Carte Orange questions...
 

I understand that the CO is no more, it has been replaced with the Navigo. My friend and I are arriving on Sunday, the 5th and leaving on Sunday the 12th. We will be getting our Navigo at CDG upon arrival. Is it worth the euros to buy a zone 1-6, or should we just buy a zone 1-2 and buy separate tickets from CDG to Paris , Paris to Versailles, and then Paris back to CDG? Will we need a separate ticket for Sunday the 5th since the Navigo doesn't start until Monday the 6th? If so, is there a day pass or should we just do separate tickets for that day as well? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just a little frazzled. :)

You can still buy Carte Orange at some stations. I bought one yesterday (Monday) at George V and know for a fact you can also buy one from Bastille and Pont Marie. I am not sure if you can get one from CDG.

A one-week CO for zone 1-2 costs 16.80Euros.

I can't answer your questions re transfers between Paris and CDG?Versailles.

Good luck!

s

First of all, you cannot buy a "Navigo". You need to buy (instead) a "Navigo Decouverte", which is an anonymous purchase. Then you also buy the Carte Orange to be loaded to the Navigo Decouverte. You need a small head photo (about 1x1").

You only need zones 1-5, not zone 6. Versailles is zone 4, and CDG is zone 5.

A 5-zone CO is 33E, and there is a one-time fee of 5E for the ND card.
A 2-zone CO is 16.40E (or very close), again factor add'l 5E for the ND card.

An RER ticket is 8.40 each way for CDG/Paris.

A r/t ticket to Versailles is about 6E.

http://www.transport-idf.com/frontal...itresTransport

I'm glad to see you can still buy the Carte Orange weekly, as I will be there this Fall and wanted to still use mine, if I could.

However, I wonder if that means you can buy the coupon for a new week if you already have the Carte Orange (which is the ID card), but that they will not give out new carte orange cards to people any more? I could see that might be the case, so if you don't already have one with your photo ID on it, maybe you can't use it. I have one anyway, so it doesn't matter to me, just wondered. Of course, if you have the card, you used to just be able to get the replacement coupons by machine for a week. Which did you do, Swagman?

Christina

I don't have the CO with photo. I just bought a CO ticket from the automated machine at George V station.

But as I said in my last post, please note that NOT all stations sell CO tickets anymore, over the counter or machine alike. I am staying in the 4th between Pont Marie and Saint Paul. I checked both stations, the machine at Pont Marie sells CO tickets but not the one at Saint Paul. Also Charles de Gaulle Etoile does not sell either, the lady at the ticket counter told me to go to George V. So please be aware.

s

You need the card with the photo to use the ticket.

swagman if you had been checked by Metro police (happens sometimes, not often but one never knows) using the ticket without the accompanying photo card you would have been fined.

OP - buy RER ticket CDG-Paris on arrival, maybe a couple tickets for use that day. Use your Navigo for the rest of the week, buy RER ticket back to CDG. For Versailles, consider the forfait loisir that gives you RT transport plus admission ticket without waiting in line, plus free use of headset for the well done audioguide. Pick up the FL at a Transilien booth at a train station. Google forfait loisir Versailles for details.

The latests statistics that I read were that as of the beginning of September, the Carte Orange is no longer available in 60% of the stations. The RATP has not yet set the final phase out date. They keep saying "end of 2008 or beginning of 2009" -- which I take to mean that the Carte Orange will still be available in a few stations at least until the end of February but will be a real hassle to find.

Seamus

Oops! Thanks for letting me know that. I walked past 6 of them yesterday at Clemenceau, phew!

Well today is my last day in Paris. I'll know next time.

Thx!

s

Thank you so much for the answers - I feel better with this information. We plan on getting a museum pass which includes Versailles, so I think we won't get the FL, but just single passes on the train will work.

Thanks for the notes on the machines which sell them, as I do have a card already with my photo on it so can use it.

I was in Paris, in the spring, and bought Carte Orange. I had my old Carte Orange with the photo I took back in the 80s. I've been using it annually with no problems. I just buy new coupons each year that I'm in Paris. Happy Travels!

Well, this year was the last year!

Just as a follow_up, I am in Paris now and bought a CO weekly coupon easily just by asking the metro clerk for one at Gobelins metro. I showed her my ID card which I already had, so there were no questions. They did not sell them in the machines at several metro stations I checked, including the one closest to where I'm staying (Censier). I saw a sign in one of the major stations, forget which, that they wouldn't be selling them there after October 20th.

The RATP finally announced today the official end of the Carte Orange: February 2009.

We have been in Paris for two weeks and will be here four more. We bought 2 Carte Oranges the first week but found that buying 3 carnets (same price) works just as well for us, costs the same, and we don't have to walk three metro stops away to get the card, since many of them are not selling them anymore. The Place d'Italie is where we had to go to buy ours the first week. You can get carnets at any station at any time, which makes them much more convenient.

<b>kerriek</b> - your best strategy is to buy single tickets to get from CDG to Paris and back, and (probably) 2-zone passes for the other six days. We sometimes use <i>carnet</i> tickets, but mostly <i>Mobilis</i> day passes, so you might want to spreadsheet your journeys and see what works best for you.

I got two <i>Cartes Oranges</i> without coupons last week. The coupons, as I understand it, will be available from some machines, some RATP stations, and many <i>Tabac</i>s until the program is terminated next year.

nancy1652,
For such a long stay, why didn't you get the carte orange mensuel?

Thought about getting the longer card, but we're doing some day trips and are also going to Amsterdam, Bruges, and Strasbourg.

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