We will be arriving in paris on a monday after a few days in bayeux via st. lazarre train station.Staying at royal magda hotel near the arch de triomphe. We will be taking in the usual tourist sites. What is the best transportation tickets we should purchase?
We will be leaving on a sunday by air at cdg.
bob

Carte Orange

Carte Orange weekly pass (good Mon-Sun) for zones 1-2, around 16 E.
Single tickets for the RER to CDG for around 8 E.

If you're going to Versailles or Disney, might as well get the Carte Orange for zones 1-5 and use it for everything, including the RER to CDG (around 31E).

You need a small head-shot photo for the Carte Orange id card, around 1x1 inch. Any photo, home/digital, color or not...

It's a good idea to make a copy of your passport. If you make another, reduced a little bit, you'll have a head shot to cut out.

On city bus, you do not use the ticket machine as in the metro. You just show the pass to the driver.

Hi J,

>What is the best transportation tickets we should purchase?

We have never used more than one carnet of 10 metro tickets (11E) per person per week.

Oh, Ira, inflation isn't that bad yet in Paris. A carnet is only 10.70€ ! We'll probably hit 11 € at the next annual increase in July.

Ira..to go to all the main spots, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, SacreCouer, Arc de Triomphe etc and Versailles would a carnet each of 10 tickets be sufficient for a family of 4? We will be taking a shuttle bus to CDG so won't need any tickets for that. Thanks.

The advantage to carnets is that you can share the tickets. You can buy more carnets, as needed. But if you ride the bus as well as the Metro, a pass works well because each change of buses requires a new ticket from your carnet. If like ira, you paln to walk as much as possible, with carnets. If you know that you'll be taking a lot of rides on a particular day, buy zone 1-2 Mobilis passes for that day (5.50 EUR). Tickets from your carnet are good anywhere the Metro goes, the RER in zone 1, city buses, and the Montmartre funicular. Versailles is in zone 4. A single ticket to Versailles on the RER costs 2.75 EUR.

I should pay more attention to proofreading what I write! Obviously what I meant to say was, "If, like ira, you plan to walk as much as possible, you can probably do well with carnets."

Thank you TimS. I think we will get the carnets and possibly the Mobilis depending on the condition of our feet! Another question...in order to get the RER C to Versailles we will be taking the metro from the filles des Calvaires location near our apartment in the marais. Where should we be taking the metro to in order to pick up the RER C?

Hi Normal,

We usually do 1 ticket out, walk around, one ticket back.

To get to Versailles, enter your address at www.ratp.fr

Filles du Calvaire is on M&eacute;tro Ligne 8. The <u>fastest</u> way to get to Versailles (with two changes) would probably be to ride to Bastille (Direction Cr&eacute;teil), change to Ligne 5 (Direction Place d'Italie) to Gare d'Austerlitz, and pick up RER C there.

If you're close to Bastille, you can save a change by walking there. If not, the <u>easiest</u> way in terms of changes (1) would be to ride Ligne 8 (Direction Balard) to Invalides and get on RER C.

Thank you Robespierre. After going to the RATP website I think we will go to Invalides and switch to RER C. Since we don't have metros where we live the easiest method rather than the fastest may be best for us. Otherwise there is no telling where we might end up!

Awww.

I see there are no fewer than <u>eleven</u> bus stops within a block or two of Filles du Calvaire M&eacute;tro station. The N&deg; 96 (Direction Gare Montparnasse) will take you straight to the St-Michel stop, a block from the RER C station. Both modes take 19 minutes, but the bus is unequivocally more scenic than the M&eacute;tro to Invalides.

Check out this suggestion for mastering the Paris bus system:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34987572

Be aware that the RER C line divides on the western edge of Paris. Watch the electronic sign board above the platform at Invalides to be sure you get on a train going to Versailles-Rive Gauche. The engine will have &quot;VICK&quot; on its nameplate.

TimS makes a good point. We found out we were on the wrong line of RER C when we crossed the Seine at I think Kennedy. We had to get off at that station and take it back one. Then we waited for the Rive Gauche line train to travel on to Versailles. It was a 15 minute or so delay in our trip, but I did get a postcard quality picture of the Eiffel tower on the bridge back over the Seine!