There are two different weekly passes for the Metro that I can determine - the carte jaune, and the Paris Visite. Would you recommend one over the other? We'll be there from Monday - Sunday morning.

The Carte Orange by far. The Paris Visite is a tourist "pass" and is not worth the money. The CO is about 13E, will be good for the exact time you are there and offers unlimited travel on the Metro and buses--the latter are REALLY good to use. You need a small picture--you can just cut one out of a snapshot--it should be about an inch square.

Hi lil

In all my trips to Paris, I have never used up a 10E "carte" of 10 tickets.

The Paris Visite offers discounts that might or might not be useful to you.

http://www.ratp.fr/ParisVisite/Eng/A...arisvisite.htm

I always purchase a Carte Orange. Check to compare when you are arriving and when the pass is sold/valid. You will most likely only need it for a few zones, and it really is a good value. Make sure you know what zones you want when you purchase the pass at the ticket booth to avoid confusion, and of course be polite. If need be, write your self a "cheat sheet" so you can attempt your French and have something to point to or refer to. Some people have reported that they have had difficultly purchasing the Carte Orange, but I think that is either due to miscommunication, or in some cases snooty attitudes from the person trying to buy the pass. My French is less than stellar, but I have NEVER had a problem buying this pass, and it is certainly worth the money.

I topped an older thread for you. The title is something like "Specific RER Question". Read through the thread, it also discusses the Carte Orange and it may be helpful.

i don't recall needing a photo ID for purchasing a carte orange. a nice feature is that when taking buses, you merely show it to the driver upon boarding.

the carnet (ten ticket group) doesn't really last too long. i use a minimum of four per day: one out and back in the AM and the same in the evening. but then again i generally stay outside the city center.

i disagree about the visite pass as not worth it particularly if you are planning on a lot of museums and public monuments. it is good for anything from notre dame to versailles, all the major museums and gets you past the normally very long lines at all venues.

The weekly ticket for the Carte Orange is the best deal, and runs exactly from Monday-Sunday. Do a search here for Carte Orange / France and you will get loads of information already detailed...

Subcon, you definitely need a photo for the id card that comes with the ticket. Carte Orange is really two parts: the id card with photo and the ticket that you use and reuse all week. You have to write your id card's number on the ticket itself to link the two up.

There isn't any pass called a "carte jaune". I imagine you mean the Carte Orange with a weekly coupon (which used to be called a coupon jaune due to its color, but it isn't yellow any more and they don't use that term).

It is mandatory to have a photo for the Carte Orange. YOu don't need one for the Paris Visite, so perhaps that's what subcon is thinking of.

Given your time frame, I would definitely buy the Carte Orange because its cheaper. The only exception I think would be if you really planned on using the discounts a lot -- the museum shop discount is the best one on there, I think.

"i disagree about the visite pass as not worth it particularly if you are planning on a lot of museums and public monuments. it is good for anything from notre dame to versailles, all the major museums and gets you past the normally very long lines at all venues."

Subcon, I think you are confusing the Paris Visite pass, which is for transportation, with the Carte Musees et Monuments, which is for entry into museums and monuments. I agree that the latter is a good idea.