Getting around Paris, France

If you intend to travel to Paris, France mind that driving around Paris is a job best reserved for the terminally aggressive – if you don’t have lots of time to kill, you’re better off taking public transport, which is generally well maintained and supremely convenient. Parisians don’t much like to share the road, and cycling in this city is no joy. Enjoy your Paris holidays without any problems!

Orientation
Getting around Paris, France, think of the Louvre, Paris as being in the center of town. The river Seine flows east to west, cutting the city in half. The Eiffel tower, Paris is in the west, to the north is the Sacre Coeur Basilica on the Montmartre hill and to the south is the Montparnasse tower, a 56-storey skyscraper. These landmarks can help you to get some idea of where you are. The area north of the river is known as the right bank (rive droite) and to the south as the left bank (rive gauche).

Arrondissements, Paris

Paris is divided into 20 districts (arrondissements). Each has its own town hall, Sécurité Sociale office, tax office, etc. The arrondissement is indicated in the last two digits of Parisian postal codes, for example 75011 would be in the 11th arrondissement, 75007 in the 7th, etc. The first Pairs arrondissement is centered around the Louvre, with the other arrondissements unwinding in a clockwise direction around it like a snail’s shell. The arrondissement boundaries are clearly marked on maps and most street signs have the arrondissement number above the street name.

Maps

Free Paris maps are available at most stations, Tourist Information Centers (‘Bureau De Tourism’), Paris airports, and museums and monuments. For a more detailed breakdown of each arrondissments, then a ‘Plan De Paris’ can be bought from bookshops and newspaper stalls. The ‘Plan’ lists all streets in alphabetical order, indicating nearest Metro stops and bus routes. Each arrondissment has a separate page.

Getting around Paris, France by Le Metro

The Paris Metro runs every day from 12.45 A.M until 5.30 A.M with reduced services on Sundays and holidays. On Metro maps each line is numbered and color-coded and is recognized by the beginning or end of the line which will feature on the front of each train.

Note: Bikes aren’t allowed on the metro.

Getting around Paris, France by L’Autobus

The public bus system covers everywhere, but its hours are laughable and don’t even try it on Sunday or a holiday. The Noctambus network takes over in the heavily trafficked areas once both the underground and the day buses go to sleep. Like the Metro, each bus is marked with its point of origin and destination and numbered. Major stops are indicated on the side of the bus and an LCD display inside the bus indicates the next stop. Bus stops can be found everywhere, usually as a curbside shelter with a plan of all the buses that stop there displayed. Buses start about 7 A.M and run until about 9 P.M.

Getting around Paris, by France Noctambus

These are night buses which run on ten routes from Chatelet from 12.45 A.M until 5.30 A.M. Thirteen of these eighteen lines end at Châtelet, a place in the middle of Paris near the Hôtel de Ville (the city hall). The other five end at transfer points for one of the thirteen lines that go to Châtelet. They all start just beyond the edge of the city in a neighboring suburb, the Banlieue, in a spoke pattern all around the city.

Most run once an hour with the schedules coordinated to make transfers not take too long.

Night buses will stop anywhere, just hail them.

Getting around Paris, France by BusDeNuit: The Other Night Bus

SNCF, the train people, who live in Paris, run yet another bus, the BusDeNuit, from midnight to 6 AM, seven days a week. The BusDeNuit has three lines. All three end at Châtelet. They start at CDG (north of Paris), Le Verrière (southwest of Paris), and Corbeil-Essones (southeast of Paris). They travel from further out than the Noctambus and run later (earlier) than the RER. They provide the only way to get to CDG after midnight and before 6 AM. I don’t otherwise understand the logic of the three routes.

The line to CDG runs every half-hour and takes about an hour to make the trip. The lines to the other two destinations run every hour, staggered: the buses from Corbeil-Essones arrive at Châtelet at twenty minutes past the hour; the buses from Le Verrière at fifty minutes past the hour. The buses from the southern starting-points lay over at Châtelet for ten minutes then continue to CDG on the hour and half-hour.

