When we were in Paris, one of the things I was shocked was the way motorists were behaving. They do not respect pedestrian lanes and traffic lights. There were so many occasions when it was already the pedestrians' turn to cross the street but trucks, cars, motorcycles, etc. were still speeding up! It was horrible! Once, the old lady still had to wave so many times to have eye-to-eye contact with the drivers to be allowed to cross the street! The streets were scary! I mean, aside from looking at the traffic lights and pedestrian lanes, pedestrians should really open their eyes, especially that roads in Paris are really wide and so are the crossings!

I don't know if anyone else has the same experience but we stayed in the 16th arrondisement, that's where our hotel was, and to reach the center, we had to commute. We also walked alot around the nearby arrondisment for attractions so I cannot really pinpoint which part(s) of the city we had crossing the street troubles.

Just to double check my experience, I googled and I guess what? The first results to my query were pedestrian accidents lawyers advertisements! If there is this big ads on this type of living or job, then I know, they can live with it... as there are many cases about pedestrian accidents!

But why is that? Paris is one of the leading tourist destinations if not the number one, but why this danger? No raffic cameras to fine those irresponsible drivers? Be careful tourists when you're in Paris, always be sure when crossing the street, despite the presence of traffic lights and pedestrian lanes!

Just in general, be careful, Paris or anywhere!

Entering the Louvre Museum in Paris or the musée du Louvre in Parigi, or in Parijs can bereally annoyingif you take the major entrance passing the pyramid. We were very lucky to have discovered a hassle-free, faster way and quicker means of entering the Louvre museum in Paris. How? Never pass the main entrance which passes by the pyramid. Then how? Enter through other entrances! Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre station is one of the means to enter without problem. From there, people can walk directly to the reception and buy tickets from ticket vending machines just nearby the Louvre museum information / reception desks. Below is a series of photos to guide you to enter the Louvre museum more conveniently and at the same time,explains what possibly may happen to you if you do not discover this trick: wasting time and suffering from heat/cold awaiting your turn to enter in thelong queue.

As you see, there are various ways. In our case, we entered through the Metro station: no lines, no hassle, just plain comfort and ease. We did not do what the people in the photo below did. Can you imagine how long they waited? This photo was actually when we were leaving, which means almost the end of the day and yet, they were still waiting there in long queue!

Here's yours truly buying our tickets at ease and with fun! No queues behind me so I was really having fun and just purchased my ticket in a relaxed manner. Look at the flags as well, possibly ypu speak at least one of the available languages that the Louvre museum ticket-vending machines offer

There is a very approachable information desk and if it looks too full, there are always official information guides that walks around and more than willing to help. 

How long do you think you are staying in Paris? One day? 3 days or 5 days? It does not matter! If you want to move freely around Paris with Public transportation, there are no worries. One convenient way to move around Paris is with the Paris Visite Pass. Paris VisitePass is a travel card pass allowing users to access and utilize all the public transport services in the city. Personally, I find Paris Visite Pass one of the best ways to get around Paris and its nearby areas. It depends however on each one's inclination and plan.

If one has to buy the ticket everytime, a single 3-zone ticket, if I remember good, costs around Eur 1,70 while a "carnet" of 10 tickets costs Eur 12. Thus, if you have to only go back and forth once, Paris Visite Pass is not economical. However, if you would like to move anywhere in the area freely, this card is good. The Paris Visite pass consists of a travelcard and its ticket. It provides unlimited rides on the transport system of the Île-de-France region: Metro, RER (express regional trains), bus, tramway, suburban Transilien SNCF trains, funiculaire de Montmartre, Montmartrobus, Noctambus, Optile bus system,within a given fare zone (from 1-3, 1-6). It is good from the first day of use (not from the date of purchase) until the last consecutive day. You may buy Paris Visite in advance and save time avoiding last minute lines and this can be bought in Metro stations (ours we had it from the service booth) but I assume the ticket vending machines have this too (not so sure).

ASIDE FROM METRO STATIONS, WHERE ELSE INTERESTED USERS MAY BUY PARIS VISITE PASS?
Paris Visite Pass are also available and may be purchased in all Paris RER, Transilien SNCF stations, bus terminal ticket counters, RATP Boutiques, RATP sales desks at Orly and CDG airports and Paris tourist offices. One can also buy the pass in certain travel agencies and tour operators abroad.

Rates in euros for the Paris Visite Pass

ADVANTAGES of Paris Visite Pass?

1. Convenient for travelers

2. Prices are in package, the more days, the cheaper per day

3. Dynamic, can be used in many ways, trams, metro, RER, etc.

4. Practical and saves time: no need to buy individual ticket everytime

DISADVANTAGES of Paris Visite Pass?

1. If the user plans to travel once or twice in one of the days i between, it's not refundable

2. In case of loss, you lost the entire amount you spent!

3. It counts the day, not the number of hours (1 day is 24 hours)

4. Mine expiredat 10PM (not midnight) and I was blocked in the Metro for this! Of course you can always complain to the service desk if they are still open.


Below is the specimen Paris Visite Pass from My Recent Trip to Paris
Basically, the card contains the necessary information about the Paris Visite Pass and its usage in five (5) different languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Isn't it very smart to have all these langauges? In fact, you can also write your name in one of the folds of the card of Paris Visite Pass. One part of the fold contains a mini-pocket where the more valuable part of the Paris Visite Pass can be inserted: the magnetic tape pass itself.

Below is the pocket-like fold of the Paris Visite Pass where the user can insert the magnetic tape pass. I found it very useful because the card is thicker, bigger (easier to find inside one's purse or bag) and it also contains the information that's useful in case I forget. It is very good for safe-keeping purposes also.

The reverse side of the pass with the magnetic tape.This is what users use to enable the station doors to open. This is very important, don't lose it!