Paper Metro tickets still accepted?

Paper tickets (tickets t+) are still accepted and will be accepted for a long time or at least until there are electronic tickets for the RER. I am unaware of any announcements to move away from paper RER tickets (billet origine-destination) which remain valid when connecting to/from the métro.

Are paper Metro tickets still accepted in Paris?

Yes

Very good to know and encouraging too that the paper Metro tickets are accepted "for a long time." I probably have close to two dozen of them.

Paper tickets are still accepted but not all "turn-styles" are now accepting them. I think at least one at each station will still accept them but your wife might want to look at the consoles to see which has the proper mechanism.

they no longer sell carnets of tickets and there are huge signs all over the station entrances saying the carnet of tickets is 'finished'. But you can use paper tickets you have and perhaps obtain single tickets from machines. The RER uses paper tickets and they cannot be loaded on the Easy so the stations all need stiles that will accept paper tickets.

If they no longer sell carnets, what's the current best way to get transit passes for 4 days?

If they no longer sell carnets

A carnet is a group of 10 tickets, be they tickets t+ or origine-destination (used for the RER). Group purchases qualify for a discount from the single purchase price. A carnet itself is not a ticket, it is only the description of 10 tickets being sold at a discount.

A group of any 10 tickets, is described as a booklet on the English language kiosks, or as un carnet in the French language kiosk versions. Anyone using an English language kiosk will never see the word carnet.

The RATP has announced a phasing out of paper tickets t+, but 10 ticket groups, or booklets, continue to be sold, just as they always have.

You can still buy carnet of RER paper tickets at discount; I don't think you can do so for paper metro tickets. That is what those signs are about. Supposedly you can buy individual tickets and could of course buy ten of them, but not at the discount.

Or so I have been told. I use a monthly pass on the ND and so don't need to find out.

You can also buy day passes which are 7.50 for Paris or longer passes like the Visite, but it is more expensive than most other options including the Navigo Easy card on which you CAN load a carnet of metro tickets at a discount.

Thanks all! I'm sure my wife and friend will burn through the carnet of old Metro tickets in the first day or two so I think they will wind up buying an Easy Card. Thanks again!

I bought a "booklet" of 10 paper tickets from a metro machine on September 2, 2022 at the Alma-Marceau station. I didn't notice any of the signs that Janet mentions, but of course my French language skills aren't that great.

We had some paper tickets left & exchanged them for cash at Gare du Nord. this month

I am currently in Paris and was able to purchase a carnet of tickets at the discounted price yesterday at the service counter in a metro station.

was able to purchase a carnet of tickets

What kind of tickets? Paper RER tickets remain available in groups of 10 with a 20% reduced price.

How do we access the Navigo cards and how do we load more onto them?
Btw, NPR reported a story yesterday on saying good-by to the paper tickets including the delightful history of them replete with songs inspired by the paper tickets. I'm sure that story can be found on their website.

You may want to refer to one of the many discussions here about obtaining the Navigo cards. Basically, the Découverte (5€) is non-transferrable and requires both a photo and the name of bearer. The Easy is transferrable and costs only 2€. Buy any card at a kiosk and exchange the receipt at the service/sales window.

Cards are recharged at a kiosk or from your phone using either the Bonjour or the Île-de-France Mobilité app. If you have a late model Samsung phone with the Île-de-France Mobilité app, the phone itself is your Découverte or Easy card.

Thank you, Tocard. I've copied your response for my files for my trip to Paris in December.

The carnet that I purchased on September 2 was for the metro.

Every source I can find on the internet states that the paper tickets were supposed to be phased out by the first quarter of 2022. Then the Ukraine invasion and the chip shortage happened.

Now I am reading that paper tickets will be available until 2024 or 2025.

There are giant signs painted on the ground in our local metro that the carnet is fini.

Note that you can only put passes on the Navigo Decouverte and it requires a Navigo Easy to load tickets -- you cannot load tickets RER or metro on the ND. Nor can you put a weekly pass on the Easy.

Note also that while the Easy is 'transferable', it can only be used by one person at a time -- two people cannot each use it to enter the metro on the same trip.

Now I am reading that paper tickets will be available until 2024 or 2025

Again, what paper tickets? The paper tickets t+ are being phased out and replaced with e cards or mobile phones. However, there has been no announcement, to my knowledge, in reference to replacing paper RER tickets or billet origine-destination. Either tickets t+ or RER tickets can be used on the métro.

do you even need tickets? can you tap and pay with a credit card at a turnstile like in London?

No you can't use a credit card.
I purchased a carnet of t+ tickets on September 2.
Articles that I am reading state that some stations are no longer selling these. Maybe they are phasing them out already in more residential areas, but still selling them in more touristy areas. Some articles say no complete phase out until 2025 and another says 2024.
NFCW link This article says that they are introducing support for electronic tickets for iphone in February, 2023. I don't see how you can get rid of paper tickets until you can get an electronic ticket on all smart phones. Tourists need to be able to get around Paris! How can you make a tourist that is going to be in the city for a few hours or a few days purchase a card and load it? That doesn't make sense.

can you tap and pay with a credit card at a turnstile like in London?

No

I followed vandrabrud's link back to the original RATP reference. The original reference, an RATP Tweet, states that apple devices should become compatible with the RATP system in 2024.

Le Figaro had an article some months ago explaining the progression of using smart phones in lieu of e cards. Both Samsung and Apple submitted plans to have their phones used as e card replacements. With Apple's plan, the phone required battery power to be used as an e card replacement The Samsung plan adopted the same circuitry as has the e card and functions even if the phone has no battery power.

Samsung donated the cost of circuitry adaption to their hardware. Apple wanted money from the public transportation to add these features to their phones. The RATP accepted the Samsung plan and Samsung phones can be used in lieu of e cards, Navigo Easy and Navigo Decouverte.

I have no details on how Apple will be used with public transportation in Paris.

"How can you make a tourist that is going to be in the city for a few hours or a few days purchase a card and load it? That doesn't make sense"

Except every transit system in the world is changing over to (or is already using) reloadable cards, unless they decide to skip that step and go right to tap and pay. In LA you need to buy and load a card, in NYC, in Wash DC, in London they had the Oyster but now you can also tap. So yes, you have to buy a card and load it and hope you use it all up.