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Carte Orange in French?

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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 07:47 AM
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Carte Orange in French?

I've searched for Carte Orange on the boards, and haven't been able to find a thread that tells the proper way to ask for the Carte Orange in French.
My French is minimal, so I'm just looking for the clearest way to ask for the Carte Orange for two people for a week. Can anyone help?
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 07:50 AM
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Puis-j'avoir deux Cartes Orange, s'il vous plaît?,

or

Je voudrais deux Cartes Orange, s'il vous plaît.

Since it's a weekly card, I doubt you'll have to say "for a week" but if that's necessary, it's "pour une semaine."
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 08:07 AM
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Just to add there there are both weekly and monthly carte orange and there are multiple zones. Zone 1 and 2 (Covers all of Paris) are the most common so you might not need to specify. So to add to StCirq's excellent phrases :

Puis-j'avoir deux Cartes Orange hebdomadaire (deux zone), s'il vous plaît?,

or

Je voudrais deux Cartes Orange hebdomadaire (deux zone), s'il vous plaît.
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 09:15 AM
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I would have simply suggested:
"Carte Orange, s'il vous plait---deux semaines."
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 09:24 AM
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Somehow I suspect that if you asked for it in English you'd have no trouble as well..but it is always nice to use the native language and greatly appreciated, too.
 
Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 09:32 AM
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If you say "deux semaines" you will confuse them. That means "two weeks," and I thought you wanted two passes, each for one week. Since I don't believe there is a 2-week pass, if you ask for two weeks, you'll probably be greeted with a torrent of rapid French asking you to explain yourself.

As for using English, I have heard a few reports from English speakers claiming when they asked in English, they were told the passes were only for French natives. I don't think that's true, but it seems a few people have encountered that reponse. Perhaps that's why this poster is interested in asking in French.
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 09:50 AM
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I don't know -- I suspect if you don't know how to say this yourself, when you do repeat these phrases, they are going to know very well you don't know French, if that's your reasoning. I think you just want to be prepared. I also wouldn't ask for "deux semaines" but it isn't just weekly, so you do need to say that you want the weekly ticket, not monthly. IN fact, I've noticed that some folksks will still call the Carte Orange a monthly pass by default, because it used to be a long time ago.

As Morgan mentioned, you have to include the zones you want, also, which is important, so don't forget that. If you do forget, they'll probably ask you and you may not know what they are saying.
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 12:00 PM
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I was standing in line at the metro waiting behind some english speakers. They seemed to think that the ticket window at the metro was a tourist office and were asking a long string of questions about opening times of museums etc. I could tell the ticket agent was tired of them and frankly I was tired of waiting for them to finish as well. When they got around to the real reason they were there, to buy a carte orange, the ticket agent replied "No only for French people". "Paris Visit for tourists". They explained that at the hotel they were told they could have them. She flatly replied no so they bought the Paris Visit card.

I then stepped up to the window and asked in my French with an English accent for a Carte Orange and was immediately given one. So there are definately agents who refuse to give one to tourists.
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 12:57 PM
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ira
 
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Or, maybe they don't want to sell them to inconsiderate people who hold up the line in any language.
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 01:07 PM
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ira
 
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PS,

You might want to type out, in caps, in French what you wish, in case the fellow behind the counter insists that he can't understand you.
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Old Mar 8th, 2004 | 01:24 PM
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Ira has given great advice. We tried our (lame) French when we purchased our Carte Orange and every time we bought train tickets, as back up we also had things written down in French. We never had a problem and were always treated nicely. Keep it basic and of course be polite.
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