Anyone use a Paris Train Metro Week Pass – Navigo Découverte

My sister and I 'discovered' the benefit of purchasing the Navigo card. We had visited Paris twice before realizing there was such a bird. Now, whenever we visit, we take our card and reload it. Although we occasionally use the metro, we prefer to use buses...we see more above ground. Even though Paris is walkable, we prefer to ride. If one is planning on being in Paris for 5-7 days--the NC is perfect...easy to purchase, easy to reload...easier to use.
As for the restrooms in the Metro--I have yet to see many and the ones I have seen--I would not use.

The Navigo Week Pass is indeed a good deal, especially if you like the Metro (and RER and buses). There is an initial fee set-up fee, which I recall as 5 euro per pass, but may have changed, but is in that ballpark. Bring your "passport" photos with you when you buy. 1" by 1 1/4". Selfies are fine.

There aren't any restrooms in the Métro -- well except for the corners that various men help themselves to. Yuck.

Just a reminder that it will be 105 euros, not $105. Although the exchange rate is not too bad these days, so 105 euros is only about $117 at current exchange rate.

My wife and I bought the navigo passé last September, it is 20 euro plus a one time fee of 5 euros . It works fantastic. Buy it at the airport when you arrive . You just have to scan the plastic card over the machines at the turnstiles. It will get you on all the rer trains , the subways the busses , it's good to get to Versailles, fountainbleau, it will save you time and money from getting the carnet tickets , it is good from Monday to Sunday and is reloadable for the 20 euros.

Thank you for your replies. That was just the validation I was looking for!

Michael

Just got back yesterday from Paris. We had the Navigos and they were indispensable. They cover all 5 zones and so the 10 Euro one way from CDG covered almost the entire cost. (20s Euro round trip) 5 Euros to buy the card. We didn't have pictures so we photocopied our passports at the hotel and used that for photos. We were checked once by a random stop - they just waved us through when they saw the Navigo cards.

We have been using the Navigo Decouverte for many years. It was always a good deal but now with the dezonage it is an amazing deal. I am assuming they will figure out a way to bar tourists from buying it since it is such a great deal. As others have noted the RER and metro stations do not have restrooms. Main train stations do and there is a fee for those. There are restroom cabins on the street which are free; there are some public restrooms notably in the Tuilleries, Luxembourg Gardens and near Notre Dame; fees apply. There are occasionally restrooms in parks without fees but those are predictably disgusting as they don't have attendants. It is easy to use a restroom in a cafe; it is appropriate to buy a little something; my husband is always good for a quick cafe at the bar so he will do that while I nip off to the restroom. Shockingly the restrooms in some department stores are very expensive.

Can you purchase the Navigo Découverte and have it charged at a later time? (we have our pictures ready) I have researched this it will be perfect for us as we plan to visit Paris again and again. The reason I want to purchase in advance is that I will be taking a trip late in April arriving at CDG, spending a week in Burgundy, then going back to CDG to fly to England for a family wedding, then coming back to CDG to spend some time in Paris. when we arrive back it will be later in the day and want to just be able to charge it at a kiosk and be on our way, and avoid any possible lines at the ticket office or worse yet, them be out of the passes at that time.
Merci d'avance !

Yes. The card is good for 10 years (at least) and can be purchased any time. Just make clear when you buy it that you just want the card and will charge it later. I think you can pay in a machine and then take the receipt to the window for the card kit and then put it together at leisure. Sometimes the clerk assembles it for you, but not if there are lines or if you are buying it for someone not there.

If you are buying from a clerk be sure you are clear that you want the card only so they don't run the weekly charge on your credit card. Better yet, buy it with a 5 Euro note.

I swear by the Passe Navigo Decouverte. Because it's so inexpensive I always arrive on a Monday and the first thing I do is recharge the card I bought in 2009. Even if you don't stay the full week you can't beat the price. Some, but not all metro stations will have toilets. Chatalet has them I believe. It's usually one of the larger transfer stations that also have Relays and other little shops. I liked the museum pass because it allowed me to skip the lines. I also found myself just popping into a museum for a short time because the pass covered it. Otherwise I would have skipped it. And there are no shortage of toilets in Paris. McDonalds, Quick, Starbucks besides the restaurants you will eat in and the museums you will visit. You won't have a problem.

