Transport - Paris - page 724

Local Buses
Paris' bus system, operated by RATP, runs from 5.30am to 8.30pm Monday to Saturday;
after that, certain evening-service lines continue until between midnight and 12.30am. Ser-
vices are drastically reduced on Sunday and public holidays, when buses run from 7am to
8.30pm.
Night Buses
The RATP runs 47 night bus lines known as Noctilien ( www.noctilien.fr ) , which depart
hourly from 12.30am to 5.30am. The services pass through the main gares (train stations)
and cross the major axes of the city before leading out to the suburbs. Look for navy-blue N
or Noctilien signs at bus stops. There are two circular lines within Paris (the N01 and N02)
that link four main train stations - St-Lazare, Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon and Gare Mont-
parnasse - as well as popular nightlife areas (Bastille, Champs-Élysées, Pigalle, St-Ger-
main).
Noctilien services are included on your Mobilis or Paris Visite pass for the zones in which
you are travelling. Otherwise you pay a certain number of standard €1.70 metro/bus tickets,
depending on the length of your journey.
Tickets & Fares
Normal bus rides embracing one or two bus zones cost one metro ticket; longer rides require
two or even three tickets. Transfers to other buses - but not the metro - are allowed on the
same ticket as long as the change takes place 1½ hours between the first and last validation.
This does not apply to Noctilien services.
Whatever kind of single-journey ticket you have, you must validate it in the ticket machine
near the driver. If you don't have a ticket, the driver can sell you one for €2. If you have a
Mobilis or Paris Visite pass, flash it at the driver when you board.
Boat
Batobus runs glassed-in trimarans that dock every 20 to 25 minutes at eight small piers
along the Seine: Eiffel Tower, Musée d'Orsay, St-Germain des Prés, Notre Dame, Jardin des
Plantes, Hôtel de Ville, Musée du Louvre and Champs-Élysées.