Carte Orange

I am going to be getting the Carte Orange for my visit to Paris. Does anyone know if that allows for travel on the SNCF Grandes Lignes?

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NO---it does not include fares on SNCF trains. The CARTE ORANGE is only valid for RATP (Metro, bus, trams, funicular) and RER trains within it%26#39;s Zones of validity.

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That%26#39;s what I needed to know. Thanks!

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Remember to bring a passport photo. Also:

don%26#39;t ask for the Carte Orange at the RER station in the Charles de Gaulle airport. I have overheard an employee tell some Japanese tourists that the Carte Orange is only for Paris residents (which I believe was originlly the case) - and that they could only buy the expensive card Paris Visite, which includes entrance fees for some museums. I recommend that you buy the Carte Orange at a regular metro station or at Gare du Nord/Gare de L%26#39;Est - no problems there.

Last tip: The ticket that goes with the Carte Orange is very sensible to magnets (for example in handbag-locks) - the magnetic effect will damage the ticket so that the ticket machines at the metro stations refuse to accept it. I got a new ticket to replace it, with the warning to keep my card away from magnets.

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I bought our Carte Orange tickets at CDG for zones 1-5, so we could incorporate our RER ride to the hotel. I did request it in my %26#39;southern%26#39; French, slid my debit card over, and there was no hesitation. I casually laid down my id cards so the clerk would see I%26#39;d already bought these before. I%26#39;ve not been denied in the past 9 years...

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Last tip: The ticket that goes with the Carte Orange is very sensible to magnets (for example in handbag-locks) - the magnetic effect will damage the ticket so that the ticket machines at the metro stations refuse to accept it. I got a new ticket to replace it, with the warning to keep my card away from magnets.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

It%26#39;s also worth noting that when you board a public bus you **DO NOT** insert the ticket stub/coupon in bus validator machines as you do with ordinary Metro/Bus tickets. All you need do when you board a public bus is display the photo ID card portion of the CO to the driver. IF you insert the Carte Orange ticket stub/coupon in these machines you will IN-validate the ticket for all further use.

As for RATP personnel refusing CARTE ORANGE passes to tourists at the CDG stations, this is either a matter of a tourist requesting a CO on a day that it is not available for sale or a cranky ticket agent. I%26#39;ve seen obvious tourists walk up to Metro ticket windows, pass over a slip of paper with what they wanted and receive a CO without a word of any language being exchanged. If it is a busy station like CDG, at a busy time of day, know what you want (even if that means printing out the web page with what you want circled), have your photo ready and your cash or credit card in hand...all ready to go. I%26#39;m sure that sometimes, some ticket agents are just to busy or hassled (or just havin%26#39; a bad day) to deal with %26#39;tourist angst%26#39;.

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I can imagine that they prefer to sell Paris Visite tickets to tourists. Not only because they%26#39;re somewhat more expensive (more profit), but also because the purchase and use of a carte orange is a bit more complicated: zones, validity, photo ID, etc.

Try explaining all that at a busy ticket counter to 12 elderly Japanese who don%26#39;t speak 2 words of french (and little more english)...

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I asked the ticket agent at an RER station last Monday to sell me a Paris Visite card, and he told me I should get the Carte Orange instead because I would save a lot of money. I told him I didn%26#39;t have a photo, and he sold me the Carte Orange anyway, %26amp; told me to copy my driver%26#39;s license photo and put it in the Carte Orange when I had a chance. As it turned out, I didn%26#39;t have a chance to do it -- and I used the Carte successfully all week, on the Metro as well as buses (whose drivers just glanced at the orange and didn%26#39;t look closely enough to see if I had a photo in it). So I am a fan of the ticket agents in the RER stations -- one of them, at least.

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I also had worried about getting a Carte Orange, having the proper sized photo, etc. We had intended to buy them at CDG on arrival but the photo machines there ate our money and didn%26#39;t take our photo. Instead, we asked where a photo machine was when we arrived at our hotel, and the desk clerk said not to bother, made a photo copy of our passports and cut out the photos, and told us to take them to the window. We did, asked for Carte Orange zone 1-2, paid in Euros and were on our way. The clerk actually glued the photos on right there at the St. Michel station.

Definitely the way to go, and no worries about the photo, a xerox copy worked just fine.

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;we asked where a photo machine was when we arrived at our hotel, and the desk clerk said not to bother, made a photo copy of our passports and cut out the photos, %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

Your hotel desk clerk was spot-on. The only requirements for a photo of a CARTE ORANGE are that it be a %26#39;..head shot..%26#39; of the person purchasing the pass (and bear at least some passing resemblence to them) and that it fit in the space available on the pass--approx 1%26quot; x 1%26quot; to 1 1/4%26quot; x 1 1/4%26quot;. Beyond this, the photo provided may be from ANY source or type--Black %26amp; White, color (sorry no infrared allowed, Randy) printed on any sort of paper (you can even cropp out the numbers across your chest and use your police mug shot). Photos scanned into, cropped and printed out by your personal computer, digidtal camera images printed on cheap copier paper, Xerox copies of the photo on your driver%26#39;s license, employee ID or high school yearbook (this may not work quite so well for many who graduated prior to 1975).