Paris? Help!

[cariboo]

I lived in Paris for 10 years but we've never gone back there on hols as a family. Knowing that Paris = walking (lots!) & our dc (6&9) get tired fairly easily, any suggestions on what or what not to do? We've got 3 days. We all agree the Eiffel Tower is a must, but apart from that, opinions are divided Any suggestions welcome!

Paris avec les enfants : incontournables à visiter, à voir, à faire
DisneyLand Paris
Palais de la Découverte
Musée de la Poupée
Cité des sciences et de l'industrie
Batobus - Tour Eiffel
Barques (Bois de Vincennes)
Jacadi - Tronchet
Disney Store
Tour Eiffel
Tuileries (jardin)
Bonpoint - Montaigne
Bonpoint - Saint Honoré
Jardins du Ranelagh
Zoo de Vincennes
Village Joué club
Vedettes de Paris
Parc Floral de Paris
Parc Asterix
Parc Andre Citroen
Bonnichon Victor Hugo
Bonnichon Saint Germain
Baby Dior
Montmartrain
Square Saint Lambert
Jardin d'acclimatation

Jardin du Luxembourg - an absolute must if the weather is good. The children's area has a fabulous playground and a wonderful ancient merry-go-round. There are pony rides and toy boat sailing (on Weds and weekends, wind permitting).

A trip along the Seine.

Louvre

The Playmobil exhibition on right now at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs

bump

Thanks Bonsoir & Cremolatorium. Playmobil sounds brill and Jardin du Luxembourg definitely. Trip on the Seine's a good way to see some of Paris - hadn't thought of that as have never done it! Louvre is an obvious choice but maybe too much for the dc?

btw, just ran a MN search for "Paris" - seems everyone goes to Disneyworld. Except us![lol] We'll do that another time. So, any other advice on Paris?

What Bonsoir said plus:

Palais de la decouverte is great if it's rainy, but it's basically the science museum in French.

Montmatre is nice but lots of walking and they probably won't appreciate it. The bottom of the hill which goes up to the Sacre Coeur often has lots of things to amuse children though.

Going up the Tour Montparnasse can give you a totally different view of the city.

The sewer museum is good fun (but smelly!).

Notre dame has nice models and you can go up the belltower.

Oooh you can pick and choose bits of the Louvre. I looked after a 7 year old who liked the history bit of it and seeing the foundations of the castle. We never went to see the Mona Lisa or stuff though because he just wouldn't have appreciated it and stood through the queueing

An open topped bus tour is a good way of getting around, and you can hop on and off as much as you like with a two day ticket. Kids love the novelty of it, you get a commentary and a good view and it cuts out a lot of the walking. Ideal for kids that tire easily I would think.

Tour Montparnasse is a fantastic way to see the whole city. Probably good to go on the second day as the DCs will have seen some of the city and will get a good over view. Recommend going when you will still be there at dusk-you can go on the roof which is wonderful . Tour Eiffel lights up and twinkles on the hour and is a great spectacle.

Then we you are up tour Eiffel you can see the opposite view.

If the DCs have watched Mr beans holiday they might be interested to see some of the sights he traversed across the city- such as the cube in La Defense

If you like historic houses, the Musée Nissim de Camondo at 63 rue de Monceau in the 8th is compact, has a fabulous collection of 18th century art and furnishings and gives a very precise picture of a Parisian haut bourgeois household at the beginning of the 20th century. Your DC will be able to bear it because it is small and you can visit the kitchens, scullery, bathrooms etc as well as all the formal rooms.

And then you can take them to run around in Parc Monceau and for a delicious tea at Mariage Frères!

For child-friendly food, you can grab a chawarma (kebab) at Noura on Pierre 1er de Serbie/avenue Marceau.

Or eat pizza at Il Tre on rue Montorgueil.

Merci à toutes! It's raining - of course! - so it looks like the Louvre & Notre Dame. Both children have heavy colds... argh!! Sitting in hotel room atm; must get going before everyone goes completely ga-ga!

If you do the Louvre, they have leaflets with themed tours for children, so you don't have to traipse round the entire thing, eg if they are interested in Egyptians, the leaflet gives the highlights for that. Also, in the gift shop on the way out (of course...) I found a range of much more glossily produced booklets for sale which give more in-depth ideas for which bits are of interest to children. I bought a couple for next time...

Go shopping in Le Bon Marché - it's empty because of the February half term and it's got all its lovely SS10 stock in!

Lots of museums are closed on Tuesday - be careful!

Thanks, Bonsoir. Caught that in time - visited the Musée d'Orsay instead. Dc were enchanted by the clock!