Getting around Paris
 

We will be arriving in Paris on Wednesday Oct 19th. I understand that a Carte Orange is only good for Mon-Fri, so it probably won't work out for us. We plan to take public transportation from CDG into Paris. Do we need to buy separate fares for that trip, or will a regular metro ticket work? After we arrive in Paris I guess we'll just buy a carnet or two to get around for the next week. Sound Good?

Actually you could get the Carte Orange, and use it Wed-Sun. Wednesday is the last day you can buy it for the week. If you came on Monday, you could use it through Sunday.

If you are there Wednesday through Sunday, I'd get a Carte Orange, because I'd make full use of it.

However, I don't think you can buy the Carte Orange at CDG, but I could be wrong (there are lots of threads about this here).

If I can buy a Carte Orange at CDG, can I use that to take the RER into Paris?

And, we have to have photos, right?

Yes, you can buy the Carte Orange at the RER station at CDG.

They are sold by "zones" and most of the sights are in Zones 1-2, so you should probably get one of those. To get into Paris, you will need to pay extra, since the airport is in zone 5.

You need a passport photo.

Or, would it be better to take the RoissyBus into town that everyone keeps talking about. We're staying in a hotel on Blvd. St Michel near Blvd. St. Germaine.

for travel in paris ask for carte mobilis zone 1.its a day pass. around €5. i found it a good deal. buy the carnet for the last morning of your holiday and split it with your family.

Don't bother buying the Carte Orange at CDG. Just buy an RER ticket to get into Paris (€7.85), and then once in central Paris (either Gare du Nord or St Michel or another one of those stations), buy your Carte Orange there.

Thanks for the info everyone, you've been very helpful. But I still need to know if would it be better to take the Roissy Bus into Paris, or the RER as planned? I keep reading that there might be a luggage issue on the RER. (We will have 2 medium suitcases and a small carry on.)

I don't disagree, but "better" is a subjective evaluation that is different for every individual. For some, the convenience and door-to-door service justifies the cost of a taxi. Others may want the absolute cheapest way, regardless of the rigor it entails. Many students meet this criterion. Rail is also the fastest trip in most cases, which people with a meeting schedule might appreciate. Roissybus is a compromise between price, speed, and hassle. It just depends.

IF you can find a working photo booth at CDG (I walked around for 30 minutes last year trying to find a working one at Gare du Nord), then you can take a B&W photo & use that.

Hi J,

Go to http://www.adp.fr
Click "welcome" in the bottom left corner.
Click "roissy"
You will see all of your options.

To get from the bus or train stops to your hotel, go to http://www.ratp.fr/

Thanks, all! Great suggestions. I have a better idea what to do now. Au Revoir!

I will say though that next time I go to Paris, I might want to try the Roissybus. When you take the RER, you do realize that you have to take an shuttle bus to the RER station, then figure out how to use the machine or wait in line to buy the ticket, manage to fit the suitcase through the RER turnstile, each time stowing your heavy suitcase somewhere.

When you take the Roissybus, they basically stow the suitcase under the bus, don't they?

Since there are at least two of you, I'd just take a taxi myself, but I don't like dealing with all those public transportation hassles on arrival to save a little money. I know a lot of people don't like spending on taxis. Do you feel comfortable walking on the street with that baggage for about 3-4 blocks? If your suitcase is about a 22" one, I think you could, but if it's larger, you might not want to. The reason I asked is that if you hotel is at the intersection of bds St Michel and St Germain, that is about that far from the RER stop. That is pretty convenient. You won't get a taxi to take you those few blocks, anyway (unless maybe you promise to pay them a lot more than the meter maybe). I wouldn't worry about the baggage space if you are getting on at CDG as there should be plenty of room at that point. Dealing with baggage in the RER stations and the stairs, etc, is another story.

The Roissybus stop will require you to take a taxi from there, anyway--if you take the metro, that will be worse than the RER in a lot of ways (including the fact that there is no direct line between Opera and near St Michel or Odeon) and there wouldn't be any point to taking the bus if you do that, it seems to me.

YOu could also take the Air France bus to Montparnasse tower and then a taxi from there. That might be slightly more convenient traffic-wise than getting a taxi at Opera to cross the river. You never know, but I probably would, as sometimes there can be problems crossing the river and with traffic right around the Seine (as well as around the Opera).

Take the taxi. Leave your luggage at the hotel. Go to the nearest Metro with your 1-inch photo you've cut out from a snapshot at home. Get the Carte Orange.

Done. You are now officially on vacation.

Sounds good to me, Amelia. :) I am willing to take the RER to Paris from the airport, but I refuse to haul my big suitcase through the metro, with its long passages and many stairs. That's just nuts. Both times I went to Paris, I took the RER to the Gare du Nord and then I took a taxi (both times under €10 - well worth it)

If your hotel is on the Blvd. St. Michel and close to the Blvd. St. Germain, you can take the RER directly to St. Michel and walk to the hotel, assuming that you do not have too much luggage.

