Robespierre

The math is simple: if single tickets (ten for 11,10&euro and/or <i>Mobilis</i> passes (5,60&euro; per day) total more than 16,30&euro; for your travels on Tuesday through Sunday, buy the <i>Carte Orange</i>. The number of <u>days</u> you use it is irrelevant.

lmsd76

thank you everyone for such quick and helpful responses.

mikeslade

What address have people used when they purchased their Carte Orange the first time to be put on the ID card with the photo?

US home address?

Address in France?

If address in France, did you have to show some proof?

And BTW, does anyone have a reference to the max and min photo sizes?

thanks!

Travelnut

I have never put an address on the id card for the C.O. but I do write the id # onto my ticket.
The photo area is about 1x1 inch. The card is 'wallet size' so think 'drivers license photo'. You can just use a good facial shot from any photograph you have. Don't waste time in the metro trying to use one of those photobooths.

Christina

I always put my address on the card, as there is a place for it. I figure if it's ever checked, I want it all filled out. They don't make you show proof of the address when you buy one, you fill it in yourself.

I fill in the Parisian address I have when I bought it -- hotel or apt. Sure, it's not usually the same the next year, but that's what I do.

Robespierre

I fill in my hotel address in pencil (so I can erase it), on the off chance I lose the card and an honest froggie picks it up. It's better than nothing.

ConfusedTraveler

I will be arriving in Paris via Eurostar on a Saturday. My hotel is in zone 3 and I'll be departing by air at CDG on Friday. There will be four of us traveling together. Should we get the Carte Orange or Paris Visite? We want to visit all the tourist attractions in zone 1-2.

TimS

Buy two-day zone 1-3 Paris Visite passes for Saturday and Sunday. Buy zone 1-3 Carte Orange passes for Monday-Friday (up until you leave for CDG). You can buy the COs on Saturday, but they won't be valid until Monday. Buy single tickets on Friday to get to the airport.

TimS

Adding to my previous post. If you want to keep things simple, buy zone 1-5 Carte Orange passes for Monday-Friday. They will be good for going to CDG. And if you decide to go to Versailles (zone 4), they'll get you there, too.

kerouac

The Carte Orange is finished. You can now get a 1-week Navigo pass issued on the spot.

kerouac

The tourist Navigo pass is called the 'Navigo d&eacute;couverte'. You pay 5 euros for the chip card and then you load it with the value of your choice. You stick a photo on the paper card that comes with it.

Also:

&lt;&lt;Pour tous, utilisable imm&eacute;diatement

Pas d'obligation de r&eacute;sider ou de travailler en Ile-de-France

Disponible imm&eacute;diatement &agrave; tous les guichets et chez les commer&ccedil;ants agr&eacute;&eacute;s (payant : 5.00 euros)

Passe accompagn&eacute; d'une carte nominative avec photo

Non remplac&eacute; en cas de perte ou de vol&gt;&gt;

nukesafe

Karouac,

Do you mean you can no longer buy the Carte Orange? We arrive on Monday, and the information I have is that the CO is still for sale. I thought you needed French identity/Paris address to buy the Navigo.

Please advise.

kerouac

The Navigo is now available to everybody -- with the 5&euro; issuance fee.

nukesafe

Thanks, Kerouac, for the quick response. The Navigo pass sounds like a winner, even with the issuance fee. I'll try to get one.

I assume, from the pictures, that one still needs to provide a photo?

kerouac

Yes, you must provide a very small photo, but that is what the photo booths are for (2&euro. However, most of the RATP offices in the main stations have digital machines for taking your picture. I had my Navigo replaced in one of them and even though the photo looks like ET, it apparently is sufficient.

nukesafe

We bought our Carte Navigo today. The clerk seemed rather annoyed at us, as there was a long line behind us. Actually, though, it was quick and efficient. Only took seconds for him to make the charge to my credit card. I showd him our pictures, but he just motioned us to stick them on ourselves. The card comes in three parts, one card that has a chip in it, and a number on one side. The second card (both about the size of a credit card)that you sign and to which you stick your picture. There is a peel-0ff strip that makes that easy. The third part is a clear plastic case. The two cards slip into the case, with the hole in the signiture/picture card positioned so the number on the chip card shows through.

Works like a charm!

MaFamille

Well, after all of that CO angst I am a bit relieved to find the Navigo is the thing to get now. I am trying to budget for 7 weeks in Paris. There are two adults and one 5-year-old (and an baby). Is there a discount for the little kid? So, I am a little confused about the actual cost of travel...there is a 5 euro activation fee on each Navigo, and about 1.50 euros per trip...yes? Is the 1.50 each for one ride, say, we get on at our apartment and get off at Notre Dame - is that one trip and then we need to use another 1.50 each to go back to the apartment. Or...

jody

You load the NAvigo with a weekly or monthly ticket for whatever zones you need.. You can ride as often as you like.

It is not like the London Oyster card in that respect, you can't load it with PAYG .

TimS

There is no discount fare for children with the Carte Orange/Navigo Decouverte.

A single adult ticket costs &euro;1.50 and a carnet (ten tickets) costs &euro;11.10. There is a half-price carnet for children 4-10.

There is also a one-day youth pass called Ticket Jeunes which is good on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. For zones 1-3 it costs &euro;3.20.

nukesafe

MaFamille,

The baby would be free. Cheldren from 4 to 9 pay half price. I cannot concieve that anyone would bother you about the 5 year old. If they do, just say he is almost 4 and he looks old for his age, because he is a young Einstein.