navigo decouverte question

[SusanSeattle]

I'll be in Paris for 3 nights next summer and my mom will be with me for 2 of those nights. I'm arriving by train from London on a Monday & she is flying in on Tuesday. We are staying at the Soft Hotel, walkable from Gare du Nord. I plan to go to CDG to pick up my mom from her long overseas flight & we'll both take the train back together. That means 3 train trips plus whatever bus/metro trips we take.

I think that it makes sense to get a navigo decouverte pass since it now covers CDG travel instead of our usual individual tickets. My question is, can I buy 2 of the ND's if I have photos for my mom and I, if she is not with me?

 

[mimi]

that was my question as well.

 

[Roz]

From what I can find, there is no identity check when buying a Navigo Decouverte. This document in French has all the official regulations. If you can read French, section 1.6 says that it's issued immediately with no identity or residence check. You do have to put your photo on the pass, but they don't check that it's you when you buy it. It isn't transferable, though, and you can get in trouble when you are using it, if the inspectors check for passes and see that it isn't filled out correctly.

Here is a funny blog post I read a while back by someone who actually got away with putting photos of Bert and Ernie on a Navigo pass.

 

[SusanSeattle]

Roz, thank you for the update!
And love the Bert and Ernie post

 

[SMJ]

You can buy one for someone else, but it requires a signature of the actual person in its photo, in order to seal it up with the sticky see through page.
I bought one for a friend last year, and put her photo on it, then just scribbled an illegible signature on it.
That way she could use it right away, and didn't have to try and put it together jetlagged.
Or, if you don't want to be illegal and be a forger! , just buy it and put it all together when you see your Mum.

 

[SusanSeattle]

Thanks for that info.

 

[Anne]

I've been wondering about the navigo pass for my daughter and I when we're in Paris in Sept. We're there for 10 days so it seems highly worthwhile - if only for convenience, but also seems that it would be cheaper for us since we're doing all our travelling by public transportation, even travelling to/from CDG to our rental apartment. But I thought the pass might be very bothersome to get, with the photo requirement, etc. Thanks to everyone in this thread, I have a much better idea of what's involved.

(Psst...@Pauline - have I told you lately that I love this site?)

 

[SMJ]

https://parisbytrain.com/paris-train-metro-week-pass-navigo-decouverte/

This is a link that will tell you all!
Love the pass, and you can keep it and reactivate it on future trips!
It is valid from 00:01 on a Monday until 23:59 on the next Sunday night; but you can buy it from the Friday for the following week.
It's so cheap, it's worth buying on arrival at the airport, then topping up for your other days, even if you don't arrive on a Monday.

 

[Anne]

you can keep it and reactivate it on future trips!

Oh that's even better! Starting this summer, we now have direct flights from my local airport (Halifax NS) to Paris at very reasonable prices, so Paris could become a more frequent destination for us.

Good to know I can buy the pass on arrival at the airport. Thanks for the link. We plan to take the RER to our apt (which is just a few mins away from the station, according to the owner, and google maps.) We arrive on a Tues morning, and staying until the following Saturday (almost 2 weeks), so the timing works well.

(@Roz - I just read the Bert and Ernie story - too funny!)

 

[Cameron]

You may find this helpful, too.

How to use the Paris Metro (includes descriptions of all the passes).