Logistics
Airport Shuttle
After arriving, but before getting your luggage, call Blue Shuttle at 0-800-258-826 and the operator (English-speaking) will let you know how to proceed. This is a toll-free call that you can make from any payphone.
24 hours before departing Paris, we should call them again to reconfirm our trip back to the airport.
Metro and Museum Passes
These passes can be bought at most metro stations. We can check at the Pont Neuf or Louvre Rivoli stops (these are closest to our hotel), but sometimes you can only buy the passes at the larger metro stations (the largest station near Relais du Louvre appears to be Châtelet, but I’m sure the staff at Relais du Louvre can point us in the right direction).
- Metro Pass
Cost: 13.75 €/week
We will want to purchase the Carte Orange and the weekly coupon (Carte Orange avec coupon hebdomadaire) that is good for unlimited travel in Zones 1-2 (everywhere we will be going in Paris except for Versailles - for that, we’ll need to purchase separate tickets) from Monday-Sunday. You can purchase the weekly coupon for the current week from Fri-Wed—no weekly coupons are sold on Thursday. So, we will want to purchase our coupons for the first week on Wednesday, and then on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, we can purchase the coupon for the second week (which we will use starting on Monday 4/28).
After the trip, be sure to hold onto your Carte Orange (the part with the passport photo) because it is good for future trips to Paris. When you return, you can just purchase the appropriate coupon to carry along with the card.
- Museum Pass
Cost: 1-day (15 €)/3-day (30 €)/5-day (45 €)
The Carte Musée et Monuments will allow us to bypass the lines at just about all the sites on our list (I don’t think the Eiffel Tower is included). We should probably purchase 5-day passes initially (we may actually wish to wait and purchase the Museum Passes on Thursday—otherwise, we’ll be wasting a day) and then another three day pass for the rest of the trip.
Internet Access
It’s possible that we will be able to access the internet from Relais du Louvre. If not, there is an Internet “café” fairly close to the hotel.
Map/Local Guide
One of the first two days we’re in Paris, we’ll want to stop at a newsstand or Le Tabac (you’ll see them all over Paris) to purchase a second copy of the Plan de Paris (or Paris Pratique) par Arrondissement. These are pocket sized, very detailed, indexed maps of Paris that are better than any of the maps in the guidebooks. Gerette and I have our own that we purchased in 2000, but we’ll want to get another so that when we split up, each group will have a good map.
At the same time, we should pick up the current issue of Pariscope. This is a weekly magazine that covers what’s going on in Paris that week (including movie listings—in case, we want to see an American movie with French subtitles!). There’s an English-language section in the back by the British company that publishes Time Out magazine in London and New York.
May 1 in Paris
Most places are closed on May 1, which is Labor Day in France. However, the Eiffel Tower is open and Gerette and I also have a surprise planned for you, so I’m sure we’ll find some good ways to enjoy the day.