RER - Metro in Paris
 

I have noticed that the RATP site usually chooses a route that has me going by metro from Hotel Monge to a RER station and then taking the RER to the destination - Eiffel Tower, Musee d'Orsay, etc). Is it advisable to take the RER whenever the route can accomodate or are these trains more infrequent than the Metro trains?

RER trains are somewhat less frequent than Métro, but they often get closer to things like the E.T. than the former. The nearest RER to the tower is a half a block (TE/Champ de Mars), but the nearest Métros are a kilometer (Bir Hakim, École Militaire).

I've noticed them to be a little less frequent, but they don't make as many stops. I figure it's about a wash.

Yes, the RER stops for the Eiffel Tower and the Musee D'Orsay are closer than the nearest metro stops.
However, as stated, the RER runs less frequently, and I think the key is to make fewer transfers (Correspondences) because every additional stop and transfer is more walking and more staircases underground.

I don't ever use the RATP site to pick a route for me, I just look at a map, but I agree with Elaine that probably the number of transfers would be the most important thing to me. In general, I kind of know the size of various metro/RER stations and choose the ones that are smaller as it will be an easier transfer. These tend to be metro stations, but not always.

In the cases you cited, there isn't any easy way to get to the Musee d'Orsay or Eiffel Tower by only metro from Monge, so that would make sense to use the RER. I suppose you could go south to place d'Italie and then the metro all away across the city to Bir Hakeim for the Eiffel Tower, but that would be longer. There is no metro stop at the Musee d'Orsay.

Personally, I'd take bus #47 up (down?) to the Seine and #24 along it straight to the Orsay. It would take 2 tickets if you didn't have a pass of some kind.

So the RER is advantageous for fewer stops but might be more infrequent. If I understand correctly one can trsnsfer from RER to Metro or Metro to RER but NOT to or from the Bus. Is this correct?
Another question: When travelling from Monge to Versailles with a 2 zone Carte Orange, do I pay a supplement at the beginning of the trip (Austerlitz) or do I take the C RER to the end of Zone 1 or 2 and then pay or do I just buy a ticket for the whole trip at Austerlitz?
Thanks for all the help.

The RATP would <u>like</u> you to pay for the trip end-to-end, but I <u>think</u> you should be able to ride out to the limit of your CO and pay for a round-trip from <i>there</i> (Issy, in Zone 2) to Versailles for less.

Every time you step on a bus, you have to pay for that stage unless you have a pass. No transfers are issued, so a multi-stage bus trip can get expensive.

BUT if you have a CO, it's good for buses, too.

Yes, dear. That's what &quot;unless you have a pass&quot; means.