Chatelet is a shopping mall and you walk through parts of the mall when changing trains and thus there are restrooms for the mall - I don't think any actual metro stations have toilets although if they coincide with a train station e.g. Nord, there will be pay toilets for the train station.-- have never encountered any in metro stations.

I'm going to have to see if I can locate my card from 2008. If not, I'm arriving on a Saturday and departing the following Saturday. It sounds like the card only can be purchased at the airport upon arrival. I can then load it Monday morning.

"Shockingly the restrooms in some department stores are very expensive." Don't assume all department store even have a public restroom. I was at the C&A located on Rue de Rivoli and politely asked where the bathroom was. The employee told me they didn't have one. I found it hard to believe that a large multi-storied department store didn't have a public bathroom. I went to another floor and asked someone else. Same answer. I ended up walking to the Starbucks a couple of blocks away.

Andrea, you can get the Navigo Decouverte card at any metro station. You have to purchase a voucher from the machine and then take it to attendant in the window. After that you can return to the machine to charge it for the week.

Andrea, as Tripatty said, you can get the Navigo any manned Metro or RER station, but if you are arriving at the airport, that is obviously the best place to buy as you can use it cover the ride into Paris. You can also buy it in one shot if you have your photos with you.
And the BHV department store on Rue de Rivoli has restrooms on many floors. But don't ask, just walk in like you're shopping. The cafeteria on the top floor is pretty decent lunch spot as well. They even have a sushi bar.

Sam, I'm arriving on a Saturday. Besides the trip from CDG into town, we can avoid any metro use the rest of that day and on Sunday. We can start the pass on Monday. I don't know if it makes sense to get a pass just for the ride into town, though if we do we would have more freedom to go wherever we want the next day. Decisions, decisions. We are being passport photos with us. We had to renew ours this year, so we have extras.

I was actually shopping at C&A when I had to leave the building to use the bathroom at Starbucks. I thought it was very strange.

You cannot buy the ND on Saturday for that week anyway so there is no choice to make here. ND purchase for the current week ends on Thursday. Any bought or charged after Thursday are for the following week. The Mobilis day pass is not good from the airport. The two day Paris Visite is too expensive for what you get. So buy 10 Euro tickets into town or take a cab for 50/55 Euro.

I am sure that the Carte would work great for your family.

We had intended to buy them when we got to Paris. We had been touring for 16 days and arrived in Paris ( me, my hubby and my mom 70) . We wanted to buy them to use on the bus cause my hubby has a knee replacement and my mom prefers buses. On our first day, we realized that we forgot to bring our photos with us so we just bought A carnet of tickets. This was a godsend. We took the bus wherever we wanted to go in the mornings and when we wanted to get back to our apartment in the 7th, we just took cabs. This was good as by day's end, my mom was tired and it made her days easier and ours too.

For 3 of us it was never more than €20 at the very most and most days more like €15 with tip. So over a 26 day trip that €200 was worth it to just not have to worry about how long the trip back to the 7th would be. Since we were there during the attacks last fall, we also felt safer at night in a cab instead of the bus.

I hardly believe this myself, and I saw it with my own eyes!

There is (going to be) a toilet for the public in Concorde metro station. !!

Yesterday morning, they had reopened a portion of the station passageways that have been closed for 2-3 months for refurbishment. And what are they installing but a public toilet, right in the station!! It still has a temporary construction entrance with something scrawled across it in black marker, but the TOILET sign is there and the buttons to the side that look like the buttons on all the free public self-cleaning toilets in town (JC Decaux handles the contract).

I thought of this thread immediately and thought it was so funny how we'd just been talking about this and POOF - it appeared. Sometimes there IS something new under the sun!