I agree that schlepping luggage through the Métro is no fun, but if your hotel is along the route of RER B, you can just stay on until you're closer to your hotel (it goes through the Latin Quarter), THEN take the taxi. There is no law mandating that you get off at Gare du Nord.

There are also some fairly painless connections to other RER lines at Châtelet and St.-Michel.

Joelly specifically said her hotel was ON bd St Michel near bd St Germain. The St Michel stop would be the closest RER stop.

Of course there is no law that you do anything! :) It just so happened that all of my accommodation happened to have the Gare du Nord as its closest RER station.

Yes, and my reply applies not only to joellynm's situation, but to anyone whose hotel is within a few hundred meters of an RER stop. All other things being equal, one should always stay where the transportation is easiest. The RATP offers very detailed maps, right down to which side of the street the Métro entrance is on, at

http://www.citefutee.com/orienter/tous_plans_pdf.php

Press <b>Plans de quartier de Paris</b>, highlight the stop near your hotel on the dropdown menus, and press <b>GO</b>

If you can't find the <b>GO</b> button, you might as well try <b>OK</b> ;-)

Robespiere has a great idea there. I have taken the RER to the Luxembourg Gardens and pulled my suitcase to rue Monge to my hotel. The walk is not that far and after sitting 8 hours in an airplane it felt good to strech my legs.

Another thought on that photo for your Carte Orange; if you have a digital camera, have someone take a picture of you and print a small one off on your computer printer at home and paste it on your pass when you get to Paris. I have found that a picture like you passport photo only a little smaller works well.

Robespierre, the website you suggested is terrific. Thanks for sharing. Deborah

Given where you say you are staying it definitly makes the most sense to take the RER. The Place St Mich stop is only a couple of blocks from your hotel. There is no luggage issue getting on the RER as the airport is the first stop. You'll get a seat. You will not have to walk through the metro. You will not have to make any connections. The only thing that would be &quot;easier&quot; would be a taxi and if there are two of you the price difference will be less than 16&euro; for the RER versus probably 45&euro; for a taxi. And a taxi would probably take longer.

Which brings us full circle to the Carte Orange. I suggest you buy one for Zones 1-2 (or maybe 1-5, see below) as soon as you arrive. It will be valid for the Monday before you arrived through Sunday. Don't put off getting it, because they aren't sold on Thursday at all.

Then see if you can buy a supplement to get you from CDG (Zone 5) to Zone 2, where your CO is valid. I have been told that the supplements are no longer being sold, but I haven't verified this; you can confirm it on the spot.

If you <u>are</u> going to be charged full fare from CDG to Paris, you might as well get a CO for Zones 1-5, so your round trip from the airport is included (as is Versailles, which is in Zone 4). The additional zones will cost you &euro;14.80, which compares favorably with the &euro;16 tariff for the round trip bought separately. But note that this relationship only holds if you are returning to CDG no later than Sunday. If you are staying through Monday, you can go through the standard math to determine if another Carte Orange, daily Mobilis cards, or single tickets is more economical.

Then move your trousers to the lower peg, AFTER you have written your letter home.......

Yes, Robespierre, I thought about that after I had posted a while ago.. if the trip is only within the validity of the CO, good to buy a zone 1-5 (I never heard anything about supplements available). Now, tell me something.. I took the Orlyval to Antony, and then when I put my RER ticket through, I noticed a sign that said &quot;CARTE ORANGE NON VALABLE&quot;.. wouldn't you be out of luck? (This is coming from Orly, not CDG, so this is a sort of tangent).

Yeah - Orly has its own rules to maximize the wealth extracted from visitors. :-(

But the strange thing is that the Orlyval was free for me.. I didn't have to use my ticket until I got to Antony. I thought that was weird. I thought it was an extra charge.

Consider using a private shuttle to get into the city from the airport. I always use PariShuttle.com. They are great. Dealing with the RER is a real pain when you have luggage and it's not the most relaxing way to begin your vacation! The cost of the shuttle is only about $20/person.

Thanks to all for their great suggestions. We just returned from France and had a marvelous time! We actually wound up taking the RER from CDG into Paris, and despite a minor glitch (ticket machines that didn't work, so we had to wait in a long line to buy a ticket), it was smooth sailing into Paris and it only cost us 7 euro each! We got off at Luxembourg which was a little further from our hotel than the St. Michel stop, but we needed the walk after that long flight. Also took the RER to Orly to pick up our rental car, which was a little trickier (some trains don't go all the way--you have to know which ones do--we found out the hard way. But we made it. Public transportation is the way to go in Paris in my opinion. Thanks again all,
I'll post some comments and other suggestions for travel in France in another post.