This seems like a very friendly and knowledgeable forum so I%26#39;m hoping I can pick your brains!
I%26#39;m starting to plan a short birthday trip to Paris for my 9 yr old son in April. We%26#39;re only there 2 nights in order to actually be able to afford to do things with him while there!! I%26#39;ve done some research and the Cite des Sciences at La Villette - plus the parc more generally - and the Jardin d%26quot;Acclimatation seem like safe bets. Son also wants to see the Eiffel Tower, and made the mistake of saying he%26#39;d be willing to go and see Sacre Coeur! I%26#39;m looking for things to supplement these, really - toy shops, child friendly/ fun places to eat, good sweet shops, ice-cream parlours, boulangeries (he loves croissants) - things that could be done en route to larger attractions, used to break up the day, create pit-stops etc.
Plus, any comments on how you%26#39;ve found Paris, the Parisians and children would be really great.
Many thanks
Ellkebe
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Hello ellkebe,
Well two days will keep you busy just seeing some of the big sites of around cental Paris. When we took our 9 year old, he loved climbing to the top of everything........top of Notre Dame to the bell towers (and inside the church)....top of Sacre Cour (do put a coin in the mimes cups at Montmartre)....top of the Arc (though now under restoration).........and the elevator to the top of tour Effel..........(thank the gods he agreed to that).
Napoleon%26#39;s toub and Invaledes war artifacts museum is interesting to boys too. You could spend a great deal of time there. Near it is Rodins museum and gardens.....The gardens are fun for kids and ours loved the huge statues there, very interesting to him and not at all like regular museums. Many museums have ear phones in English which seems to make the museum much more interesting to kids.
Our 9 year old wanted to see Mona Liza and Winged Victory at the Louve and the huge paintings in the French section....did not care for the d%26#39;Orsay very much (except Rodin%26#39;s Gates of H_ ll there). Enjoyed the Tuilleries gardens behind the Louve and riding the merry go rounds whenever he found one, which was often. He liked reading and looking at pictures in the museum books we bought. He enjoyed visiting Shakespere %26amp; Co., old book store across from Notre Dame, loving the old winding staircases and the cats! Bought himself a good book too. Luxemborg Gardens in the 5th is a huge place with a unique (pay to get in) playground for kids and plenty of space to run..soccer etc, games to watch adults playing. Some nice little places to have lunch in there too.
There is an ice cream shop/creperie/boulangier on a zillion rues and boulevards and you will easily find one. You might consider going to a cafeteria where he can pick and choose.....great ice cream selections. %26quot;Casino%26quot; and %26quot;Fluch%26quot; are chains around town. Look for a restaurant that serves crepes for all 3 courses....thats fun for them too. Around St. Michel are many interesting restaurants and walk away places to eat too. In the big department stores of Galleries Lafayette and Printemps are fairly large toy departments (even a MacDonalds in one of them).........You can also go to the observation top floor of Galleries Lafayette for yet another high up view of Paris.
While you are probably very familiar with subways, the ulta modern line #14, from central Paris out to Bercy is completely automated and if you get the front car he can feel as if he is the driver (its about 7 stops end to end). Bercy starts (right at the Bercy exit) with a neat section of old converted wine storage buildings, now interesting stores and restaurants behind which is a huge park with exhibits for children.........and more space to run around even a hill or two. Easy acces to and from central Paris for a shortish break.
If it isnt too cold, or maybe even if it is, he might enjoy a ride on a boat on the Seine. You can choose it to get from one site to the other on the batobus...7 stops along the Seine and you can get off at one site, tour and get another boat to the next site for one daily priced ticket. %26quot;Jardin des plantes%26quot; is a large park and one end of the batobus stops, has a nice zoo, plus many exhibt buildings (the other end of the boat stops is Effel tower).
If it is quite uncomfortable weather wise you might try going into the %26quot;Palace de la Decouverte%26quot; just off the Champs Elysees along side the Seine...nice %26quot;hands on museum%26quot; for children, a couple of floors. Our boy also liked the %26quot;Conieirgerie%26quot; (on Ile de Cite near Notre Dame) where trials of the French Revolution were held and Marie Antoniette, others, were kept in the prision there.
