Yesterday a PBer said she'd prefer not to take the hot, stuffy Metro to her new Paris job, so I'll show you how to take the bus to work. 
Paris must have one of the best public transportation systems on the planet if not THE BEST. Walk up to the bus shelter and *note the buses stopping are listed on the side. 
Now this is the cherry on top! Every bus shelter has a 'working' digital sign announcing exactly when you're bus will arrive (or if it won't arrive at all because of a demonstration, ahem). There are sensors in the buses by the way.
Cear maps (really they are) tell you where you're going, indicating if you are on the right side of the street (tres important).Interactive Paris bus map here.
Including a map with ALL the buses in the immediate vicinity. Paris since 2006 has a special night line of buses running after midnight btw. 
No need to buy Pariscope when bus shelter signs tell you What's On. 
The side of all Paris buses will tell you their first and last destination.
Please board at the front of the bus and smash your Navigo magnetic card against the box thing. Or you can buy a ticket from the driver. ~
Do say 'Bonjour Monsieur/Madame' to the driver svp.
Inside you'll find a bus map + another digital sign telling (in French) the next stop/la prochaine arret
The bus is quite a civilized way to see Paris and get around, definitely more scenic than the Metro.
Please do exit/partie out the backdoor. The red button is to alert the driver of your stop/arret
Once you know the buses in your area you can go online to check out it's route. Easy peasy.
Line 38 runs north to south through the city center and provides memorable views of the Latin Quarter, the Seine river, or Notre Dame Cathedral.
Inside you'll find a bus map + another digital sign telling (in French) the next stop/la prochaine arret The bus is quite a civilized way to see Paris and get around, definitely more scenic than the Metro. Please do exit/partie out the backdoor. The red button is to alert the driver of your stop/arret Once you know the buses in your area you can go online to check out it's route. Easy peasy. Line 38 runs north to south through the city center and provides memorable views of the Latin Quarter, the Seine river, or Notre Dame Cathedral.
Line 68 offers a vantage of the Musee d'Orsay, Saint-Germain des Près, the Seine, The Louvre, and the Opéra Garnier.
Line 28 offers lovely views of the Ecole Militaire, the Assemblée Nationale, the Seine River, le Grand Palais, and the Champs-Elysées.
Line 96 winds through beautiful spots on the right bank, including Hotel de Ville, the medieval Marais neighborhood, and trendy Bastille.
Info from Go Paris.
These days we take the bus all the time in Paris.
But never in NYC. New York has contests to see which bus is slowest.
Do you take the bus in Paris?
Info from Go Paris.
These days we take the bus all the time in Paris. But never in NYC. New York has contests to see which bus is slowest.
Do you take the bus in Paris?
i'll be on bus 96 friday!
ReplyDeleteand yes, they are air conditioned. i love the paris busses!
love,
katy
I loved riding the bus in Paris!The views were great and the people we very nice and helpful.I had the "carnet " of tickets.It was all so easy compared to some places. Thanks for the fun post.Happy New Year to you and your Bear.xoxox fan from Oregon
ReplyDeleteI love the atmosphere, the simplicity, the mystique of the Metro in Paris, but the busses scared me to death. I don't know why.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because I have bus trauma from when I was still in school as a child - we lived in the country and I had to ride the bus for an hour to school and an hour from school every day. I swore I'd never take a bus again the day I graduated from high school.
What a great way to teach us! How nice of you..if ever i go..I'll be back here for certain.
ReplyDeleteHow fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI love the buses in Paris... it's a very inexpensive way to get around. The only down side is that the bus seats are made for teeny, tiny Paris women's butts... not our American super-sized ones! lol Note to self: must diet before I go back!
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy taking the bus to come back from work (the route includes St-Germain-des-près and the Louvre!) when it's beautiful outside however I am sad to say that it's way too slow for me in the morning unless my boss accepts chronic lateness (20 min!) ;)
ReplyDeletethis is EXTREMELY helpful, thank you!
ReplyDeletegreat bus info
ReplyDeleteWe take the bus all the time in SF.
Everyone gripes about the Muni and sure you hafta wait sometimes and stand and there is an occasional knifing, purse snatching, etc. but it's a great way to get about the city.
I hate looking for parking.
Annie
We walk everywhere in Paris – slow but can’t bear too miss a thing….especially a photo opportunity. There is still so much that I haven’t seen on my snail trails.
ReplyDeleteWarm regards
I take the bus all the time in Paris. I love it!
ReplyDeleteParis buses arrive on time according to the printed schedule.
ReplyDeleteI'll be waiting all by myself and suddenly a gaggle of Parisiens will arrive and like 2 minutes later, voila the bus.
