On 21st May Wednesday im gonna be arriving at Paris-Orly at 20:45, can i buy a 1 week pass Carte Orange.....?

Question

Can i buy from that night a 1 week pass Carte Orange 16,30€ that will be valid until my day of departure on 25th May? And how can i buy it, will there be a ticket machine with english language available? When not could anyone be so kind and tell me which buttons i must click to buy that 1 week pass Carte Orange?

Thank you very much in advance.

Answer 1

Your plan won't work because the Carte Orange is good only for a calendar week starting on Monday and ending the following Sunday.

Equally important to consider is whether you will actually be using the pass you are buying.

If you bought a pass that was valid for travel to the airport you'd need a 5 zone pass. But once in the city you'd probably never travel beyond zone 1 or 2. So for those days you'd have a pass that you paid more for something you don't need (i.e. travel outside of zone 1). So buying a pass for your entire trip rather than one day at a time is going to be a waste of money.

You should look carefully at your itinerary (and if you don't have a detailed itinerary you ought to) and determine if you'll really be riding public transport enough to justify the cost of a pass on any given day.

Answer 2

Im afraid you cant, carte orange is only valid from monday to monday, so it would only be valid until the monday.

Consider another form of pass, it may seem dearer but is your best option if you cant have the carte orange, buying 2 cartes would not be worth it

Answer 3

No you can only buy the one week carte on mondays. Alternatively you can get a carnet of 10 tickets. You can get it from any metro station, many people who work there speak or at least understand English if spoken slowly.

Answer 4

Yes it's technically possible (but not at the price you mentioned) because you can buy it as late as Wednesday for the current week and it will be valid until your departure on Sunday. But Orly being in zone 4 (not 5) you will have to buy a 4-zone carte orange at 26.70 euros.

If you don't buy a carte orange, traveling from the airport to Paris will cost you 6 to 9.30 euros each way depending on which mode of transportation you choose. A carnet of 10 metro tickets valid in Paris only will cost you 11.10, so the total for the whole trip would be pretty close to the cost of the carte orange anyway.

So if you prefer the convenience of a carte orange bring a passport size picture for your card. Otherwise just buy a round-trip ticket to Paris (assuming you are flying out of Orly too) and a booklet of 10 metro tickets. The ticket machines are multi-lingual, just click on the English/US flag.

Check this site for options from Orly to Paris: http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Tra...  (note that the prices given are old and actual prices are higher now).

Edit: I just remembered they were supposed to replace the carte orange system some time this year by the navigo card  so I am not sure the carte orange will be still be in service when you go. The navigo card won't make any difference for Parisians and commuters who will be given the card for free but non-locals will have to pay 5 euros for the card in addition to the weekly or monthly price. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navigo

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You have been given bad advice. Orlybus is not 5.80 euros any more but 6.10 euros each way. The very cheapest way to get to Paris is bus 183 to Porte de Choisy but it takes so long I wouldn't recommend it. It's 2.80 euros each way and the last departure is at 9:40 pm. The second cheapest way is RER C which takes you directly to Porte de Clichy (your final destination, right?) without you having to change trains. The cost is 6 euros each way including the shuttle from the airport to the RER station.  At the airport, look for the "PARIS par le train" sign. A shuttle will take you in 10 minutes to  RER C station called ' Pont de Rungis - aeroport d'Orly'. Then choose the direction that says Montigny-Beauchamp or Pontoise. Porte de Clichy is 20 stops away (58 minutes). Last  departure is 11:30 pm. Once in Paris get a carnet of 10 tickets for 11.10, which should be plenty for the few days you will be in Paris.

As for the carte orange, if it is still available, it is composed of an actual orange card on which you put a photo yourself and a weekly (or monthly) ticket. For it to be valid, you must write the card number on the ticket. The ticket can be purchased with the machine but the card can only be given at the booth. The problem is there are no ticket booths or machines in the airport, only at the RER station. Weekly passes are valid from Monday to Sunday and can be purchased as late as Wednesday for the current week and as early as Friday for the following week. They were made for commuters, not visitors, which is why they are not more flexible. 1 to 5-day Visitors' passes are a scam though.