We find the Parisians to be quite child friendly. And French TV does have cartoons too).......As with London, try not to get into the %26quot;rush hour%26quot; mess. Crowded and sometimes uncomfortable. You will have fun with him..........and he might surprise you with what he knows from books and movies about many French sites.
Have fun..............
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Bea
That%26#39;s great - many thanks. My son%26#39;s not much of one for books but does like history, so should be able to use some of these ideas.
I was wondering whether the catacombes would be a bit too much for him? - though he does have the usual 9yr old ghoulish interests!
Ellkebe
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The catacombs are closed for now. I didn%26#39;t read Bea%26#39;s post, so there may some repeats here. I have a 7 and 10 year old they love:
Dinner at La Coupole (a fun historic place, that is great for adults, too) and ALtitidue 95 (first floor of the Eiffel Tower)
The trampolines at the Tuilerie Gardens followed by hot chocolate at Laduree
Going to the Rodin Museum and playing in the garden (there are sandboxes at the very back) then heading over to La Grande Epicerie de Paris at the Bon Marche for a treat at the pastry counter and ending up at the playground at Luxembourg Gardens
Renting row boats at the Bois de Vincennes, or bicycles in the Bois de Boulogne
Berthillon ice cream on the Ile St Louis and a visit to the nearby toy shop, (up the street towards Notre Dame)
Sacre Coeur is actually fun for kids... we went there today and the girls enjoyed watching the artists at the Place du Tertre, and wlaking up the dome. The wanted to go on the funiculaire ride up the hill, watch the puppet show in the middle of the stairs, go on the carrousel and the Petit Train, but you can only do so much in a day! There are plenty of crepe stands around for a treat, as well!
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La grande gallerie de l%26#39;evolution ( http://www.mnhn.fr/ ) - BIG!- in the museum national d%26#39;histoire naturelle near Gare d%26#39;austerlitz. Jardin des Plantes - 36, rue Geoffroy Saint Hilaire 75005
And.. go to Aquaboulevard! (A big indoor water park %26amp; swimmig pool) ( aquaboulevard.com/1english/aqua/aqua1.html )
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Wouldn%26#39;t take a 9 year old to the catacombs if they were open. Rows and rows of skulls and bones. A bit too much. Sounds like you have way too much to do in 2 days. My kids loved climbing to the top of everything-including the 2d floor of the Eiffel tower and the boys really liked the Army museum. Hallways full of swords and more.
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you should go to la cite des sciences et de l%26#39;industrie, especially at la geode, great films on a huuuuuge screen, very impressive, about animals, or history very nice.
www.cite-sciences.fr/english/indexFLASH.htm
you can look for films at la geode on the website and then you%26#39;ll see which films are playing. also some places for kids there.
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I second the Musee des Invalides (Army Museum right besides Napoleon%26#39;s tomb), always a hit for young boys.
There is also near Opera the Musee Grevin, the Paris equivalent of Mme Tussaud museum.
For the Toys shops (culture is important but let%26#39;s focus on the essentials) I%26#39;d recommend the Galeries LAfayette department store, their toys section is smaller than Hamley%26#39;s, but pretty wide tho.
Jardin d%26#39;Acclimatation is always very good, but I%26#39;d recommend it mainly in spring or summer, when it%26#39;s warmer.
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I second the wax museum... musee grevin. It is fun and it is in one of the historic covered passages. (Near a toy shop, to boot!)
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Many thanks for all of your idea. We now clearly have far too much to do and will just have to go back another time to fit it all in!! - and that%26#39;s without covering everything my husband and I would like to do!
I%26#39;ll have great fun putting together some sort of wet day/ dry day itineries thanks to all the suggestions and will report back on the hits and bombs (although my son tells me a %26#39;bomb%26#39; is now a hit!!)
Incidentally, I%26#39;ve come across references to what seems to be a sewage museum -?? Conor thinks the idea of a museum of poo sounds great, but I%26quot;m not convinced!
Many thanks again - I was right: you are a friendly and helpful lot :)
Ellkebe
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Les Egouts de Paris....it is not as gross as it sounds, but it does have its own special ambience. My daughter was so facinate she decided to do a school report on the place. Blech.......
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