PARIS
For reaching your hotel at the end of the day or if
you have a specific agenda, it’s good to use the great metro and bus system.
RER B is quite convenient from CDG airport.
 |
| RER B from CDG Airport |
 |
| RER C to VERSAILLES |
The Paris public transport network RATP has an app which works offline.
We prefer not to be dependent on whether our phone is
charged or how much data we should use. We rely on previously downloaded
and printed maps rather than apps.
A print of the metro and bus map and some prior work
makes it pretty simple to travel around in Paris.
Métro/RER AND BUS
link is for the official site: Metro / RER and Bus -
excellent map - keep playing with it.
 |
| PARIS METRO MAP |
link gives you metro map with streets
WHICH TRAVEL OPTION TO CHOOSE:
BASIC TICKETS/CARNET:
The basic ticket is a small piece of cardboard with a magnetic strip that costs €1,80. It's issued by RATP, the transportation authority for theA carnet (pronounced “car-nay”)of 10 tickets is a good value for most tourists .
You can buy your carnets at the RATP
desk at CDG or at any staffed ticket window at any Métro or RER
station. You can also buy them at some 1500 outlets throughout the
city. There are more details a little further down this post...
Pass: Navigo Découverte:
Now
link provides good transit fare info.
Navigo Découverte, the Smart card for Paris train week/month
pass valid on bus, Metro, RER, Ile-de-France (Transilien) trains (Not TGV) has
become great value from September 2015 when the price has been brought down.
5€ fee for card itself PLUS:
Navigo Week pass price, valid only from Monday at 00:00 to Sunday 23:59:59
(as of September 7, 2015 ) is 21,25€ for central Paris
and all Zones 1-5
Includes Airport CDG (in Zone 5), Disneyland Paris, Chateau de Versailles,Fontainebleau.
Covers ORY Airport (Orly )
using the Orlyval bus (not Orlyval train from Antony
station)
The new zone Navigo Pass Prices will include unlimited
travel to Orly and CDG airports, Chateau de Versailles as
well as Paris Disneyland.
As of Sept 7, 2015
all zones (zones 1 – 5) are one price: 21,25€ per week; 70,00€ per month.
How can we buy it?
Chipped credit cards are accepted by the ticket kiosks. If
you do not have a chipped credit card, the kiosks accept coins. If you do not
have coins, there is a euro bill changer at each bank of kiosks. If you do not
have bills, there are ATM machines allover the airport to include at least two
la Poste machines; one at Terminal 1 and a second a Terminal 2.
There are signs all over the airport pointing newly arrived
passengers to the departure points for ¨Paris by Train¨ of which there are two;
There are 2 RER stations at CDG. Each of them has a ticket office open at all
hours when trains are running. go to the staffed ticket counter at one of the
RER stations.
You need a passport size photo for the card; when you
get the kit put together yourself. this is simple to do; be sure you have a pen
with you to write your name on it before attaching the pictures, folding the
clear plastic gummed face over it and then sliding it into the plastic holder.
while it would work without being assembled, if you were checked for your
ticket without having the picture on the card, you would probably get a fine,
so do put it together before boarding the train.
You can keep the card and use it on your next trip to Paris
after just loading it for that week.
TICKETS:
The basic Métro ticket is a small piece of cardboard
(formerly mauve, now white) with a magnetic strip that costs €1,80. It's issued
by RATP, the transportation authority for the Paris
region.
The t+ ticket allows you to travel on:
- metro lines
- RER lines (RATP and SNCF) withinParis
(zone 1)
-Ile-de-France bus lines (RATP
and OPTILE), except airport buses Orlybus and Roissybus (see the specific
conditions below for the Noctilien network and lines with special fares: 299,
350 and 351)
- tramway lines (RATP and SNCF)
- theMontmartre funicular
- RER lines (RATP and SNCF) within
-
- tramway lines (RATP and SNCF)
- the
Métro ticket machines accept coins and credit cards, but
not banknotes. If you pay by credit card, don't withdraw the card too
quickly: It may take half a minute or longer for the machine to scan the card
and process the transaction, especially if you're using a magnetic-stripe
credit card from abroad.
Métro and RER ticket machines are designed to work with
French credit cards that have embedded chips. If your credit card doesn't work,
go to the ticket window.
Children under age 4 travel free. Kids from ages 4-10
pay the full adult fare for single tickets, but a children's carnet of
10 tickets is half price, so it pays to plan ahead.
RATP's page: http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/r_61635/ticket-t/
Unlike T+ tickets, bus tickets purchased on buses are
good only on buses and trams (they also cost 20 cents extra, or
€2,--), so buy a carnet or a few tickets ahead of time in the Métro if you plan
to ride the bus.
TRANSFERS ON THE SAME TICKET:
A single ticket will take you anywhere within the city of
Paris on the Métro and RER networks, and you can transfer between lines--or
between the Métro and the RER--on the same ticket.
