public transportation in paris

What time of day?

Here is the interactive planner from the regional transportation authority. Perhaps you can use it to work out your schedule.
http://www.ratp.fr/itineraires/en/ratp/recherche-avancee
It predicts the time needed from place to place, but I think the estimates can be a little optimistic about how quickly a stranger can sort out transfers. A nice source for advice is www.parisbytrain.com

Metro is always faster..

See,, and this is why I think the Rue Cler area sucks for transport.. no where is direct from there.. you will have to transfer lines all the time ( metro.. not sure about bus lines)

The metro is so much easier to learn to navigate to me.. I still haven't mastered the buses.. but the metro.. anyone with a finger who can follow a line and read a number has it made..

The route #69 is a good "starter bus" for tourists, connecting two areas you may need to connect, and along a scenic route. I have not looked up whether it takes 20 minutes, or 40, etc, but I think you will be less stressed if you leave your timing a bit flexible.

I like bus route #80 (direction: Mairie du XVIII) to Montmartre. The bus makes 4 stops on Ave. Bosquet (one block over from Rue Cler). Get off at Lamarck-Caulaincourt and you will find yourself on the "backside" (and more scenic side) of Montmartre. Just start walking uphill and you will pass (and climb) some of the scenic steps that you have seen in movies, sights like the Montmartre vineyard, Au Lapin Agile, etc. as you make your way to Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre. So many people make their way up to Sacre Coeur from the metros at Abbesses and Anvers (with all those cheap souvenir shops lining the streets) that they miss the "real" Montmartre on the other side! As Laura says, be flexible with your time and remember buses always have to compete with traffic on some of the narrower streets.

Tom, that is a great tip for folks! Definitely much more enjoyable than coming up from Anvers . . .

One cannot say definitively how long it takes on #69 to get from one place to another because it depends on traffic. I've also experieced it stoppIng somewhere along rue de Rivoli and everyone having to get out to find another bus.

If you want to use buses rather than the Metro, pick up the blue booklet "Paris Bus L'Indispensable". I got mine at a news kiosk for about 6 euros. It has street maps of every bus route, showing stops and transfer points.

If you have any issues making stairs and long walks difficult, using the bus will work better for you than the Metro.