Paris the evening of July 23rd

The train from the airport takes about 45 minutes to get to Paris. You can plan the trip at www.ratp.fr and that will show you how long the trip will take, the cost, and the wait time for a train. There is a train station within Terminal 2 and you buy tickets there. There is another station for the RER, the train you take to Paris, which is at Terminal 3. Look into getting a Paris Pass for transit and whether you will need a special pass to go to wherever it is you want to go in Paris. https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-paris/articles/315618-olympics-paris-2024-games-pass-and-qr-code-how-to-get-it-for-whom-and-to-go-where-all-you-need-to-know#:~:text=To%20obtain%20a%20Games%20Pass,take%20several%20days%20to%20process. Everyone I know who lives in Paris is heading out of town beginning on the 24th.

Keep in mind the following metro stations are currently closed (and won’t reopen until at least 7/27, although some don’t reopen until September) as organizers install the last preparations for both the Opening Ceremony along the Seine and the events at the venues.

List of the stations that are closed and which lines at those stations are closed:
Alma Marceau - line 9
Champs Elysees Clemenceau - 1, 13 (doesn’t close until Monday 7/20 but will be closed when you are there)
Chatelet - 7, 11
Cité - 4
Concorde (1, 8, 12)
Javel - 10
Passy - 6
Pont Marie - 7
Pont Neuf - 7
Quai de la Râpée - 6, 9
Trocadero - 6, 9
Tuileries - 1
Champ de Mars/Tour Eiffel - RER C
Musée d’Orsay - RER C
Point de l’Alma - RER C

Here's a Le Monde article (in English) about getting around in Paris over this next week. It has several specific questions, including detailing what kind of metro tickets are available (starting tomorrow, prices go up, and will remain at their Olympic prices until September 8):

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2024/07/13/2024-olympics-practical-questions-about-getting-around-paris-on-foot-by-public-transit-bike-or-car_6682687_8.html

We’re in Nice right now (final 2 days of the Tour de France are happening here), and a couple things I learned today:

1. We took a cooking class from Rosa Jackson, originally a Canadian, but who now lives and teaches in Paris and Nice. Her friend, another cooking school teacher in Paris, said that everyone getting to her part of Paris (I don’t know exactly where) already needs a QR code to be admitted. She’s having to arrange for QR codes for each person taking her cooking classes over the next several weeks.

2. The parts of Paris that are restricted (again, I don’t know exactly where they are) are called The Gray Zone (English translation), and tonight’s 8:00pm news on TV was reporting that they’re deserted. I take it that’s not because everyone has left town (although that’s a possibility), but that the Gray Zone’s been closed down, waiting for the Olympics.

Here's a tweet that is a screen grab of a video from TikTok showing disappointed tourists when they got to the traditional viewing place at Trocadero to view the Eiffel Tower. Don't know if this was yesterday evening or earlier in the week

https://x.com/mediavenir/status/1814381703529439253?s=61&t=eE8J6uAg2sQPqjLEYKPyAA

Anecdotally, I am hearing/seeing a lot on the news, other locals' Instagram, etc about visitors being frustrated and surprised at how difficult it is to get around anywhere on foot these last few days . . . .especially anything along the Seine . . . It's hard to convey how disrupted things are, I don't want to be discouraging but I also want you to go in to this visit with your eyes open. It’s certainly a unique time to see Paris, but it takes patience (and a reserve of energy in your legs and feet because making your way anywhere kind of central is going to take a lot of detours and workarounds).

I really appreciate the thoughtful responses from you all! I think we will spend our last night in France organizing our purchases and our one quart bags. We’ve been in France for five weeks, so the interior of our bags is a little daunting! Merci, tout le monde!

Keep in mind that the areas around the Siene river will be closed down in preparations for the Opening Ceremony for those without a Pass Jeux. You will not be able to walk in those areas but can get around some other places without the Pass Jeux. Unfortulately for you, in order to get a pass you have to submit a request, provide ID and they do a background check so you will not have time to get one. However, with some creative planning and patience, you can get around the central area. You could try to avoid that area and see areas like the Sacre Coure, Arch de Triump and other areas outiside the "Grey silt zone" so you can walk freely without the pass.