If you know Paris well come and help me

[homebythesea]

Arriving Gare du Nord 12 Noon ish. Departing Gare Montparnasse 3pm ish. Is there anything we can realistically do in that time (including lunch!)?

Hello !
honestly, its really really short. Gare du Nord and Montparnasse are at the opposite. Go straight away to montparnasse, then if you got some spare time you can have lunch at "la coupole" for an example. Its on "boulevard de montparnasse", on of the most parisian avenue ! great area but honestly 3 hours is really short...

Thanks for the advice- would a taxi ride take us past any of the sights?

yes, thats the best way to reach the other train station anyway.
and the avenue i was talking about is really close to the montparnasse.
But be very careful with the time ! ive been late many many times at montparnasse because of the traffic too...

We have made that journey several times by metro, it takes about 45mins if you leg it off the eurostar, longer if you just amble. It might be quite an expensive taxi ride as it is quite a long way. It is just one line on the metro. Look at the journey planner on ratp.fr.

I agree with the advice to get to montparnasse and then see how much time you have, as it will not be a huge amount.

Thanks all - not sure I can stomach the idea of the metro with kids and luggage- from what I've seen on t'internet it will take a similar amount of time in a taxi so we'll do that.

I'd be interested to know how much that costs you, in the interests of research you understand!

i was thinking about the luggages andstuff, thats why i didnt offer the metro option. by taxi it will be around 25-30 euros if my memory still serves me. Metro in Paris with kids is just a nightmare, especially if you want to stop somewhere for lunch...

You could go up the Montparnasse tower - you get the best view of Paris from there.

Absolutely - go up the tower and you'll have just the best views of Paris especially if the weather holds.

There's a garden on top of Gare de Montparnasse called the Jardin Atlantique, which has a playground!

Well it took 20 mins by taxi, went past Louvre and Arc de Triomphe and got a glimpse of Tour Eiffel for good measure and it cost Euros 25. We had way too much time to kill at Montparnasse!!

Should have gone by metro! It could have been much more traumatic. Thanks for reporting back .