How would you make the most of 3 days in Paris

[in2dagroove]

With 14 year old DS in August. Day 2 will be spent trying to locate DH who will hopefully have completed the Paris/Brussels cycle event however that won't occupy the whole day. Looking for not so obvious suggestions?

Oh and it's mid week not weekend!

Have taken a few short breaks to Paris with family, some ideas:

This time we’re looking at (traveling August):

le musée d’histoires naturelles,

le palais de Tokyo

le palais de Chaillot

The Real Tennis Courts of Versailles (Tennis Court Oath.)

Previously we focused on

Les Invalides - (Napoleon’s tomb is phenomenal)

Park Luxembourg (lovely toy boats on the pond)

Late night at The Louvre

The batobus bus on the river seine

Bartillion Ice Cream on the Isle St Louis

Versailles private tours (booked only through Versailles website) were flippin’ awesome

Under the Eiffel Tower is cool to see the lift shaft mechanisms

My absolute favorite is L’Orangerie to see Monet’s Water Lillies (part of Museum D’Orsay, found across the bridge.) Musée de L'Orangerie (Monet's Lillies) is a tiny museum found across from the river seine from D'Orsay in the west corner of the Tuileries Gardens. It's intimate and wow! Although still part of the D'Orsay; it has separate ticketing, beautiful but closed Tuesdays. You could get the Batobus up to the Eiffel Tower (seeing the statue of liberté) then walk back through Les Invalides (War museum & Napoleon's tomb,) across the water to the Tuileries?

We also had an amazing tour of The Garnier Theatre (Phantom of The Opera.) The Chagall on the opera house ceiling is stunning.

Disney’s cool but not essential

We usually get picnics from Marks & Spencer’s Food Hall

That’s all that comes to mind. We stay in a well priced Airbnb if you’re interested.

Wow bobbygentry this is fabulous advice! I shall definitely be looking at all of your options, thanks so much. I have booked a studio apartment about 3k from central so hoping that will be fine. Looking forward to it now !

Look at the Batobus (I think that's how you spell it). It's a hop on-hop off boat along the river, hits loads of the main tourist things and if you don't fancy that one you just don't get off. They are regular, about every 20 minutes so you don't have to wait long for one. Really cheap too, with an inside seating bit so safe for children

Also August in Paris is packed with tourists so book tickets in advance for anything you really fancy doing

Musee Picasso was a life-changing experience for me. Jaw dropping.

Berthillon ice cream on the Isle St Louis an absolute must.

And that shop with the rats in the window.

Do you eat meat? If you want amazing steaks / other meat, try one (or all!) of these
Les Crocs de L’Ogres or Les Crocs Des Halles
Cafe des Abbatoirs
J’Go

Insanely good

Catacombs. Book or go early as the queues get huge.
Jardin d'Acclimation in the Bois de Boulogne has something for everyone www.jardindacclimatation.fr/en e.g a few roller coasters, carrousel, bumper cars, pedalos etc... www.jardindacclimatation.fr/en There's also a place to steer radio-controlled boats and mini golf. Many of the attractions cost €2.90 a go; others are free.
The Fete des Tuileries in the Tuileries Gardens is a traditional funfair with trampolines, ghost trains, hall of mirrors etc... en.parisinfo.com/paris-show-exhibition/135470/fete-des-tuileries
The Museum of magic is interesting and a magic show is included in the entrance price.
Spend a day at Versailles. It’s about a 35-45 minute train ride outside of Paris on the RER train. Apart from the amazing palace and gardens, there are musical fountain displays, a mini train which tours the gardens, rowing boats, bike hire, animals to stroke etc... A five-minute train journey from Versailles, in Elancourt, there’s a miniature France with hyper-realistic models.
The Musée Gourmand du Chocolat has 45 minute chocolate making workshops for the whole family. Even if you don’t do the workshop, the museum is interesting and great fun, with demonstrations and a chocolate art exhibition. The hot chocolate stop is always popular!
www.museeduchocolat.fr/summer-classes/?lang=en
Try a treasure trail with THATLou, a scavenger hunt where you follow clues to various works of art where they take a photo in front of it, and all scores are tallied afterwards at a café with the organiser. The hunts are themed, be it love, food, animals, or kings. Note that the price of the hunt does not include entry into the museum. thatmuse.com/louvre/
Instead of going up the Eiffel Tower, you could ride the hot air balloon at Parc André Citroën for a unique aerial view of Paris. Tickets are on par with the other towers, (€12 for adults, €6 for kids) but there won’t be nearly as many people.

Thank you all for these suggestions , plenty to choose from now.