You can also use T+ tickets on buses and trams,
although you can't transfer between the Métro and RER and buses or trams on the
same ticket.
Note that you have to validate your ticket again every
time you transfer. Bus to bus transfer within 1.5 hours is allowed on one
ticket except no transfer to a different bus on the same line.
VALIDATION OF TICKETS
Remember tickets have to be validated and retained for
inspection till you exit the system, otherwise, there is a fine:
Validation means getting a time stamp on the ticket.
You can understand why it’s important. If you just keep the ticket unstamped,
you can reuse the ticket and it’s not right. Some visitors don’t get this
aspect. They show a new unvalidated ticket to the ticket inspector on a bus and
are shocked when they are fined.
Inserting your ticket into the turnstile to enter the
RER/métro system automatically validates/time stamps the ticket. You must
keep your ticket while in the system because you'll need to insert it in a
turnstile to exit the system. People do jump the stile and travel ticketless,
so there are inspectors doing random checking in the metros too. Keep your
tickets till you exit.
For buses, there is a machine in the front. Insert your
ticket, it’ll come out time stamped/validated.
BUSES RATHER THAN METRO:
Many Paris métro
stations have lots of stairs. If the distance out is great and steep there is
usually an escalator and you have to pay attention to note the exits with them;
Few stations have elevators, and even if they do, the
elevators are out of service quite a bit.
The stair scenario varies from station to station:
- a few have both elevators and stairways;
- a small minority has escalators (though not always
working) and stairways, though not both at all exits;
- a large majority has stairs only.
You can find a list (French only) of stations with elevators
at: ratp.fr/fr/…( this is a list of ALL railway stations in the
Paris area, not only metro; look
for "Ligne x" in second column for the metro and note there are three
tabs at the top of the table)
Any trip to the metro will involve stairs -- stairs in,
stairs when you go to the platforms and stairs as you change from one line to
another underground -- and sometimes long stairs out. There is always a long
walk to make connections AND yes you guessed it, some more stairs!
Consider using the buses. They're quite reliable. Many lines stop
by 8 PM though, metros run late till midnight .
PARIS BUSES AND HOW TO USE THEM:
 |
| On bus no 24 to Gare de Lyon for our day trip |
Get on at the front, validate your ticket in the machine near the driver. Nod at the driver and say "Bonjour" to him/her with a smile. (In Paris, greet everyone with a "Bonjour", be it while entering a shop or your waiter at a restaurant)
Go towards the rear of the bus, and find a seat. Seats near the center are reserved for elderly, infirm or pregnant people.
Easy to monitor where you are and when your stop will come
up - almost all buses have route maps inside, as well as electronic signs
telling you where you are and where you're going.
Press the red button on one of the poles, before your stop.
Move toward the exit doors.
Exit from the big double doors in the middle of the bus.
If you are lugging a stroller or are in a wheelchair, you
may enter through the exit doors. There is a space reserved for strollers,
opposite the doors. Validate your ticket or pass, after settling down.
bus map.
 |
Don't be put off by this version. PDF prints out very clear. JIF files only can be uploaded here.
|
We orient ourselves on this map by circling the sites we want to visit and our hotel. Then we can see what lines ply near our hotel.
You can also find more detailed diagrams of specific numbered Bus Lignes.
We download the detailed plan of the lines we are likely to use.
is what you get when you google bus line 67 Paris
From our stop Pigalle (hardly 50m from our hotel), we can take bus 67;
 |
| Bus 67: PDF version is clearer than this JIF version |
 |
| Pigalle bus stop with shelter and seats |
2 things to note here: in the plan, look at the arrows. We need to travel in the left to right direction for Pigalle to Notre dame. So note the end stop in that direction and that’s the name the bus will carry on its board. In this case we are boarding at the 1st stop, so no confusion of traveling in the opposite direction. The bus will come in carrying the board Pigalle, change to Stade Charlety.
However, if we are in the center of the city and want to head back to the hotel… say we are at the Notre dame and see bus no 67, we have to ensure it’s name board carries Pigalle before boarding!
Attractions are pictured as icons to make our job easy. We just have to look for a stop nearby. We can reach Notre dame by getting down at Hotel de ville.
Now look at the stops… some have just a line but others have a flag pointing in one direction. That means that stop is on a one way street going in the direction of that arrow. Easy, right?
is bus line 68
Here look at which direction we should travel in. we’ll get in at Blanche from our Residence Blanche hotel, we should take the bus headed to chatillon montrouge not to place de clichy . We get down at stop musee de louvre for our visit to the museum.
Pretty cool!
All bus stops have a map and it’s pretty easy to figure out which direction you need to travel in and your options.
 |
| Line 67 plan on the bus stop at Pigalle |
covers a report of our 1st day in our 2014 Paris trip: CDG to the city and Louvre.
No comments:
Post a Comment