Itinerary help

Oh, and to add.... after the Gardens I was thinking catching the batobus tour to the Eifel tower? I think it is beacutiful to catch that "first glimpse" from the water, but it will be later in the day so I don't know if it will be worth buying the tickets for the batobus since they close earlier.

Are we better off catching the nearest Metro closest to the gardens? If so, which is the best stop to catch an amazing "first view" of the tower? We are taking friends to Paris, and this is their first time.

O.k, I have an "itinerary" planned and wanted to see what all you Paris Pro's think. This is our 3rd visit, but our first visit for our friends. We each have small children with us, ages 7, 5, 4, 3, and 2. We have 2 full days in the city.

Thursday:

Train into Paris directly to the Notre Dam. Spend an hour or so (or however long the kids will last) exploring, and possibly going up the towers depending on the lines. After this, we will walk across the bridge and down along St. Germaine Blvd to to Rue de Seine to find Gerard Mulot. I picked this place based on glowing reviews for their pastries, and overall appeal. I am assuming this will be a lovely walk with lots of wonderful window shopping and Parisian charm?

We will then take our goodies to Luxembourg park for a picnic lunch and to let the kids play. Then, we will take the metro to the Trocadero stop to walk up to the Eifel from that angle. This will hopefully be around 4 pm before it is dark. After pictures, carousel rides for the kids, we will take the elevator to the 2nd floor once it is dark. Then grab a pizza at a pizzeria that I remembered looking kid-friendly from our last visit.

** Any other recommendations for kid-friendly cafe's to eat dinner around 6 pm near the Eifel?**

We will then catch the horse-drawn carriage rides around the Eifel. Yep, touristy, but my girls loved this last year!

** Does anyone know how late these run?**

We will then take the train back to our apartment.

FRIDAY:

Train to the Louvre. After the Louvre a walk through the Tuilerres Gardens to let the children play, grab some crepes for lunch, and relax. Then, we MIGHT take everyone (children included) to Angelina's for hot chocolate. Will we be totally looked down on for bringing 5 children in? It is mostly my 2 year old son that I am worried about, but a pastry will definetly buy us some time. My husband will take him out if he starts making too much noise.

Then after Angelinas a walk down the Champs Elysees for sights/window shopping/Christmas lights.

** Is it quite far from Angelinas to the Champs Elysees? Should we take a train?

We will finish the day at the Arch de Triumph and maybe go to the top for that one last glimpse of the Eifel.

Ok, tips? Concerns? Recommendations? Thank you everyone! I will give a report when we return.

bbrown - FYI, it'd be more helpful to other posters if you put PARIS in your thread title.

Thank you! Too many things going on! Do I have to repost it? I don't see a way to update my title.....

You can email the editors to ask them to add Paris to your thread title [you can contact editors by clicking on the grey triangle]

bbrown1226,

One concern/question. You say you're going to the Louvre, then to the Tuileries, etc. As magnificent as the Louvre is, are you sure you want to take 5 children there...then walk around the Tuileries? Then walk all the way to the Arc de Triomphe? That's a lot of walking with young children. If this is your third visit to Paris, you probably know that, but I couldn't help but comment! There are a few metro stations between the Louvre (Angelina's) and the Arc de Triomphe, so you could always play it by ear and hop on one of them.

Ellen

You would be surprised how many miles my girls can put in. We have strollers for the smaller ones. Though we most likely will take the metro from Angelina's. I just really love walking as much as possible.

And Paris is the most walkable city on the planet! Whatever you end up doing will be wonderful, because you'll be in Paris.