Getting around Paris, France by RER: The Commuter Train

RATP and SNCF, the train company, join to offer commuter train service to locations beyond the reach of the RATP Bus and Metro. Travelers will most economically ride these Paris trains to and from the airports, Orly and Charles de Gaulle (CDG). Tourists will find it the best way to visit Versailles. A ticket from CDG into town costs approximately $7. A ticket to Versailles, Paris costs approximately $4.50.

The tickets have no time limitation: one can buy one today and use it a month later.

One can board RER trains at many of the same stops as the Metro uses. The map the Metro-person gives out has a map of the RER routes as well. One can continue his/her trip on the Metro without paying a separate fare.

The first RER train arrives at CDG at 6 AM.

Getting around Paris, France by RoissyBus: A Bus to Charles de Gaulle Airport

RATP runs a bus from Opera, Paris (near Gare St Lazare) to Charles de Gaulle airport. It runs from 7 AM to 12:30 AM. I don’t know why one would take this bus instead of the RER.

Getting around Paris, by France OrlyBus: A Bus to Orly Airport

RATP runs a bus from Denfert-Rochereau (14 e ), a major bus & metro station near Montparnasse, to Orly Airport. It runs from 7 AM to 11 PM.

Getting around Paris, by SNCF: The Long Distance Train

The national train company, SNCF runs trains all over France and into neighboring countries (including Britain). Lots of people ride these trains. They run often, charge inexpensive fares, provide a clean, comfortable, and safe ride. Paris has six train stations: Gare St Lazare (famous for its depiction in Monet paintings), Gare Montparnasse, Gare d’Austerlitz, Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord, Gare de l’Est. Gare d’Austerlitz and Gare de Lyon lie near each other on opposite sides of the Seine. Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est lie near to each other as well. Each station serves a different section of the country.

The train stations have schedules for all the routes and brochures that have maps and schedules for most routes by region.

Getting around Paris, by Ferries

You can take a ferry for travel between: England and Northern France ; France and Corsica; France and North Africa ; France and Ireland.

Getting around Paris by Taxis

Alpha Taxis 01 45 85 85 85 (Requests in English possible)
Taxis Bleus 01 49 36 10 10 (French & English recording)

Tickets and Travel Cards

Travel in Paris is relatively cheap as it is heavily subsidized. Tickets can be used on both the buses and the Metro or the RER, zones 1-2. The type of ticket you use will depend on how long your stay is and how far you intend to venture.

Tickets and ‘Carnets’

Single tickets can be bought at Metro stations or on the bus. A single ticket will get you from your departure station to your destination with unlimited changes but if you leave the station the ticket becomes void and won’t get you through the turnstiles again. More economically, a ‘Carnet’ of 10 will save queuing and work out cheaper.

Carte Orange’

The ‘Carte Orange’ is a small orange card (with a passport photo) in a grey plastic folder with a pocket for a weekly or monthly coupon. This will give you all-inclusive travel for that period of time for unlimited journeys. Take your passport photo to any Metro station and you’ll get a free ‘Carte Orange’ which you’ll need to put your name on. You the buy a ‘Coupon Jaune’ or a ‘Coupon Orange’. The ‘Coupon Jaune’ is a weekly travel pass (valid from 1 A.M Monday until 11.59 P.M Sunday) is on sale the Sunday before it becomes valid and lasts a week. The ‘Coupon Orange’ is a monthly pass and lasts one calendar month and goes on sale the 20th of the previous month. You will have to state at the pay window when you buy your coupon which zones you require. Zones 1-2 cover the whole city and other zones extend out of the city. On the day of travel, push your ticket through the turnstile and then put it back in its grey plastic wallet. On the buses just show the driver your ‘Carte Orange’ with it’s valid ticket.

Formula 1

The Formula 1 is a one-day Paris travel pass that gives you unlimited travel for that day. An identity card (no photo needed) accompanies a daily coupon. With this you can use the Metro. RER and bus as often as you like up to 3 zones.

