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They are strange looking, glass-enclosed trimarans and operate as
a river boat shuttle service that goes on a circular route in an anti-clockwise direction
along the River Seine and there are five trimaran
sightseeing boats that the Navette Batobus operates.
These boats stop at eight different points along the way, but there is no crossing the
river, as you will have to cruise along until you get to the stop you want. There
are actually five stops on the Left bank, which are the Eiffel Tower, Musee d'Orsay,
Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Notre-Dame and Jardin des Plantes. There are also three
stops on the Right Bank, which are the H?tel de Ville, The Louvre and the Champs-Elysees.
The following points will give you more of an idea of how you can access these Batobus
stops along the River Seine:
The Louvre
Quai du Louvre is in the 1st arrondissement of Paris between Pont Royal and Pont du Carrousel.
You would need to go from the entrance of the Louvre towards the quays, turn right and
walk for around 100m, but without crossing Pont du Carrousel. The steps here will
lead you down to River Seine and the Batobus stop.
H?tel de
Ville
This is known as the City Hall stop and is close to
Pont d'Arcole, near to the Pompidou Centre in the Marais district of Paris in the 4th
arrondissement. To reach the Batobus from here, when you are in the Place de
l'H?tel de Ville you would take the pedestrian underpass to Quai de l'H?tel de Ville and
then walk upstream along the quay for around 100m where you will find the stop right in
the square.
Notre-Dame
Quai de Montebello is in the Latin Quarter of Paris in
the 5th arrondissement. You would need to walk for about 100m upstream along the
quay from the Pont au Double and take the stairs down to the river.
Jardin des
Plantes
The Batobus stops at the Quai Saint-Bernard, which is
again in the 5th arrondissement of Paris and is in between Pont Sully and Pont
d'Austerlitz.
You would need to take Rue des Foss?s-Saint-Bernard towards the River Seine, then cross
Quai Saint-Bernard, which is in front of the Institut
du Monde Arabe and proceed down to the river via the ramp or the stairs. From
there you would need to walk upstream towards Pont d'Austerlitz and through the Jardin
Tino Rossi, a beautiful open-air sculpture garden.
Eiffel Tower
Port de la Bourdonnais in the 7th arrondissement of
Paris and at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, opposite the Trocad?ro you just cross the
street and walk down the stairs at the right hand corner of Pont de I?na.
Mus?e d'Orsay
Quai de Solf?rino is also in the 7th arrondissement of
Paris and upon leaving the Mus?e d'Orsay you would need to cross the street the quays and
go down the steps to the river bank where you will find this pick up and drop off point
for the Batobus.
Champs-Elys?es
The Port des Champs Elys?es in the 8th arrondissement
of Paris is close to Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais and Avenue Montaigne. To
access this stop from Place Clemenceau, you would need to take the Avenue Winston
Churchill heading towards the River Seine and make your way down the stairs situated on
the left at Pont Alexandre III.
St-Germain-des-Pr?s
The Batobus stops at the Quai Malaquais, which is near
the Institut de France and in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. You would need to
take Rue Bonaparte from Saint-Germain's Church and when you reach the quay, just cross the
road and go down the steps to the bank.
You will normally find that there is a Batobus every 25 to 30 minutes virtually all year
round and they run during the day times in the winter months, yet during the summer they
are in operation up until 10pm each evening.
You can purchase a pass at any Batobus stop, at the Paris Tourist Office, and at several
other locations such as airports and you can choose to have a 1 day, 2 day, 5 day or
annual pass. When you get your pass, you can use it as many times as you like,
hopping on and off the boats as you go.
Whatever the period of time you choose to get your pass for, they are exceptionally good
value for money with a 5 day pass being only around 17 Euros and half that cost for a
child under the age of sixteen.
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