Note:
A price following by + means the price has not been updated for several
years.
MÉTRO, BUS,
RER
HOW TO PAY THE FARE: For the MÉTRO (subway),
RER (suburban rail system) stations within Paris, and Paris ( RATP)
non-suburban buses, the easiest and cheapest way to pay the fare is to
buy a “carnet”
(car-NAY), a loose pack of ten tickets for €10,90. (Single tickets
are about 30 percent more.) These are good on Métro, RATP bus,
the Sacré Coeur cable car and the RER (suburban trains) within
Paris.
Put a ticket in the slot in the turnstile and it
will pop out another slot and release the turnstile so you can pass
through. (On buses, the driver may want to see your ticket before it is
put in the slot of a nearby box.) KEEP YOUR TICKET. Inspectors could
ask to see it, and on the RER you need to put the ticket into a
turnstile again to get out. The Métro ticket is good on the RER
within Paris, but outside Paris you need to buy a special ticket for
the RER destination.
There are also special
tourist tickets for one, two, three or five days, but
they’re not really a bargain unless you plan to do a lot of
travel on the Métro.
The best deal is the Carte Orange (cart o-RAW[n]juh),
which you obtain at any Métro ticket window. You need a very
small photo, available from machines in many Métro stations. You
need to fill in your name and other information on the Carte Orange
when you get it, affix the photo and seal it. The person at the ticket
window will probably attach the photo. Once you have the Carte Orange,
you can buy a weekly ticket (“coupon hébdomadaire (coupon
hébdo) pour Paris”) (coo-POE[n] ebb-DOUGH poor paREE),
good Monday through Sunday within Paris on Métro, bus and
RER, €15,60. You must enter the number from your orange card
on the weekly coupon or you can be fined. You use the coupon (ticket)
for entering the Métro and entering and exiting the RER. There
is also a monthly coupon available if you will be there most of a
calendar month.
Free maps
are available. Ask for a “plan” (plaw[n]) The
“plan numéro un” (plaw[n]-noo-may-row AAH[n]) is a
schematic map that is very easy to use; while the “plan
numéro deux” shows major Paris streets with the actual
routes of the Métro lines.
The MÉTRO
LINES (“lignes” - leanyuh) are numbered, 1 through
14, and relatively easy to use. There are wall maps and some electronic
maps in the stations. Also, near the exits there are often large
detailed maps of the area around the station.
The only way to tell whether you are on the platform
for trains going the direction you want is to know the terminus (end
station) name of the line. There are also sometimes signs on the wall
as you enter a corridor leading to a platform that list all the stops
of trains on that platform. The terminal names are often complex French
proper nouns that you will have to try hard to remember (like
Villejuif-Aragon, Malakoff-Rue Étienne Dolet, Gabriel
Péri/Asnières-Genneviliers, etc.). Signs on the platform
indicate the destination terminal, identified by
“Direction” - for example “Direction Porte de la
Chapelle.” If you’re going to the outskirts, note that some
lines split, and trains go to different destinations. The name of the
terminus or end station is shown on the train, and there is sometimes
an electronic sign in the station indicating where the next train is
going.
Other important
signs in the Métro:
“Sortie” = Exit
“Correspondence” = Connections (to other
lines)
“Passage interdit”= Do not enter
(literally, “passageway forbidden”)
Some Métro lines (especially 1 and 4) seem to
be crowded at all times, while others are often not crowded at all. Be
on the lookout for PICKPOCKETS
at all times, but especially in the Métro and tourist areas.
Almost everyone we know has had problems this way. Be especially alert
in crowded Métro trains. If someone seems to be too close,
pushing very hard, staring at you, trying to get your attention, or you
feel a tug on your purse or a hand in your pocket, be alert and ready
to defend your property. Often one culprit will distract you in some
way while his or her accomplice does the dirty work. See DOCUMENTS in
MONEY AND DOCUMENTS, for some suggestions on safeguarding your
passport, etc.
The RER is
VASTLY MORE COMPLICATED than the Métro, and making a mistake can
take you disastrously far outside Paris, far from your destination, in
the wrong direction or on the wrong line. The faint-hearted should not
attempt the RER without very specific directions, such as those below
for getting from the airport to Paris, and probably not then.
GETTING TO PARIS
FROM THE CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT (CDG)
Detailed maps of the Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG)
(Aéroport Charles de Gaulle (sharluh-duh-GOAL, more commonly
known as also known as “Roissy” (rwah-SEE) terminals can be
found at the French Web site:
http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/fr-FR/Passagers/DansAeroport/LesTerminaux/
To download any of the maps, click on
“télécharger.”
