Paris Pass OR Other Options????

If you want to see several museums and sights, definitely get the Paris Museum Pass - a good value and also saves time waiting in lines. Paris Pass is generally not worthwhile. For transport, buy individual metro tickets in packs of ten (a 'carnet') at any metro station, and use as needed. To see other discussions, put 'Paris Pass' in the search area above and hit 'go'. Enjoy your trip!

I agree with Bob, particularly about the Paris Museum Pass. You may do better to go ahead and get a 6 day pass even though you might only use it for 5 days. Is your Day 1 the day you arrive from the US? Thinking about jet lag and whether you'd want to spend time in a museum. I would not but everyone's different. If Day 1 is the arrival from US, you could consider getting the 4 day Paris Museum Pass for your other days. You do NOT need to order this ahead of time. You can get it at any museum. You wouldn't want to get it at one of the busy ones like d'Orsay but if you'll tell us where you are staying we may be able to give you a lesser used museum to go to to purchase. I also purchased mine last time at the Tabac (tobacco shop) down the street down the hotel.

http://en.parismuseumpass.com/

What day of the week are you arriving? If you arrive on a Monday you might manage a Navigo Decouverte pass which covers transport from Monday thru Sunday. Otherwise, just get the carnet of 10 tickets.

Paris Pass is a bit of a rip off. About 1/3 of the price is marketing costs and profits to the promoters. Just check out the price individually for the Museum Pass and Visite. The Visite is not the most cost effective pass either. The Navigo Decouverte Semaine is the best deal if your time does not span a weekend. Cost is 22.80 EUR for a week plus 5 EUR first time set-up fee. Goes Monday morning to Sunday night midnight. Bring 1" by 1 1/4" passport type photos with you. It covers the whole Paris region including CDG airport and Versailles.
https://www.ratp.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/navigo-monthly-and-weekly-travel-passes

Thank you for all the comments, suggestions, and ideas. We have decided to go with the Paris Museum Pass and the Navigo Pass.

For the picture you need for the Navigo you can just photocopy your passport photo then cut it down to size. IF you forget (yes I did!) your hotel will likely make photocopies for you so don't stress about this.

For the record...I LOVE using the Navigo! It is so quick and easy and I feel like a local. I may look like a dumpy senior American tourist but they can't see how I feel on the INSIDE in Paris!!

Also, make a note to yourselves as to which days are closing days for the museums you want to visit so you can work around that and the number of days on your pass.

Don't forget to buy your Navigo at the train station at the airport so you can take the RER (€10) as part of your weekly ticket -- unless your plans include a €50 taxi into Paris. Took me about 5 minutes extra.

Regarding photos -- photo booths are ubiquitous in transit areas (train stations, airports) shopping malls, and other locations where people congregate. A common brand is Photomaton.

It's because so many French government forms require a photo of particular dimensions and background, so there's an ongoing demand for photos that conform to those requirements. If you saw the film Amélie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) you would probably remember the photo booth.

Consequently, if you need a photo and don't have one, you can pay 5€ and get a strip of 4 or 5 photos, depending on the machine type. The people at the place where they sell passes can cut out the one you would need for the pass.