Paris Visite

The ‘Paris Visite’ is a travel pass offered to foreign travelers and can be bought from the SNCF, airports, most Metro stations and some travel agencies. It allows the same unlimited travel as other passes and is valid for 1-5 days depending on your requirements. It is a more expensive option but can be bought on any day of the week and can be used for discounts in some attractions. Zones 1-3 give you access to the city and the immediate suburbs.

Say what you will about driving around Paris, but the city’s public transportation is world class. The most charming of Paris ‘ public transport options, the underground Metropolitain (and its sister system, the RER), is a simply massive network. No matter where you are, chances are there’s a metro station within a few blocks and you easily get to your hotel, restaurant, and tourist attractions in Paris. Choose travel passes carefully – depending on how many trips you make, daily travel passes aren’t necessarily good value for money.

The City of France is surprisingly pedestrian-friendly: it’s compact and there are few hills. Watch out on pedestrian crossings, though – cars tend not to stop.

Phones

Most Paris telephone boxes (cabines téléphoniques) in France accept only telephone and credit cards. Coin phones are rare, except in cafés, where the call may cost you more than the normal charge of €. Telephone cards (cartes téléphoniques) are available at post offices (La Poste), tobacconists (tabacs), train stations and newsstands (kiosque). The standard France Telecom cards come in two denominations – 50 units and 120 units.

Public phones have a display unit, which will provide you with instructions in English if necessary. Lift the receiver, insert your card and wait for the display unit to tell you to dial (numerotez). All phone numbers in France have 10 digits, with the exception of emergency numbers and some France Télécom services. To make an international call, dial 00, then the country code plus the city code followed by the number you want. Pre-paid telephone cards are available for use with public or private phones. This system works for calls within France and/or international calls. These cards are not inserted into public telephones, but activated by dialing a free telephone number and then your personal identification (PIN) number, printed on the card.
If you need to phone a number in Paris, you must use the prefix 01 even when phoning from within Paris.

Note: Telephone numbers beginning with 0800 are free (numéro vert). All other numbers beginning with 08 charge variable rates.

To make a reverse charges call, tell the operator you want to call “en PCV”.
In France, dial 10 for the operator and 12 for national directory enquiries. For international directory enquiries dial 00 33 12 plus the international dialing code of the desired country. In an emergency, dial 15 for medical assistance, 17 for the police and 18 for the fire department.

Currency exchange

You can find currency exchanges in most tourist locations and in certain banks. Check the rates though, as you will find quite large variations from one place to another. Banks and major exchange offices do not always have the best deals. For countries where the exchange rate is fixed (euro currency countries), check on the commission charged, as this can be anything from 2% upwards, sometimes with a fixed minimum rate. You will usually get a slightly better rate for cash as opposed to travelers’ cheques, and for the latter do not forget your passport or some kind of photo identification. Be aware that a lot of banks have a high service charge, over and above their commission, if you do not have an account with them.

Bureau de Change 24 hour
150 av. des Champs-Elysées
75008 Paris
Tel: 01 49 53 02 51

Lost property
(Bureau des Objets Trouvés de la Préfecture de Police).
36, rue des Morillons
75015 Paris
Tel: 01 40 30 52 00
M° Convention

If you lose something on the Paris Métro, the bus or elsewhere, and someone hands it in, the object will be sent to the lost property office of the main police station.
Inventories are done in the morning. A recorded message advises to come for collections Tuesdays and Thursdays 13h – 16h45, Wednesdays and Fridays 13h – 15h45. If you lose your Carte Orange and it is handed in, you can recover it at the Gare de Lyon in the Salle d’Echanges RER, open weekdays 11h – 19h.

Chemists / Pharmacies

English-speaking chemists:
6, rue Castiglione
75001 Paris
Tel: 01 45 60 72 96

1, rue Auber
75009 Paris
Tel: 01 47 42 49 40

Night chemists:
84, av des Champs- Elysées
75008 Paris
Tel: 01 45 62 02 41
Open 24 hours daily

6, pl de Clichy
75009 Paris
Tel: 01 48 74 65 18
Open 24 hours daily