BUSES FROM THE CDG AIRPORT: THE BEST,
THOUGH NOT ALWAYS THE QUICKEST, WAY INTO PARIS unless you want to spend
a fortune on a taxi is on a shuttle bus to Opéra, Étoile
(Arc de Triomphe) or Port Maillot, and then take a taxi or a
Métro train to your destination.
This site says it better than we
can: http://www.paristoolkit.com/airport/paris_cdg_bus.htm
RER
TRAIN FROM CDG AIRPORT
Although we don’t generally recommend the RER
in general, if you are moderately brave, you can take a train into
Paris from Aéroport Charles de Gaulle (CDG) on Line B (you
don’t need to know that) of the RER (air-uh-AIR) suburban train
network.
The trains run about every 15 minutes and start at
Terminal 2 (Aérogare 2, ) then stop at Terminal 1, before going
into Paris. There are quite a few local stops along the way and at rush
hour the trains are full of commuters.
If you come in to Terminal 2, the train station is
downstairs between Terminals 2C/2D and 2E/2F
You need to go down an escalator to the ticketing
area, and you can’t take a luggage cart onto the escalator.
The fare is about €8+. You can either go to a
ticket window or (much faster, if they’re working) to a ticket
machine (if you have coins). (The machines appear to accept credit
cards, but probably not yours - only the European kind with a memory
chip built in.)
For the ticket machine, input your station —
probably “Paris” or “Île de France.” You
need to select what kind of ticket — one way is probably
“aller simple”(round trip is “aller et retour”).
If you go to the ticket window, just say
“Paris one-way” in English or “Paris allée
simple (paREE, allay SA[n]-pluh).
After you get your ticket, find the escalator that
goes down to the track level. Before the escalator (I believe) there is
a turnstile you must put your ticket in. The ticket will come back out
a foot or so ahead of the slot you put it into. Be sure to keep the
ticket, as you need it again to get out of the RER, and it might be
checked on the train. Don’t try to carry or push your suitcase
through the turnstile. There is a place to the right or left where you
can slide your suitcase through, then retrieve it from the other side.
All trains go to Paris, unless you accidentally went
down the escalator to the TGV (high-speed long-distance train)
station. Depending on where you are going, you will probably want to
get off at MADELEINE, SAINT MICHEL or LUXEMBOURG.
You will NEED TO USE YOUR TICKET in the turnstile TO
GET OUT or to continue on the Métro.
TAXIS
If the light on the top of the taxi
is lit, it means it is available. However, “hailing” a taxi
is not as common (or successful) as in the U.S. There are over 500 taxi
stands in Paris, and the easiest way to get a taxi is to go to one of
these and stand in line.
There is a supplement for evening, weekends,
suitcases, more than three passengers (most cabs won’t or
can’t accommodate four), etc.
Mostly you won’t be cheated. A TIP of about
10% (perhaps even 15%) seems acceptable.
It’s a good idea to have your destination
address written on a slip of paper for the driver.
SIGHTSEEING BUS TOURS
A good way to get around the first day or two is to
take one or more of the doubledeck (“London-style”) tourist
buses. You can buy a ticket on the bus at one of the many attractions
the buses stop at. Tickets are good for a day or two and you can get on
and off the bus at any of a number of the major sights, then get on a
later bus and proceed to a different stop. This will give you a good
overview of Paris. You may want to stay on the bus for the entire
circuit the first time around and decide where you might want to stop
later. You will see a lot more than if you take the Métro.
The following is from Jason Stone’s
interesting Web site, which may not be active, as he has left Paris,
from http://jasonstone.typepad.com/nycaparis/paris/ If you can’t
reach that site, try “Jason Stone” Paris on Google to go to
the Google cache.
“There seem to be two major bus companies: the
Red Bus Tour
and the Open Tour. The Red Bus costs €22+ for one day. You can
usually buy the tickets at your hotel. The Red Bus looks just like the
ones you have seen in London. The Red Bus seems to follow one route and
it covers most of the major sites.
“The Open
Tour offers a one-day pass for about €25+ or a
two-consecutive-day pass for €28. The Open Tour has four
‘circuits’ and it seemed to cover a lot more of Paris. Of
course, I got a little greedy and I decided we should go with Open
Tour, because of the additional ground it covered. Unfortunately, I did
not factor in how much time it takes when you stop to visit one of the
"tourist attractions." By the end of our day, we had only completed one
of the four circuits.
“In my humble opinion, if something like this
interests you and you only have one day, I would take the Red Bus Tour.
If you have two days, then I would take the Open Tour.”
You will find these buses at all major sightseeing
destinations, and you can buy your ticket on the bus. You are given
free earphones to plug in for the narrative, available in five or six
languages.
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