Does anyone know if we can take our own photos at home and cut a little head shot down for the orange metro cards? Last time we travelled with professional passport photos that were too large for the postage stamp sized spot on the card, so we put the photos on the back. Big mistake! We were accosted by the "Salvation Army" looking for "contributions" in a metro tunnel and after stepping around her twice she was major p.o.'d. Turns out she was the local subway gendarme and we caught hell for having the photos in the wrong spot. Only because she lost patience with our lack of French did we escape a fine (we'd figured out she was screaming 25 euros at us, but she finally just wrote "aviso" in the empty spot where the photo belonged and stormed off). So we cut our photos down to about eyebrows-to-chin size and stuck them in the right spot. Of course we were never again asked to show our metro card! We know there are photo booths in some metro stations, but would rather be pre-prepared and not have to pay for them. Any thoughts?
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to bring your own small headshot photo.
Posted by
Paris, France
506 posts
There is also the Paris Visite Pass that you can purchase. Depending upon your length of stay. No photo necessary.
http://www.ratp.info/informer/anglais/paris_visite.php
Just a note - The Carte Orange is in process of being eliminated and all passes are moving to the Navigo. When the official cutoff will be is still in discussion. No word as to whether Visite will be the only option for visitors in the future. Use it while you can -
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Jona,
Yes, the old Carte Orange is being phased out. However, the Passe Navigo comes in two versions. The Passe Navigo Decouverte is for visitors and a person can load a Carte Orange on it.
Posted by
Lodi, California, USA
149 posts
One time I took my California driver's license to the hotel desk and had a zerox copy made. I cut out the little photo and put it on the Carte Orange. Another time, before leaving home, I reduced a digital photo of myself on my computer and printed it at postage stamp size.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC, Canada
191 posts
I brought a regular passport photo with me last year when i went to paris, and the girl in the booth where I bought my carte orange pass, simply cut it down as much as she could, it was still quick big, but it fit fine on the front of the pass.
Posted by
Walnut Creek, CA
551 posts
Yes, you can bring your own photo headshots.
Last summer, I knew I was going to purchase 5 Carte Orange Cards for my family to get around Paris for a week, so I printed out 1x1 headshots on photo paper on my inkjet computer as well as the 1.5" size headshots for our passports. Saved a ton of money doing it that way.
I had no problems purchasing the Carte Orange Hebdomadaire cards at a major metro station on a sunday. I showed the ticket agent that I had the photos and after he sold them to me, I stuck the photos onto the card and encased it with the plastic and stuck the cards into the holders. The weekly pass tickets fit into the ticket holder on the other side of the holder. These Carte Oranges cards are now one of our best souvenirs of Paris.
Note that others had stated the paper Carte Orange cards will be discontinued, but not sure when.
Posted by
Anaheim, CA, USA
1455 posts
The Paris Visite Pass is only valid for up to 5 days. What's the benefit of getting the Paris Visite Pass versus the Navigo?
I'll be there for 8 days and thought the Navigo would be my better bet.
Also, do we need a photo for Navigo??
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Michelle,
The advantages of the Paris Visite pass are that you can get one for a variety of time periods and you can start using it any day of the week. The Carte Orange is good Monday-Sunday. However, even for a partial week it is often a better deal than a Paris Visite pass. Be aware that you can buy it through Wednesday for the current week. No sales on Thursday. If you buy one Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, it won't be good until Monday.
The new passe Navigo Decouverte is a reloadable card. There is a one-time fee of 5€ to get the card. Then you load a Carte Orange on it for whatever zones you choose. It requires a photo.