I'm always amazed :)
Oh why didn't I have this post when I lived in Paris? I hardly ever took the bus. But, I realized the mistake that I had made one day when visiting afterwards and the absolutely perfect and perfectly nice gentleman in the Hermes boutique (the original) told me how to get to the then brand new boutique in the 6th. He insisted that I take the bus. If it was good enough for him...
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a great system. The fact that it tells you if the bus will be late is great.
ReplyDeleteI never took the bus in NYC - much too slow in the traffic. BUT they do run 24/7 - I don't think that they do in Paris.
Useful instructions!
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to Paris, I will resort to them.
Happy 2012!
Paris buses are the prefered way to go Heloisa!
ReplyDeletea well kept secret :)
Carolg
I totally agree, the Parisian public transport is great. And the busses are very good and efficient, I took the buses to go to so many places, including work, it's just very convenient.
ReplyDeleteHow good it is to rralized how buses.system is good in Paris! I use the subway because it's faster but sometimes bus is really convenient.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if you have a Navigo card, the bus can be almost relaxing!
ReplyDeleteI prefer the bus to Le Metro. You see more.
ReplyDeleteOn my last trip, I used the bus system almost exclusively. I found a pocket size book with all the bus maps. That makes it easy, no matter where you might find yourself in the city.
ReplyDeleteMore PARIS BUS Info:
ReplyDeleteLine 38 runs north to south through the city center and provides memorable views of the Latin Quarter, the Seine river, or Notre Dame Cathedral.
Line 68 offers a vantage of the Musee d'Orsay, Saint-Germain des Près, the Seine, The Louvre, and the Opéra Garnier.
Line 28 offers lovely views of the Ecole Militaire, the Assemblée Nationale, the Seine River, le Grand Palais, and the Champs-Elysées.
Line 96 winds through beautiful spots on the right bank, including Hotel de Ville, the medieval Marais neighborhood, and trendy Bastille.
From GoParis
Thank you HARRIET!!
ReplyDeleteI found and bought the Paris bus book on Amazon.fr! :)
I am actually starting to avoid the metro in favour of the bus. You see so much more. I use the Ratp website (http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_5000/accueil/) to help me plot my trip. It is excellent and includes times, maps, and connects with the metro, RER or trains. My favourite bus is the No. 69 which takes in Père Lachaise cemetery,the Bastille, the hip Marais, Hotel de Ville, the Louvre ,Jardin des Tuileries, Musee d’Orsay, rue St Gremain, rue du Bac and rue de Grenelle. But wait there’s more! It goes past the magnificent Invalides and you end up at the feet of Eiffel Tower. That’s a lot of Paris for a 1€70!
ReplyDeleteWe took the 69 also all the way from the Tower to the Pere Lachaise, great scenery! unfortunately a little slow as we arrived just as the cimetiere gates were closing.....quel dommage!
DeleteI've only ever caught the Metro in Paris, but perhaps next time I'll take the bus. It seems more daunting to take a bus than a train when you're somewhere new and foreign, but this does look pretty easy. I'm going to book mark this post to help me remember.
ReplyDeleteI would walk or bike for nearby, bus for farther out, & Metro if hurried. When in SF I liked BART for getting to city because you could nap or read,cable cars for fun & hills.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about the bus in Paris! It sounds so much better than the stuffy metro in September. I can't wait to try it.
ReplyDeleteI always take the bus when I'm in Paris, a great way to see the city. I haven't taken the metro in years since getting used to the bus system.
ReplyDeleteI wish you had all of these types of surviving in Paris all tagged and grouped with a name so I could read them all with one click!
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me to take the bus when I first moved here, but I was scarred by taking american buses, and I really liked the metro so I didn't listen. The buses are less smelly and more interesting.
Dear Paris Breakfast,
ReplyDeleteThis was very useful information, and beautiful, as usual for your blog.
I have seen the digital board in other European cities, but haven't been to Paris for long enough to take the bus since it was introduced. We still don't have that here in Montréal: there are apps for people with mobile phones, but the affichage makes it accessible to everyone.
Psst, "arrêt" is masculine.
Living in Paris for 3 1/2 years now, and while I used to take the bus occasionally, I am now a total convert! I love the challenge of figuring out my connections, and use RATP website to guide me. Still at times difficult to find location of the return bus, but always possible with help from locals. I get very excited to ride a new line, like #42 from Gare de Nord, yesterday. Pen and paper in hand, to take notes, as you said. Do this all the time! I'm from Portland Oregon, where we also have excellent public busses and trams, but nothing like Paris!
ReplyDeleteYou have to read carefully the ARROWS on the bus map.
DeleteMany times I thought a bus was stopping somewhere only to find that was on the return trip not what I wanted at all.
I learned the hard way to look for those ARROWS! Tres important.