Paris - need a few pointers please.

[Posey]

It is many years since I've been, dh has never been, so we want to go for his 40th. With the kids too.
Main thing I want is a recommendation of an area to stay. There are so many hotels and when I have no idea where is a nice centralish area to stay.
If you have any specific hotel recommendations that would be great too.

I may come back later asking for ideas of stuff to do!

Posey, Stay in the Marais, it's a great area with a villagy cosmopolitan feel - lots of bars restaurants cafes and boutiques. - you can walk paris pretty easy and from here you're pretty central. And you're close to the river and park here too.
If you want more recommendations - places to eat etc I can give you some tips - my sis has lived there 15 years so i go regularly.
last time we went was for my dad's 70th and we took kids (age 3 and 18months) - they loved it.

Thank you.
Will probably be looking for child friendly restaurants too (that sell fish fingers )

We went to a few restaurants in the marais with the kids, can't remember offhand, so will have to ask my sis for reminder. But in general, all restaurants were v child friendly (even if it didn't look like it). Food wise don't know about fishfingers but 'croque monsieur/madame' (cheese (/and ham) on toast) and frites always seems to work. All the bistros will sell it.

Quite nice to sit outside by the Pompidou. if you go to the rhs, there's the fountains with all the colourful Nikki St Phalle kinetic water sculptures - lots of bistros here.

Also nice bistros and cafes in the Tuilleries gardens - don't know how old your kids are, but it allows you to sit outside to eat/have coffee and they can run about. There's also carousels and trampolines!!

If you have time for child free cocktails either: China Club (between bastille and marais)
50 rue de Charenton, 12th

"With its huge chesterfields, low lighting and a sexy long bar, it?s impossible not to feel glamorous here. They take their Martinis seriously, and their well-made champagne cocktails."
or 'le Fumoir' - very cool nd you can sit and look over to the louvre.

• Le Baron Rouge
• 1 rue Théophile-Roussel, 12th (next to bastille market) fab, very french wine bar (also serves oysters sunday morn) everyone drinking wine and oysters out in the street using car bonnets as table tops - so long as it's an oyster month (has an 'r' in it)

Le Square Trousseau
1 rue Antoine-Vollon, 12th
lovely restaurant - v. friendly and good food

Hope that gives you a few pointers, even if they're not specifically child orientated.

oh and on sundays the marais is for wandering, people watching and sitting in cafes - and eating street food - you can get v. tasty pitta breads with falafel

Ooh thank you again Loulee. Its really nice to get suggestions from people who really know the area.

Agree with all that Loulee says.

Go to 'L'As du Felafel in the Marais for takeaway felafel and 'Aux Philophes' also in the Marais for lunch.

Now I've read the thread properly I see you want to know where to stay. I second Loulee with Le Marais or the Quartier Latin / Mouffetard / Jardin des Plantes - all pretty central but quiet and safe.

Also you should def go to the Mosquee for afternoon tea. Its lovely.

We did this for my 40th! Dh, 4 children and myself. Travelled to Paris on Eurostar (partly for the experience of Eurotunnel, partly for the experience of trains!) and stayed in a cheap apartment (chain recommended by Mumsnetters but I can't recall its name - thought it was just citi apartment or something similar) near the Eiffel Tower.

It was basic self catering accommodation but very cheap for 6 people - 2 bedrooms and a sofa bed. We actually had the children in the bedrooms, and dh and I took the sofa bed and watched tv in bed! Alternative would have meant kids in sofa bed would have had to have stayed up until we went to bed.

We had a great time despite going over New Year when much was shut. We did Eiffel Tower, cathedrals, river boat trip, park. Loads of places to eat with kids, as so many cafes etc so not expensive or too posh.

Just wish I could link you to the website!

Meant to explain the apartment had 2 bedrooms, bathroom, sitting room with sofa bed and small kitchen area so you could do some basic meals yourself. Dh went out each day and found bakeries selling croissants and pain au chocolat even on 1st Jan.

Found it!

Citadines Apart Hotel

Recommended to me by cod no less! The link takes you to the hotel we stayed in but you can also see what else is on offer from the chain.

Thanks for that link DumbledoresGirl. What if you're only there for 2 or 3 days, can you still rent for a short time rather than a week or something?

Oh yes, I am sure you can. We were only there for 2 nights.

Well we've spent the last hour or more looking at the site and are really taken with them. Think we may just go the apartment route instead of a hotel.
So thanks a lot.

Message withdrawn

And Gamin de Paris
looks a bit boring in the link pic but really great. Really lovely people - great traditional food - the waiter also plays practical jokes all the time.
Have fun!

Posey, I have to say, the kitchen bit is very vey basic and not as good as it looks on the site IMO, but I feel it was definitely the only way for us. With young children, it was a godsend not having to get them ready for the day before having breakfast, not having to worry about finding somewhere for them to have tea, and being able to make a cup of tea whenever we wanted one. We did still eat out of course, but we weren't tied to doing so.

Would agree with Dumbledoresgirl that an appartment would be great - we are very lucky as my sis owns a bar/restaurant so v. easy to hang about and eat/drink there when we wanted. If you're staying near the eiffel tower, there's a great pedestrianised bit next to the market - lots of bistros.
Also you'll be near the Rodin museum - wonderful if only for the gardens that are gorgeous esp. if you have good weather. There's an outdoor cafe there and a playpark at the end.
And the bistro next to the Pompidou (thats also in the Tuilleries) is called Dame Tartine.
Phew! - that's me done!

I'm in Paris at the moment with DH and my three (how sad it that, posting on mumsnet!) and we're staying in an apartment near the Eiffel Tower. This is the second time we've booked an apartment with yellowstay.com and they are pretty good. This one is fairly small and not suitable for really small kids (one double bedroom, one double bed on a mezzanine that would be lethal for little ones and a pull out sofa bed) but it's 135 euro a night which is pretty much the price of a double room in a 2 star hotel around here. Last time we brought the kids we stayed in the Marais and looked wistfully at the trendy gay bars as we walked past with three children so even though that would be my area of choice child free, i avoided it this time. My area of choice with kids would be St. Michel (5eme) as it's really laid back and buzzy, the restaurants are cool with kids at incredibly late hours, and it's fairly cheap. The 7eme isn't but DS2 (8) is really looking forward to seeing Napoleon's tomb in the morning and if it stops raining we're heading to the Musee Rodin which is brilliant for kids.