Getting on a Paris bus, literally....
 

My sister with bad knees will be visiting Paris with me this time. To avoid the Metro steps we're thinking we can take the buses. I've visited many times and taken the buses, but never noted how high the step is getting onto a bus. Not asking for exact inches, but is it a quite high step up or quite low? Anybody know?

All I can say is that quite a few people who can barely walk take the bus every day, and of course people in wheelchairs use the automatic ramp.

I used to take my mother on the bus, and the drivers were always extremely attentive to any difficulty she was having, and they would not move the bus until she was safely seated.

Getting on a bus is a non-event. Don't worry. Agree with kerouac.

Stu Dudley

I have bad knees and take the bus daily. Usually, if the bus can get to the curb, there's no problem. Getting off sometimes can be difficult again because of the distance to the curb. Most often, there is no problem. Bus drivers now don't appear to be as willing to wait until the infirm are seated as they used to be.

I did fine on them a few years ago on crutches with no problem and have since never noticed a problem, except, as noted, that drivers tend to take off from every stop in a hurry without noting whether everyone is comfortable or not (that isn't an expectation of mine, necessarily, but it's a nice courtesy).

The RATP offers this advice, aimed at wheelchairs but still possibly useful for you:
https://www.ratp.fr/en/questions/4631/?taxo=4631

It does have a place for you to send questions:
[email protected]

I have bad knees that used to be worse before they were replaced, and I have used the buses quite successfully. There are hand rails to help get up the steps.