Travelling light and therefore planning to use public tranport to and from CDG (and within Paris during our stay).

Arriving Sunday March 11 at CDG; planning to take RER with single ticket to Chatelet, then transfer to Metro (I forget which line) to St Placide -- a short walk to our friends' apartment in the rue du Cherche-midi.

Doing the same in reverse the following Saturday, March 17.

In between, we would just use "carnet" tickets for metro rides within central Paris. Probably taking an average of 3 metro rides per day (my guess).

But I love a bargain.

Can anyone tell me whether, from amongst the bewidering array of Carte Orange and Paris Visite options, there is some better and more economical option than what I outlined above?

I know Carte Orange is valid only from Monday to Sunday -- therefore am inclined to dismiss it, as our priciest journey is to CDG (Saturday, in-bound).

Paris Visite sounds uneconomic, though I have not priced it for the entire stay.

Is there anything I am missing?

I always get the Carte Orange, because they are the most practical for using the bus system. You can not "transfer" on a bus - so 2 legs on a bus route uses up 2 tickets in a carnet. Get Metro map #2, which details all the bus routes & stops. Other maps you get at the Metro stations do not.

We take busses almost everywhere. We even devise routes that zig-zag through Paris just so we can check out neighborhoods, discover street markets in action, interesting shops, etc. Busses run above ground, the Metro does not - can't see much underground.

One of the biggest plusses to taking busses is that once you've figured out the routes & stops around your hotel/apt, if you are walking back after the day's outing & dragging a bit, if you look behind and see a bus coming, you can hop on & perhaps save your legs for a few blocks.

Learn to use the busses - that's a BIG tip. You won't regret it.

Stu Dudley

>>I always get the Carte Orange, because they are the most practical for using the bus system. You can not "transfer" on a bus - so 2 legs on a bus route uses up 2 tickets in a carnet. <<

Poor English
Try again:

I always get the Carte Orange because it is the most practical for using the bus system. On bus routes, you can not "transfer" between 2 connecting bus routes using the same ticket in a carnet - so 2 legs on the bus system uses up 2 tickets in the carnet.

Stu Dudley

You'll be amazed at how quickly you can go through carnet tickets and then have to make frequent purchases to get more. I've used the Carte Orange for my trips to Paris. It's so easy to zip in and out of the metro with them. Plus, you only have to buy a Carte Orange once a week. It's very convenient.

Just do the math: a <i>Carte Orange</i> costs &euro;16. For the five days Monday through Friday, that's &euro;3,20 per day - less than the cost of your projected three <i>carnet</i> tickets per day. Plus you can jump on a bus whenever you feel like it, and it doesn't cost a <i>sous</i>.

Where's the easiest place to buy a Carte Orange?

You can buy a Carte Orange at any metro station. Bring along some smaller-than-passport sized pictures of yourself, because you'll need them for the ID card component of the Carte ... or get your pics taken at a photo machine in the station. But it's easier to get them in advance.

You can also get them in 1,500 retailers in and around Paris. Look for the RATP sign on the Tabac.

http://www.my-paris-page.com/images/tabac.jpg

<i>Proches de chez vous, 1500 commerces de proximit&eacute; (librairies, points presse, d&eacute;bitants de tabac) agr&eacute;&eacute;s par la RATP, sont &agrave; votre disposition pour l'achat de vos titres de transport (Carte Orange, Mobilis, carnet de tickets &quot;t&quot. D&egrave;s aujourd'hui simplifiez-vous la vie en achetant votre Carte Orange chez le commer&ccedil;ant le plus proche de votre domicile ou &agrave; proximit&eacute; de votre lieu de travail...</i>

On my Paris guide it looks like the Chatelet transfer requires a serious hike through various corridors. It would be better to get off at St. Michel or Denfert-Rochereau to connect to your m&eacute;tro line.

To transfer to line 4 at the Ch&acirc;telet-Les Halles RER station, you are supposed to transfer through Les Halles (short walk) rather than Ch&acirc;telet (long walk).

This is great information. Just so I am clear: Is the Carte Orange valid for my return trip by RER to CDG?

CDG is in zone 5. You would need a Carte Orange valid for zones 1 to 5 to go from Paris to CDG. Generally, it is cheaper to buy a separate ticket for CDG (8.10&euro than to pay for zones you will not be using the other days. (People who are going to Versailles, Disneyland, and multiple other suburban locations can get their money's worth, however.)

...and if you're making two trips between CDG and Paris within a Mo-Su timeframe, a 5-zone <i>Carte</i> is the way to go if you would be able to justify a 2-zone.

Hey, StuDudley, a buss is a kiss. Plural for bus is buses.

Grateful to all who provided the info.

As I have no photos in hand and a booth-photo reportedly costs 4 Euros, I suspect we may NOT get a Carte Orange but may tough it out with our carnets.

Or maybe not -- we will decide on the spot, on Sunday or Monday.

SUNDAY in Paris? Yikes -- I had better get cracking on that laundry and ironing.

(As always, I will pull out a lot of clothes, then do a &quot;pre-selection&quot; and final &quot;triage&quot;, to reduce to the minimum.....)

Thanks again to all.

No photo..don't you have a
digital camera, take a picture..
Even at 4 Euro you might sae.

We DO have a digital camera -- purchased by my dear spouse.

Neither of us has yet learned to use it. As I didn't buy it, I feel no compulsion to learn.

I doubt the instruction manual, if there is one, has even been opened.

This gadget will someday join the unused sewing machine, the radial-arm saw (still in its polyethylene shroud) and the $16,000 tractor happily rusting at our country place.

tedgale - this is a no-brainer!!!! Get the Carte Orange and learn to use the buses (thank's johnnydread1). You will try to use an already-used carnet ticket a few times, while people behind you are at the turnstyle are cursing you. You will loose or misplace a few un-used tickets. You will come home with some un-used tickets (what will you do if it's 1 1/2 days before your departure date, and you used your last carnet ticket - will you purchase another carnet???).

Stu Dudley

4 photos out of a booth cost 2 euros, not 4 euros. There are booths everywhere.

<font color="purple"> I'm with Stu on the buses.

To see which ones are available from your apartment, plug in the address [and Paris] here:

http://www35.ratp.info/Proxi/proxi.php?

To see the route of a particular line, use this:

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/f_plan...&amp;nompdf=84

To see correspondances along the route, go back to the first one, hit station and enter the name of the bus stop and only bus RATP. </font>