Hello,
I am curious as to what your children enjoyed the most (and least) in Paris. Also, if you could do something different the next time you travel to Paris with children, what would it be? Thank you very much in advance for all input.
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Our 14yo daughter has been in Paris three times in as many years (11-13 years old). She most enjoyed the following:
1. Louvre (excellent audio tour for five Euros).
2. Shakespeare and Co. bookstore (especially the second floor, where you can sit and read); the owner, George Whitman, invited her to a tea party!
3. the Eiffel Tower and Altitude 95 for dinner
4. Musee des Arts Forains (she didn%26#39;t understand a word of the two-hour tour, but loved the place;highly recommended!)
5. the Marais (walking through small streets and shopping on rue des Francs Bourgeois).
6. shopping
7. crepes
8. Rue Mouffetard market
9. Pantheon crypts
10. Bercy Village (Sephora, big sunny stores and nice place to put up your feet; near Musee des Arts Forains); we both loved this place.
What she enjoyed most however, and this was a special treat, was hanging out with one of her favorite uncles and his wife in Paris. Being able to hook up with family there made a big difference.
We will be back this June. Her picks: the Louvre (4th time); shopping, the Fragonard perfume museum; the Marais, and the Henri Cartier Bresson foundation.
What she could have done without: the Pere Lachaise cemetery; Champs Elysee (looks just like U.S.); Notre Dame (she attends school on the Close of the National Cathedral in DC, so it%26#39;s same old, same old as far as she is concerned).
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I think you should probably suggest the age group you%26#39;re talking about. When you say %26quot;children%26quot; to me, I automatically think of my own who are very small. Their tastes will differ greatly from a teenager or pre-teen.
Les
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Mine (10 and 8 at the time) enjoyed the bateaux on the Seine, baguettes (by the second day, 8 y.o daughter was ordering on her own in French), visiting the Louvre, Jardin de Luxembourg, riding the Metro, picnicking on the Champs de Mars, 10 y.o. son especially enjoyed playing basketball with the local kids on the courts adjacent to the Champs de Mars. The only thing that we (and they) would change is that we would stay longer than the 4 days.
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15 and 17-year-old daughters:
* evening picnic at the base of the Eiffel Tower
* shopping
* Latin Quarter - they enjoyed wandering the tiny streets, the gyos, the evening street entertainers
* Nutella crepes, patisseries, steak frites, profiteroles, baguette sandwiches
* Going up the Eiffel Tower
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For teen or pre-teen girls, the ultimate was the free fashion show at Printemps (10:00 am, Tuesdays, if memory serves), followed by a stroll thru their shoe department which was incredible, to say the least.
My 10 year-old daughter also loved Berthillon for ice cream on Ile St. Louis, the Eiffel Tower, the Vedettes du Pont Neuf after-dark boat ride on the Seine, shopping, shopping, and more shopping!
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Thanks so much for your input, and yes, thank you, Les68, I should have been more clear about the age group I personally am curious about: 6 years old and 11 years old. Again, thank you all very much. This is such a terrific forum with very generous contributors.
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I do not have children of my own, but did go to Paris once with my cousins who were 11 and 14. Besides Eiffel Tower, they weren%26#39;t that much into sightseeing though... Surprisingly, they were actually having a better time shopping! I knew the most teen girls are like mallrats, but didn%26#39;t expect the boys at that age into be that interested in shopping.
They both HATED Louvre. :-( They all said it%26#39;s too big and they can%26#39;t really appreciate that much of art in one place. Yet the kids (and their parents) enjoyed their time at Picasso Museum. They liked the smaller, easier to navigate building and actually favored %26quot;cooler%26quot; (as they said) paintings there.
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They love walking the towers of Notre Dame and the tower od SC in Montmarte. They loved the zoo and the museums near it ( Garden des Plantes 5e). They loved the boat ride too! And the Eiffel Tower
They loved the Luxembourg Gardens and having fruit tarte picnics there!
They loved planning our route using the metro (They had never seen one before!) .
They loved the street food and going to the three course dinners and choosing for themselves!
The only thing they did not like was the blister they got on one foot each.... we treated them ... but had warned them which shoes were best and they did not take our advice until it was too late!
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We just returned last week with our kids 4, 7 and 9. They said their favorite things were the Eiffel Tower, climbing the towers at Notre Dame, the boats at the Luxembourg Gardens, and walking down the Champs Elysee (we are Tour de France fans). I had not expected the enthusiastic response to the Luxembourg Gardens but we ended up spending two afternoons sailing boats and at the playground.
Re: museums. The Pompidou Center was the biggest hit because they thought the art was cool We did very brief visits to Orsay, Rodin and Louvre (Mona Lisa only) and they were fine with those...am trying to instill an appreciation for art without totally overwhelming them so we kept our visits short and sweet.
The boat ride on Vedette de Pont Neuf was also really fun because they got an overview of what we would see and do for the week.
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Went myself as a 10 yr old, and a 13 yr old .Like the Eiffel Tower, climbing the towers at Notre Dame, the Louvre, and peche melbas.
Took my own 14 yr old son two years ago, he loved climbing the stairs at the Eiffel Tower, climbing the Arc,, and descending into the Catacombs, and renting a bike and riding around the grounds at Versailles.
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