Paris accomm -very near station & McDonalds for autistic son (single parent)

[FedAndWatered]

I’ve an autistic 14 year old who struggles with mobility and an autistic 12 year old and I’m a single parent. Son has an eating disorder whereby he only eats McDonald’s nuggets among very limited other things. He wants to go to Paris. I don’t have a great budget and need somewhere near a station so we can get around without him having to walk loads and a McDonalds nearby. Any ideas?

Just a heads-up that the nuggets in French McDonalds may not be identical to the ones in the UK. I believe the recipe is slightly different.

la motte picquet grenelle Station has a McDonalds very close by.

Paris has a lot of stairs and busy sidewalks - will your DC be ok with that?

Why does he want to go to Paris? Is there another French city / holiday destination we could recommend that might not be so overstimulating.

Thanks both of you. He is obsessed about Paris. Perhaps I should even book a town outside and just go to Paris the day and immerse ourselves more quietly in French culture on the second day. I have got cheap flights potentially to the Ryanair favoured airport outside Paris.

There are loads of McDo in Paris; one opposite Jardin Luxembourg for eg. Your biggest issue will be step-free access. Chatelet is a huge and often overwhelming metro station, but is mostly served by escalators (depending on what line you're taking) and there's a nearby McDo.

You might be better off using buses, though, as well as the boats along the Seine.

Paris is very much a walking city, though, and not one I'd recommend for people with restricted mobility.

Beauvais (airport) is a long way out. Buses go to either St Denis, La Villette or La Défense, depending on flight times. You'll need to choose your hotel accordingly.

McDonald’s food is often different in different European countries, the nuggets might not be like the UK ones.

Hotel Libertel near Gare St Lazare has a McDonalds 5 doors down (but it's not somewhere I would rush back to so hope others have better tips!)

Montparnasse and the surrounding area, the station has good access and there’s a McDonalds close by the station. But yes as others have said, recipes vary in McD’s food on the continent.

I went to Paris alone with my DD11 this time last year and we stayed opposite the Montparnasse station & tower. There was a McDonald's in walking distance and it was a great spot for getting around the city.

Thanks everyone. This has really helped. Very much appreciated.

Ibis Styles hotels are basic but clean and comfortable and budget friendly. There are loads in Paris.

Jardin du Luxembourg has escalators at the metro station, a mcdo and ice cream. There's a giant burger King too, if the mcdo recipe is no good. If he can manage the walk up the hill to the Pantheon you can see the eiffel tower.

There are also trams that might be more accessible for getting around.

Just wanted to say - think it's great that you are doing this for your kids. The more you travel with kids the easier it gets I reckon!

Yes well done, it really can't be easy on your own

We stayed at the Mecure Opera Louvre hotel, which was within yards of the Opera Metro & a McD. The hotel rooms were decorated with murals of polar bears at famous Paris landmarks though, which might freak out your pair.

We found that ubers were the same or cheaper cost as using the metro and public transport when paying for 4 people in Paris. This was around the Olympics when they increase public transport costs. But worth looking at that as an option if mobility is an issue.

They would probably love that!!

The Metro was really easy to use, although lots of the stations only had stepped access.

Well done for trying this.

We did it last summer, with a 5 and 9 year old. Stayed in an apartment and walked or took the Metro everywhere. We easily walked 5-10km each day, so do think about what you actually want to do there.

I made up cheese/bread/apples/another fruit or veg/1 treat picnic lunches for everyday, which keeps costs down.

We found a brilliant book 'Mission Paris' which was a clue hunting game for children, around the sites.

I recommend taking the No. 1 line to Vincennes (last stop, and still in the Metro ticket). It was the French Royal Palace, before Versailles, and has a brilliant Medieval castle, with an English, kids appropriate audio guide.

When are you going? Your DC are also old enough to be able to swim in the Seine, if that floats your boat?

Lastly, we were also surprised by the cost and ease of using the Eurostar. You can get a Metro to the Gard de Nord, which was easier than getting to either airport, and the cost was about 1/3 that of the plane fares.

Also, anything you want to do that can be pre-booked, pre-book it!

We did the Eiffel Tower, l'Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. Saved huge queues, or no availability. The Louvre, you still had to queue to go through security, but that was reasonable. Notre Dame, apparently releases pre-bookable tickets everyday, but I didn't manage to get any, after weeks of trying, so we just queued up, which took about an hour. The Sacre Cœur, free, but long security queue, moved fairly fast.

For somewhere really atmospheric, I'd recommend going into Saint Suplice. Free to get into, so many interesting things to look at and an amazing, calm atmosphere.

We also found where the nearest park/playground was for each of the sites we were visiting, and went with visiting one big thing a day, and then letting the children run and play. Let me know if you want any recommendations.

When you say that's all he eats, do you mean that's all he will eat when you are out Surely you don't get McDonald's delivered every day to your home

Before you go, don't forget to download the RATP app onto which you have to load tickets. Also use the buses rather than the Metro if you can they're really straightforward and they use the same tickets from the app.

I’ve been to Paris with someone with reduced mobility - ambulant wheel chair user - and, even with support accessing the metro was a nightmare. Lots of steps and the head high barriers are very quick (and quite intimidating).
Parisian metro stations are quite
overwhelming- even for NT visitors. (Who are regular users of the London/ Berlin underground) Perhaps see if there are any YouTube videos of the system to give you an idea.

We ended up getting tickets on the hop on hop of type tour busses to get around calmly above ground. - not cheap or authentic but more relaxed.

Perhaps staying further out and coming for a day is a good idea for their first visit.

You really don’t want to know what he eats the rest of the time. It makes my heart sink. Yes, we have tried everything and yes we have accessed specialist support. Before I had him, I had fondly imagined my future children would snack on crudités. That was back in the days when I was the perfect parent.

https://www.staycity.com/paris/la-defense

We stayed here, there wasn't a McDonald's within walking distance but there was a bus stop right outside & a direct underground to the Westfield where there was one about 5-10 min walk away
They apartments have kitchens so you could even take your own food

@FedAndWateredhad this with mine. He's now 26 and a vegetarian who eats kale 🙄😀😀
it gets better. Honest. (Normally because of a girlfriend! )