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Please critique Paris itinerary

I had previously posted this in my Paris transportation thread and did not get a lot of comments (maybe because it was buried deep in the thread). So, I am moving this to its own thread to start a more specific discussion re: our itinerary :-).

Here is my plan (please critique):

We reach Orly in the evening at about 8 pm on Day 1. We will be spending the entire Day 2 and 3 in Paris, and we leave on Day 4 AM from Gare du l'Est. Upon arrival, we need to get to our host near Michel Bizot metro area. Assuming conditions are favorable enough for that time of the year (temperature upper 30s to low 40s and no slick ice/snow on the ground and it is not raining), I am planning to take bus 183 to Porte de Choisy and then take tram 3a towards our destination. My understanding is that this bus originates (or can be boarded) at the south terminal (Orly Sud), which is convenient as our plane is scheduled to be landing at that terminal as well (previously, I was unsure).

Because our teenager counts as an adult, our party is three adults and one kid (from RATP's standpoint). I plan to get one carnet apiece of adult and kid t+ tickets. I know we will use three adult t+ tickets and one kid t+ ticket on the tram. What I don't know is whether the t+ ticket can be used on Bus 183 or not - the link I have attached indicates that a separate ticket must be bought for it, but it also says that the ticket is Euro 1.7, so we should be able to use one from the carnet per adult or do we specifically need to buy the separate ticket for the bus?

We are not really much into museums, but we still plan on getting the two two-day museum passes for adults. On Day 2, i.e., the first full day that we are in Paris, we will use one t+ ticket apiece in each direction. Once we get to the destination stop (most likely the Eiffel Tower first thing in the morning), we will then back-track along the river catching the sights and also visiting a museum or two.

On Day 3, i.e., the second full day that we are in Paris, the Louvre will be open late into the night. So, for that day, we are planning to use the zone 1-4 mobilis pass and visit Versailles in the morning. In the morning, we will take the metro to the closest interchange where we can get the RER C into Versailles and stay there until about noon or so. In the afternoon, we will come back to city and travel around on the bus/metro/tram whatever and also see a museum or two depending on lines. This is also the day when we will visit Sacre Coeur and taken in the skyline of the city.

Based on the above, we would be purchasing the following at Orly upon landing:

  • one t+ carnet for kid
  • one t+ carnet for adults
  • four mobilis passes for zone 1-4 (IIRC, there is no distinction between adult and kids here, right?)
  • two museum passes
  • one SIM card for phone calls to call our host

How does this plan sound? Would you suggest any changes?

Thanks,
- Porcupyn

Posted by
107 posts

Looks like you've got this all figured out, so have a great time.

Does your Museum Pass cover the Musee D'orsay or the Picasso Museum? These are both wonderful experiences, and the Picasso Museum recently expanded after being closed for years. The Musee Cluny is also interesting and is close to the river and St. Germaine.

Someone else may be able to give you detailed comments on the carnets, passes and SIM cards, etc., but that's beyond my experience.

Posted by
16893 posts

You have done a lot of research and I agree that you can now trust that research. A few things might need clarification or adjustment as you go, but local transport agents will be happy to help you. When you start with a polite greeting of "Bonjour, Monsieur" or "Bonjour, Madame", a simple question in English usually translates fine.

Posted by
19638 posts

I am still thinking a taxi might be the best option after landing at Orly, since your destination is in S.E. Paris. I understand you may be apprehensive about being "taken for a ride". I have never heard of any complaints about Paris taxis, but you might try posting a question here if anyone else has had any less than optimal experiences with cabs from Orly.

Posted by
145 posts

Sam:

You are right to a certain degree, and I agree that I should be aware of the options ... which, I confess, right now I am not that familiar with cabs in France.

How do cabs work at Orly? Do you just flag one down on the street and give the driver the destination address and let him/her take you there, or is there a prepaid service whom you give the destination address and you are then assigned a cab? Note to myself: Need to research any Amazing Race videos that deal with France :-)

bodo/Laura:

Thanks for the thumbs up :-).

In answer to your question, the museum pass does cover the Orsay museum. The Picasso museum having recently opened after being closed for five (?) years ... I don't know. I don't think the pass website has it described, but I might be wrong. As I said, we are not big museum fans, so I am not sure whether I would even visit it if we had free (with pass) access to it. However, I do want us to spend some time in the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Troimphe (sp?), Louvre, Versailles Palace, Orsay, Sacre Coeur, and the tower at Notre Dame. Besides, with so much history in such a dense area - I think a four km walk along the Seine would really be great (weather conditions notwithstanding) is what I am thinking. I definitely would want to take a selfie along the lovelock bridge.

Thanks,
Porcupyn

Posted by
11613 posts

Sounds great, I might opt for a cab, though. I took several last year in Paris, and the drivers were knowledgeable and very helpful.

Last year it seemed that the lovelock phenomenon had spread to all the bridges where a lock could be attached. People were selling marker pens and locks along the bridges. Interesting to see when the bridges seemed to turn golden in the sunlight.

Posted by
4684 posts

No, you won't be able to use a normal carnet ticket for the bus from Orly to Porte de Choisy. Those tickets can only be used in the central area, and from Orly you'll need to buy a specific single ticket on the bus.

Posted by
19638 posts

There are official taxi pick up locations at both terminals. Information here.

On the same page on the left hand side, click on the link "Paris-Orly/Access/by public transport". Then page down to find information on the 183 Bus. You'll see bus fare is 1.90 euro, which is more than a standard carnet ticket. As Phillip pointed out, a separate bus ticket is required.

