As I said here, you can still store maps offline. The new version of this feature is a significant step backwards from the old one, though, as there's currently no way to view or manage your cached maps.

Here's how:

1. Adjust the map until the displayed area encompasses the area you want stored off line.
2. Tap "Search".
3. Scroll down in the card that pops up below the Search bar.
4. Tap the "Make this map area available offline" link.

I've just put my phone in Airplane mode and confirmed that the Paris, London, and Cambridge areas I'd cached were still available.

The card in step 3 is called the Explorer. Sometimes it's labeled "Explore" and sometimes it isn't; I haven't detected what drives this behavior. The Explore card lists nearby starred favorites (with a "display all" option) at the top, then some common search option icons (knife and fork, coffee cup, martini glass, and gas pump on my phone in portrait mode) followed by an ellipsis button. Tapping the ellipsis opens a "Nearby places" list, in which I've just discovered that retail motor fuel outlets are labeled "gas stations" in the US, "petrol stations" in the UK, and "stations-service" (with "gas stations" in a smaller font below) in France.

The search bar has to be empty in order to bring up the Explore card. You can clear it by tapping the gray X. If you locate a place, then clear the search bar, then tap the search bar, the Explore card for the last place you searched for opens.

I hope Google moves very quickly to improve the new Maps' usability. It has a lot of significant improvements, but no-one will learn to use them if they can't find them.

On another note, it's a commonplace observation that nothing helps you learn something better than explaining it. Thanks, FT and its members in this discussion, for giving me a little impetus to learn how this new Maps app works!