HappyTraveling

Hi,
Just beginning our research for our Paris trip in October.

What's arrondissemont? It's relating to areas...that much I gather?
The rail pass supposely coveres zones 1-6. Does it then mean that 7th arrondissemont is way outside of Paris?

Clueless in Oslo.

Scarlett

The City of Paris is broken up into districts-Arrondissmont.
The 7th is on the Left Bank, right smack in the middle of Paris.
You must get a good map right away-I love Streetwise Paris-
Google Paris maps and look there until you get a good map, it will be invaluable help~

djmaxxx

Arrondisments and zones are two different things.

An arrondisment is an area of the city. A way of organizing the city.

Zones are for travel on the metro (subway) bus, and RER (rail). Unless your staying way outside Paris, only buy a Rail Pass for Zone 1 and 2.

adrienne

Hi Happy,

I'm not familiar with what each zone encompasses as I buy carnets, not passes, but a zone does take in more than 1 arrondisement. All the arrondisements are within Paris; I believe there are 20 of them.

Before you spend money on a pass figure out where you'll be going. You might not need a pass.

mamc

There is a map of arrondisements on the main Fodor's Paris page. Arr. 1-8 are very central, bordering on the Seine in the center of the city. The higher the number, the farther from the center is the Arr.

Underhill

Here's a link to a map of the arrondissements:

http://www.welcometoparis.it/mappa.uk.html

If you do a Google search you should be able to find a map with some sightseeing information.

justretired

The correct spelling is "arrondissement". These are sections into which Paris is divided, starting with 1 in the center, and spiraling out. The seventh is still quite central - it includes the Eiffel Tower, for instance. See a map at "http://www.paris.org/Maps/MM/".

- Larry

ellenem

The numbering systems of the arrondissement follow a spiral. Number 1 is at the center of the city--think the Seine and Ile de Cite. The numbers spiral from there making about two turns around the center. Thus number 11 might be on the other side of the city from number 17. A good map will show the designations.

Scarlett

LOL , thanks for the spelling correction Larry!

capo

For "arrondissement" think arROUNDissement since, as others have noted, they spiral around Paris (in a clockwise direction beginning at the center.)

TopMan

Now that you know what they are one hopes you won't get into that nasty and rather pretentious habit of referring to all areas of Paris "by the numbers." "That big thing in the 7th" is more commonly,and much more helpfully to those who aren't as familiar with the numbering system, known to most as the Eiffel Tower just as "that church in the 4th" used to be called Notre Dame!

Gretchen

And to emphasize, for a rail pass you will only need zones 1 and 2 for the Paris arrondisements. The other ZONES (not arrondisements) are the outer perimeters of Paris and you are unlikely to go there often enough to use a pass for them.

SuzieC

and someone surely will correct me if I'm wrong, but each arrondissement is as if a little town within the big Towne, each with its own "city hall", etc. I imagine its just political subdivisioning...

Christina

There is a map with the metro/RER zones on the RATP web site.

You should not buy a pass for zones 1-6, it is really a rip-off, I will guess. It will be much more expensive than you probably need. First, there is hardly anything in zone 6, I can't imagine you need that one. Zones 1-2 are all of Paris itself, beyond that you are getting into suburbs (airport, Versailles, Disneyland, etc).

indytravel

The postal code for an address includes the arrondissement. For example the postal code 75001 is for the 1st, 75002 is the 2nd, etc.

justretired

Well, now that you've mentioned "75":

Being driven around in the French countryside years ago, we were cut off by another car. The driver of the car I was in mumbled something about a "damn Parisian". I asked how he knew the driver of the other car was from Paris. He pointed out that the license plate started with a "75". (I don't know if it's still like this.)

More recently, I visited a French family in Paris, and the wife noted that she was leaving in a few days to go "en provinces" (literally, to the provinces). I asked what that meant, and it turned out that "en provinces" refers to anywhere outside of Paris (half the population of France lives in or around Paris).

Note the difference between the word "province", referring to any one of the tranditional French provinces, and "Provence", a specific one of them.

- Larry

PatrickLondon

Since we're now on to département numbers, let's remember they're primarily in alphabetical order (both postcodes and car registrations use them, and you will often see place names quoted with the département number). So neighbours in the list can be at opposite ends of the country (Finistère 29/Gard 30, Ardennes 08/Ariège 09 - this could be a party game).

I found this useful map of what's here - regions first, then départements:
http://www.tourisme.fr/carte/france.htm

ninasdream

Paris has 20 arrondissements, or sections. Why do you want a rail pass? How long is your stay? I would opt for carnets of tickets. These are booklets of 10 one-way metro tix. You can share the carnet, and the unused tix are even good on a return ticket, or give any leftoever to a new French friend. At 10 euros, they're a good buy. I guess a rail pass can offer good value if you are taking some sidetrips like Versailles, and get a zone pass which includes it. Or travel outside of France, I think it counts toward /discounts your rail tix. I may not have that exactly right...but try the carnets.

ninasdream

Forgot to say : I second Scarlett's suggestion for a Streetwise map. I had one with me in Paris in April, and it is great- it has a terrific metro map. Don't use the free maps from the metro or hotels, use the Streetwise.

Travelnut

A far better laminated map for Paris is the City Flash brand. It covers virtually all the area inside the periphique, has good markers for Metro stops, a great (legible) metro map, and a brief street index. This is a good way to learn the overall layout of Paris.

A better reference while IN Paris is to buy the pocket-size(4x7) "Paris Pratique" par arrondissement. It has metro map, RER map (showing zones 1-6), bus map, extensive street index and detailed map of the city by arrondissements. It cost about 6-7 Euro at any newstand in Paris.