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Don't bother with the Paris Visite pass that's designed for tourists unless you work the numbers carefully and need to move through zones 1-3. Of course, the RATP wants your tourist dollars, so there's a hard sell on the Paris Visite card on the English-language landing page of the RATP site.
In fact, there's no visible link to information about the Navigo card anywhere that I can find on the English version of the RATP web page.
On the other hand, the impending doom of the Carte Orange is big news on the site's main home page:
Dès le 1er février 2009, le coupon magnétique carte Orange ne sera plus vendu ! Venez l’échanger contre un passe Navigo personnalisé dans les agences Le Club RATP.
Roughly translated, this is entitled "RATP offices will be open Saturday and Sunday," which for Paris is truly big news as no important agency is ever open on Sunday.
The announcement continues:
So how do they expect an English speaker to buy the more economical Navigo pass? They don't. But there's no law against it. They've even designed a special card for nonresidents, le passe Navigo Découverte.
Here's what I can share about Navigo card buying strategy.
None of the automated machines for recharging the Navigo card (or for buying individual Metro tickets or carnets) will accept your credit or debit card unless it is denominated in Euros. I thought, at first, that the problem was lack of a chip. No, it's a technical issue with the system: no foreign exchange allowed. I was able to buy an RER ticket at CDG with my dollar-denominated credit card, but the system in the Metro is different.
You can put coins into one of the machines to recharge a Navigo, at least theoretically, but I was never able to get this to work. Ever tried fiddling with nearly 19 Euros worth of change? Always got an error before completing the transaction.
Technically, the Carte Orange is supposed to be available until the end of January, but no one I asked earlier this month seemed to have a weekly pass to sell when I looked around for one. So how did I manage to get my very own Navigo card and use it successfully this month when no one would sell me a Carte Orange?
- First off, I went to the tabac near my local station and bought a startup Navigo card package. The initial cost is 5 Euros plus the weekly or monthly fare you'll add to the card. In the tabac, you can pay with plastic... or even with cash.
It seems all the Metro stations have photo kiosks now. Get a sheet with 20 little headshots of yourself and put one on the ID card part of the Navigo. Then put that card somewhere else besides where you carry your sensored Navigo. You'll need that card with photo if you are asked for it to prove you've paid for your ride or if you lose the other part.
You'll have lots of leftover pics that you can use on other cards. I put one on my membership card when I became an Adherent of the Societe des Amis du Louvre.
When it's time to add another week or month to your Navigo, don't bother with the machine. If you are in the Metro, go to a guichet and ask the friendly clerk to recharge your card. Again, you can pay with plastic or cash. Alternately, go back to your local tabac and have them recharge the card. Note that not all tabacs in cafes and brasseries are equipped with terminals for recharging the Navigo. It's best to find a little specialist tabac.
Many Parisians are unhappy with the thought of having to use a computerized card because of privacy concerns. Maybe they're afraid the government will begin tracking their movements through the RATP system. It's comparable to how people in Chicagoland felt when they were forced (by economics: using cash costs almost 2x more) to start using I-Pass sensors on their vehicles to pay for using the tollroads.