Posted by
145 posts

We are back and had a really nice vacation. Once more, thanks to everybody here for their helpful advice.

Here is what I/we did (and what I/we could have done better):

FIRST DAY REPORT

Reached Orly (via Oslo) 8 pm. No issue with picking the one check-in bag we had and walking right out (i.e., no customs check or anything like that which would delay us). I saw the sign for the local transportation on the monitor and saw that bus 183 was coming in 26 minutes at Arret (stop) 4.

With that in mind, I purchased the following at the Paris Tourism shop (forget exact name):

  • 1 t+ adult carnet (15 Euros) ... yes, the prices were slightly inflated but I went for convenience
  • 1 t+ infant carnet (7 Euros)
  • two museum passes (84 Euros) ... thankfully there was no upcharge on these

I meant to purchase the mobilis tickets as well, but the lady said that she did not sell those there.

Big mistake I made - though we had a boatload of USDs, we did not have any Euros or ATM cards on us - this was something that I had not thought about and no one had said that this might be an issue (maybe because we had not asked). We ended up without any Euros on the entire trip and it was a big inconvenience. Will definitely get Euros and/or ATM card with us on next trip!

I realized that we need to have cash in hand to get the ticket from the bus driver, so had to pony up to get some Euros. In the event, I got only about 12 Euros and change in exchange for 20 USDs - a really bad exchange (oh well!).

I got four tickets on the bus for 8 Euros. We then took tram 3a at Porte de Choisy to Porte Doree. I used three of the t+ tickets on the tram. A local co-passenger - who had also transferred with us - told me that I did not have used those three as the bus 183 ticket was valid on the tram as well. For some reason, I thought of bus 183 as completely independent of the local tram. Maybe the lady was incorrect?? Oh well (once more) ...

From Porte Doree, it was a short walk to our airbnb host's place and we were there before 10 pm. I think we did good. What do you guys think?

Later that night, I went for a stroll along the tram 3a's route and purchased the following at the Porte Clarendon subway stop:

  • 4 mobilis tickets for zone 1-2
  • 4 mobilis tickets for zone 1-4 (for Versailles)

I decided to go with the zone 1-2 mobilis ticket for my under-10 kid - at full price instead of a second infant carnet at the same cost - as well because I thought it would be better to have the option of 'all you can ride' as opposed to having to stop and think each time we might want to take the public transportation. It was a good decision. For Versailles, there was no carnet alternative that I was aware of.

Porcupyn

Posted by
145 posts

SECOND DAY REPORT

Right off the bat, I strayed from the original itinerary posted here. Why? Because of three reasons:

  • I had bought Eiffel Tower tickets online (something which I had not done when I had made the original post on this thread)
  • I had purchased the zone 1-2 mobilis pass (as opposed to using the t+ tickets as I had originally thought we would do)
  • (don't ask me how or why - it is a long story) I did not have a working smartphone on me

We were to leave from Gare de l'Est in a couple of days. Plus, I wanted to get the panorama of the city from Sacre Coeur, so we went to the train station. And from there we walked up to Gare du Nord, taking photos of both of these impressive architectures. Gare du Nord to Barbes Rochechouart to Anvers, and we were at the foot of the Sacre Coeur. Merging with the crowd, we managed to find our way to the funicular which we took to the top for a grand view of the city albeit in cloudy weather. We were unable to spot the Eiffel Tower. Blame it on the haze.

We had originally planned to get some Indian food at Gare du Nord as well, as Arvind had mentioned this area in his travelog; however, I was unable to find that area today. So, we picked up some subs instead (note that we were at a significant disadvantage as we did not have spendable cash, and so were at the mercy of folks who accepted credit cards).

Back again to Anvers and we took the subway to Charles de Gaulle Etoile enroute to Trocadero. On this train, if memory serves me right, a funny (maybe not to everyone) incident happened. A dude was singing songs in the train soliciting donations. Somewhere along the line a whole bunch of schoolkids got on with their teachers/chaperones. They literally filled the compartment and took all available space (did not sit down though I motioned to some to do so, as there were several seats available). And then, when they noticed the dude, they started singing ... louder than him! After a station or two, dude could tolerate it no more and got off the train to loud chants of 'bonjour Monsieur' from the kids. Part of me wanted to ROTFL while another part of me felt a bid sad for him. C'est la vie, I said to myself (I bet not in the right accent).

In the Trocadero area, we were puzzled to see statues with red noses - we found out what was going on from brother Google. We spent some time in the Patrimone museum then walked across to the Eiffel Tower. We were about a couple of hours early for our time slot. I wanted to walk to the Statue of Liberty but no one wanted to tell me where it was located. And remember, I did not have my smartphone and maps on me. So, I missed it - turns out that I was going in the right direction, but after a while I gave up because a) I thought it was closer than it actually was and b) I had left the rest of the family behind (no one else wanted to see her). We ended up seeing her from the Eiffel Tower.

After the visit to the Eiffel Tower (we did walk down), it was time to go to the museum that was open late that evening - Orsay. But before that, we decided to go to Notre Dame to see its tower. However, we learned that the access to the tower closed at 4 pm and it was now 4:45 pm or so. So we went into the cathedral which is pretty impressive indeed.

BTW, I am yet to figure out if a) walking underground from line to line within one station then catching a train to the next station is less walking than b) walking directly to the next station or more!! In other words, the pin points for the stations on the map appear to be relatively far from each other; however, in reality, each station is well spread out (some really gargantuan like Gare du Nord that goes all the way to La Chapelle) and so they might even overlap if laid out over the ground, if you get my drift!

More in the next installment.
Porcupyn