Can any Paris local or anyone who just returned from Paris tell me whether RER C is now under construction between Gare Australitz and Invalides? I read this recently somewhere but can't confirm whether this is still currently true or not.

I'm trying to catch RER C5 to Versailles and was thinking about getting on at St. Michel. But if it's closed, then I need to get on at Invalides.

Thanks in advance for your help.

It is closed through the 22 of August according to the schedule.

I just returned from Paris yesterday and can confirm that the RER C line is closed between Gare Australitz and Invalides. There is a free bus running to and from Invalides (with stops in between - look for the large yellow signs on lamposts) throughout the day. This is what we used to get to Invalides and then the RER out to Versailles.

GradStudent, from which metro/RER station did you board the bus? Do I have to get out from a particular exit to see the bus detour sign?

I want to say that the bus stopped very close to the St. Michel RER stop. I just looked at a map and this looks right. We walked there from Ile-St-Louis so I can't guarantee that we were near the metro station or not. I will say, that if you exit at this station and walk along the street towards the Musee D'Orsay (on the river side of the street), you will see the yellow signs on the lamposts indicating that it is an RER C bus stop. The buses also have large yellow signs on the side that have a map detailing the route that the bus takes. There are also Metro employees standing at these stops to answer questions.
I'm sorry I can't be of more help in regards to the metro stops.

How long did you have to wait before one of these detour bus show up? How long was the ride to Invalides? At what point did you buy your RER ticket to Versailles?

Thanks again.

I only have a computer at work - sorry it took so long to get back to you.

The buses SHOULD come every 10-15 minutes. We never waited long at all. We got off at the Invalides stop, went down into the RER station (clearly marked) and bought our RER tickets to Versaille.

We were just there last weekend, and the bus substitute for RER-C was a nightmare. It was much better to walk to the Cite M stop and take the one line toward La Defence. There are many tranfer points to Rive Gauche sites along the way.

If you're wary about the bus, you could also get the metro line 10 from Cluny la Sorbonne (the stop is a block or two south of St Michel and the Cluny metro station is actually connected to St Michel by a long underpass), and then change onto the RER C at Javel.