on/hop off busses in Paris, Rome and London two years ago and thought they were great for orienting yourselves to the cities. But I hadn%26#39;t considered them as just a transportation option. We had no problems in European subways, either, except I did witness one pickpocket %26quot;event%26quot; on the Paris Metro going to La Defense. But the chilly weather got me wondering if we will be hassled more if we take the Metro around in early March.

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My wife and I were in Paris a week ago, and we took the Metro several times a day with no problems. I found it better (although older and dirtier) than the metro system here in DC; %26quot;better%26quot; in the sense that a train came about every 2-5 minutes. The weather had no effect on the system, and I did not see a single beggar (other than musicians) on the metro. No wallet-snatching incidents either. Cannot comment on the %26quot;on/off%26quot; buses, but I do not recall seeing very many of them around (maybe because it%26#39;s off season). I%26#39;d recommend taking the metro.

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NO....though there MAY be more itinerants in SOME stations during the colder winter months, there is also a very pro-active police presence--both uniformed and plain-clothes. So that shouldn%26#39;t be a problem.

As for using the hop-on/hop-off buses for general touring and orientation, they are GREAT. But as a primary transportation method for getting around the city, they aren%26#39;t really very good---especially in bad weather. Their %26#39;routes/circuits%26#39; (Paris l%26#39;Open Tours has the most with 4) directions (travel in only one direction) and stops, frequency of buses (15 minutes summer/30 minutes winter), hours of operation are limited (9:30 AM-8:00 PM summer--6:30 PM winter) and interchange/transfer points are few and far between.

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I think the pick pocket problem might be better in winter because there are fewer tourists, but having only ben in winter and never had any problems, I can%26#39;t say for sure. The problem I had in taking my mom on the metro was all of the stairs we had to climb. She got really tired of the stairs. Check out the city buses. They are easy to use. They take metro tickets and you get to see where you are going. I use them whenever possible now. If you use a little commonsense about where you keep you belongings, you don%26#39;t need to worry about pick pockets and thieves in Paris. I%26#39;ve senn beggars in Paris but they have never hasseled us.