Arrival at GDG Questions

Janet, I have not purchased more than one metro ticket at the airport, but information desks should be able to direct you to a place in the airport if one exists. Have you tried purchasing these on line in the states?

It's 'carnets'.

There's tourist info desks all over the airport iconed by a lower case 'i' in a circle. You'll spot one as soon as you come into the unsecure part of the airport after clearing C&I.

You can buy everything there, including the RER ticket if that's how you're getting into town. They take credit cards.

If they're clobbered, get the pass at the first museum you come to and the carnet at the first metro station you use. Mag strip cards won't work in the machines in the metro, they will at the manned booths.

In response to the previous post:

1. All this is done at the Tourist Information kiosk, not the Airport Information one.

2. A carnet is nothing more than ten loose individual tickets purchased in a glump at a discount. Any place that sells one will sell seventeen dozen if that's what you want.

Do not skip a desk in the airport where you can buy carnets just because it has a nasty line. The RER station is always (in my experience) ... clobbered! You will not do better at the RER station! I rather like the surface bus to Ave. de L'Opera, but it depends where your hotel is. If you are in Paris for a week and arriving Mon or Tues, look into Navigo passes in the Search box here.

@Tim, Navigo passes in search returned up diddly. Can you elaborate please? I will be arriving in Paris on a Tuesday and I'm interested in knowing the reference for these passes. Thanks for any elaboration/information.

The Navigo is good for a week starting at the first minute of Monday, costs five euro plus twenty euro for central Paris movement and thirty-five to include getting to and from the airports which would be transit zones three through five. You need a picture smaller than the one in a passport - - there's usually a photo booth around somewhere.

Think about the price vs a carnet price and how much riding you'll do. If I stay in the way-beyond, I'll use a ticket to get in in the morning and one to get home at night. Thus two out of the carnet would make the packet last for five days since Paris is pretty walkable - - maybe an extra if it's raining like stink or I decide to go from one end of town to the other all of a sudden. If you burn through a carnet and won't need another whole batch (they never expire) you can always buy a couple of singles.

A single metro ticket costs 1.7 euro and a carnet drops it to 1.4 per ride.

When you buy your museum pass at your first museum, select a relatively quiet one, not the Louvre. We bought ours at Napoleon's Tomb which was not crowded at all.
Metro tickets are easy to buy at any cashier booth in the Metro. You can buy them at the machines but requires a lot of coins. Somehow, our credit card would not work.

Remember what you want is a Navigo Decouverte not a 'Navigo pass' which is what the locals get (I only say that because every so often, a snotty clerk, will tell you you can't have a Navigo pass -- anyone can buy an ND) They run Mon-Sun if charged for a week and a calendar month if bought for the month. You pay 5 Euro for the card, you will need a postage size stamp head shot (just print one on your computer -- no special paper required) 25/30 mm. Usually the clerk just hands you the kit and you assemble it. You can charge it for any number of zones -- all Paris is in Zone 1 and so you don't generally need more than the zone 1-2 charge (which covers all of the metro and the RER within Paris) If you want to use it to get into town from the airport you can charge it for 5 zones or you can get the 1-2 and then charge it at reduced price (7 Euroish) for the trip into town. These one time charges are valid for 3 hours after you buy them. Otherwise you buy a single 9.75 ticket into town which will let you transfer to the metro to your final destination.

You will understand the system better if you do your own research through these basic tools:
http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/en-GB/Passagers/Home/
http://www.ratp.fr/en/
www.parisbytrain.com
There are two train stations at CdG, both in Terminal Two and adjacent to one another. You want the RATP, not the inter-city SNCF/TGV. Terminal Two is a sprawl so check out the airport website above and print a map if you need navigational help.
I don't bother with the pass system. One RER ticket into the city will get me to the hotel; it's good for the subway as well as the train. A carnet of 10 tickets is a breeze to use in the central zones. You can buy both from an agent or, with chip-and-PIN credit card, a machine.
May I suggest trying to edit the spelling in your headline as well as the mistake previously pointed out "carnet"? The new Steves' Forums will let you do it.

If you want to start at the Louvre, that is also a perfectly fine place to get the Museum Pass. Enter at the Carrousel entrance where the security line is usually not too daunting and then you can get it from any of the manned kiosks. Avoid d'Orsay until you have the pass as that is one spot where the main line can be over an hour and the pass/ticket entrance for security is non-existent or no longer than 15 minutes.