Tim-
I was confused by the original post- now I see that Nancy converted to dollars. Anyways, how does it work to buy a separate RER ticket to Versailles? For instance, if I bought a carnet and took the Metro to Invalides would I then buy my ticket to Versailles?

SuzChicago,

travelhorizons has given you good advice about the photos. They should be about 1" x 1".

For Sunday the two adults can share tickets from a 10-ticket carnet (11.60 EUR). Buy a one-day, zone 1-3 Ticket Jeunes for your 10-year-old. The Ticket Jeunes is a one-day pass for people under 26 and is good on either Saturday or Sunday.

kirbyks,

You will not have to use a ticket from a carnet at all. Buy a single ticket which will be good from anywhere in central Paris to Versailles. Use it for any Metro and/or RER rides you need to take to connect with the RER C to Versailles-Rive Gauche.

SusChicago,

One more thing. Your 10-year-old will have to pay the adult rate for single tickets, a carnet, or a Navigo semaine.

SuzChicago,

My advice to kirbyks on buying single tickets to Versailles also applies to you.

<<Buy a single ticket which will be good from anywhere in central Paris to Versailles. >>

Just to clarify, this is NOT a single t+ ticket, which are valid only for Zones 1&2 - you MUST purchase Billet Ile-de-France to Versailles in Zone 4.

Save the other tickets in your carnet for other trips within Paris.

The proper photo size is 25mm x 30mm. On most PC's you have some sort of software for resizing. If the photo is larger, you may have to trim away too much of your head...

Generally speaking, especially if you plan to walk a lot, carnet tickets and separate tickets for more distant places are almost always the most economical way to go.

But, if your dates somewhat coincide with Navigo Decouverte (and aren't over a weekend requiring two weekly loads), it's well worth the extra for the convenience of being able to ride whenever you like and not have to bother with single tickets.

Oops! Still one more thing. The price for the zone 1-3 Ticket Jeunes is 3.30 EUR. A real bargain!

my husband and I are going to Paris (first timers!) in less than two weeks, this thread is very handy for us. Not sure if I need to start another thread...my questions is...for the 2 of us (adults) who will be in Paris for 6 days [day 1 arriving from London by train in the evening; 1 day to Versailles; day 6 - to CDG only], what's our best option? If I got it right, we should only get the "carnet" of tickets?

We're staying in the 9th near MEtro Notre Dame de Lorette.

kkay the answer depends on what day of the week you arrive.

Like kkay, first time visitors to Paris in June. I hope you don't mind that I am posting on this thread.

Responding to Seamus: We will be in Paris for 10 days, arriving Friday, leaving on Monday. I'd like to ask you for advice on what would be our best option? Carnets? Also going to Versailles on our second Saturday - do we buy single train tickets? I understand we will be able to use our museum pass for admission to Versailles.

Thank you.

You could just buy carnets as you need them. You will need separate tickets to Zone 4 for Chateau Versailles.

Or, you could purchase carnet(s) for Fri-Sat-Sun, and Navigo Decouverte for Mon-Sun. (You probably won't need anything day of departure, or have carnet tickets leftover.)

gelatolover - what djbooks said. Buy a carnet (car-nay) for use Fri-Sun. For the rest of your time continue with carnets or get a Navigo Decouverte.

The ND will run you (all prices in euro) 5 for the card plus 17.20 to load the zone 1-2 pass valid for Monday through the following Sunday so 22.20 total. If you do not bring a photo in the size required to be affixed to the ND and have to get one from a vending machine add a few more euro per person for this. (<i>Bring a picture, it's cheaper and easier as there are not photo machines at all stations and no guarantee that where there is one it will be working. Just need a face shot measuring about 1" square, one you print at home is fine.</i>) That's roughly equal to the cost of 18 - 20 individual tickets if bought in carnets. So if you plan to ride the metro or bus an average of about three times per day it's a deal - plus there is the convenience of not having to keep track of tickets, and you have a nifty little souvenir of Paris which you can reuse on future trips. Another nice thing about the ND is with it in your pocket you can feel free to jump on and off a passing bus at whim, which is fun to do. (You can see where my bias lies.)

To get to Versailles using RER C you would just buy a RT ticket at the RER station where you begin your journey. Cost is around 3 euro from central Paris.

On your day of departure if you needed to use the metro you could just buy a ticket or two, use whatever is left from a previous carnet. If you are using the RER to get to the airport just buy your OW ticket at the station.

djk: We will do exactly as you suggest: buy carnets for Fri-Sat-Sun. Get a ND from Mon-Sunday.

Seamus: One question. Can we buy the Navigo passes on Friday when we arrive, load it for the week, so it will be ready to use on Monday?

While we most likely won't "break even" with the purchase of the passes, I'm with you on your "bias" - I'd like to be able to jump on and off a bus at whim, there's no keeping track of tickets, plus the pass makes a nifty souvenir. 100% agreement here on all the points that you mentioned.

Going off-tangent here, how easy is it to hail a cab late at night? We just spent a week in NYC and didn't use the bus/subway at all because we kept saying "we'll try to do it tomorrow". I think it's a genetic anomaly. Anyway, while we'll really make an effort to use the bus system in Paris, would it be safer to take a taxi after a late night dinner, say between 11-12 pm back to our apartment in the 7eme?

We're taking a shuttle from CDG to the apartment and again, on departure day.

Thank you.

Yes, you can buy the ND on Friday and load it with a pass for the next week. Sales of passes for the current week end on Wednesday and passes for the following week go on sale Friday. The pass is valid from midnight (00:00h) Monday morning and remains good through 23:59 the following Sunday.

You don't hail cabs in Paris. There are taxi ranks all over town where you go to get a cab. In fact, any taxi that would stop if you hailed could well be an unlicensed gypsy cab, something you want to avoid. Taxi is not your only option. Most metro lines will still be running around midnight (though ending service not long after that) and a bus is a perfectly safe option. There are Noctilien (night) bus routes that run all night. You can see lines and schedules using an interactive map at www.ratp.fr (click the flag in the upper right for English version.)

Thanks Tim!

not sure if it's the best value, but the zone 1-6 pris visite worked best for us...just left Paris June 22, 2010. Just don't lose the small ticket. It also gets you on the funiculare at Basilica Sacre Coeur, besides Versialles, and CDG. But, it is good only until midnight of the fifth day. Not 5-24 hour periods if you arrive say 10am, and think you use it to leave 8am or so of the 6th day.

Thanks to all the useful info in this forum, we did purchase the Navigo Decouverte card - it did suit us very well as our Paris stay was 9 days and we were able to use the card for all of its 7 days. (We did bring photos from home cut to the specified size and paid using cash in a ticket machine as the ticket machine refused to read our credit cards from U.S)

Our apartment was nicely located only about 10 min walk from Arc de Triomphe, we used the metro pass for conventient and quick transport to each indivudual part of the city that we wanted to explore each day. With all the walking in various parts of town, the walking to get there and back would have been too much for our legs and feet.

Also, I want to mention that holders of Navigo Decouverte also receive a discount on the Batobus river boats. We took the Batobus boat from Eiffel Tower down to Notre Dame one morning, a very nice ride. Then after a full day of exploring The Latin quarter area complete with dinner etc we took one of the very last boats back. For our return we back tracked a bit and got on the boat by the d'Orsay museum and so had a very nice ride in the twilight down to Notre Dame and back again to the Eiffel Tower. Along the river were lots of people resting, having picnic dinner on a blanket, playing guitars etc. Approaching the Eiffel tower it was almost 11 PM, very pretty in the dark with the tower all lit up.