Passe Navigo logistics

The card once assembled is good indefinitely; mine is more than 10 years old. When I put mine together, you stuck the photo on and then pulled a clear gummed flap across the card and slid it into the plastic holder. The whole thing is then a hard plastic card with photo and never comes apart again. To recharge it you put it on a swirly looking patch on the machines in the metro and select weekly or monthly charges; I was able to charge mine for a month in October with a US chip/sig card. When it asked for the pin I just hit continue and it worked. You can also use cash. If you have trouble with the machine, the info clerk can charge it for you with a credit card (they don't handle money or sell tickets).

The photo can be B/W or color and can be printed on plain paper from your computer -- just crop a head shot and print at 25/30 mm.

Easy to use and won't demagnetize as the tickets do.

You would get it from the clerked window at the RER station at CDG. The clerk can sell you the card kit and also charge it for the week, then you assemble it and you are ready to go. Sometimes a clerk will assemble it for you but with the lines at CDG probably they just hand you the kit. You need a pen to write your name on it.

Paris By Train,http://parisbytrain.com/paris-train-metro-week-pass-navigo-decouverte/, offers good information on the Navigo Decouverte. Don't know about a black and white photo on paper stock. The card is rechargeable, so no on needing a new picture. The "kit" comes with a hard clear plastic sleeve, to hold your card, its a two component package. You can just recharge your card at one of the kiosk's that offers this.
Yes you can purchase the card at the CDG RER station ticket office. I just waited in line at the six windows, was called to window 2, showed the sales person my printout from Paris By Train on the card, she directed me to go to window #6, the person that was dealing with the cards for the day. I paid for the cards w/my credit card, was handed our card kits and put them together. I had come with pictures that I scanned at home and shrunk down to the appropriate size. I believe the card itself is good for a few years.
The RER-B is the line into Paris.
Enjoy your trip.

Thanks so much! So much useful info, and so quick.

I'm wondering if there is any difference between the Passe Navigo and the Passe Navigo Decouverte. Is the first for residents and the other for the rest of us?
Thanks!

Yes. Tourists cannot by the Navigo but the Navigo Decouverte. The Navigo is registered and children and students can get cheap charges for travel and residents can get year long passes. The ND is designed for short term workers in Paris and for people who don't want their travel information tracked or registered.

Thanks! I read about children's rates; are there senior discounts for the Passe?

I just made color xeroxes of our drivers licenses and then cut the pictures out for our Navigo passes. This was very easy and worked fine.

There are no senior rates for tourists and no children's rates for the Navigo Decouverte. Children in Paris of course get discounted Navigos as do seniors I believe. There are no senior rates at state museums and such but there are occasional special exhibits that have them and will give them to non EU tourists. I have visited photo shows at the Jeu de Paume and at the Monnaie and received senior discounts. The country that offers great senior discounts for pretty much everything is Spain.

There are children's metro tickets; a carnet of 10 adult tickets (10 and up) is 14.50 and half price for 4-9 year olds for 7.25. Anyone can buy those. If I had young kids in Paris now, I would just get the Navigo D (assuming it made sense for me with the timing) as it is so cheap and convenient.

BTW, no one looks at the photo on the ND.
I just scanned our passport photos, reduced the size to the required size (1"x 1.25") & printed them on regular paper.

Enjoy Paris!

Edit to add...

Thanks Janet (Janettravels44) for suggesting to get the ND, it was one of the best investments we made in Paris!

Janet - the Navigo is good for 10 years. If yours is that old, you'll need to get a new one next time.

The ND works as long as it works; when it stops working then I'll get a new one. The 10 years was just a promise when they came out that they would last at least that long. There isn't even a date on them.