Look What I Got

I've bitten the bullet and got myself a NaviGo travel pass this week for use on all the public transport in Paris. Up until now I have been using a Carte Orange, which is a paper ticket which I get issued monthly. But the Carte Orange is being phased out and some stations don't allow their use anymore, so I thought I better join the technology revolution and get myself a fancy-pants new travel pass.

I don't know why it took me so long to change, check out the difference between what I have been using and my new NaviGo. Notice that on the back of the NaviGo is a microchip, this thing is more advanced than most Australian bank cards. It is also free, which kind of blew me away, for some reason I was expecting that you would have to pay a deposit for something so fancy. And the tickets all cost the same as my old paper ones did.








Someone was telling me that the transport system hopes to do away completely with paper tickets, but I'm not sure how that would work for tourists? I guess they would have to pay a deposit on their plastic ticket. It's just another way the city can make money off the poor tourists, as there would be a lot who wouldn't return have time to return the card to reclaim their deposit.

Anyway, this is a bit of a boring post, but I was seriously impressed with the transport system over here.