Paris Metro Tickets

No Sylvana, it works on a zone system instead.

Most of the places you need to visit will be in the central Zone 1. A single trip ticket allows you unlimited time and travel within that zone until you eventually exit the system and emerge at street level. If you have a daily ticket you retain it so you can re-enter the Metro as many times as you like during that day, again travelling within Zone 1. This will probably be cheaper than buying several single-use tickets if you're travelling on one day. If you're unsure, just ask at a ticket window (they're always pretty friendly, helpful and can speak enough English to help you out).

To work out where you're going, you'll need a map - these are available at most stations and they show in various colours the train lines that criss-cross Paris. Some trips may require one or two legs where you have to exit at one station and walk to another platform to resume your journey.

The Louvre is almost in the centre of Zone 1, but accessed by a couple of Metro stations (Louvre-Rivoli and Palais Royal - Musee du Louvre). My recollection is that both have signs that direct you to the museum, but that's where most of the crowds are likely to be headed.

If you wish to venture further than Zone 1 you'll need to purchase a ticket that covers the extra distance, although again it's just an extra zone (or more). Often (but not always), the rail line that takes you well out of Zone 1 will be part of the RER train network. That's a fast express train that operates separate to the Metro, but uses platforms at some of the larger Metro stations. You can jump onto an RER train within the zone you've paid for to get around, as long as you don't journey into zones you haven't paid for. I always use the Blue RER line B to get to and from DeGaulle Airport and it costs more than my basic Zone1 ticket. I just buy those ones at the ticket office.

Yes, Sylvana, those daily Metro passes are really handy. You can go in and out of the rail network all day using the one ticket.

Sometimes I will buy a 'point-to-point' single trip pass if I intend to take just one trip during the day. An example of this would be if I was leaving my hotel and wished to get to the airport - on an earlier day I'd buy a single-use ticket that covers Zone 1 as well as DeGaulle Airport. Then when we leave the hotel we just walk to the nearest Metro with our small cases and take a train to Gare du Nord, then change platforms to the blue RER line and continue our trip to the airport. This way, I'm not buying an all-day pass when I don't need it.

Buying the pass earlier than the day of departure works best for me because my local Metro station might not be attended, or there could be language problems (my French is only self-taught and therefore only very basic). The larger stations are more likely to have staff who understand English better.

However, last June I ventured a little more into travelling like a local - I used the vending machines to buy my rail tickets. After enlisting a little assistance from station staff I learned what buttons to press and felt pretty comfortable in the end.

I bought a 10 ticket carnet to use for one evening and one day.  This was plenty for me and I took the metro quite a bit.  It's very easy to use.  I find it similar to London's if you've used that.