First the A/C issue! Yes, air conditioning will help if it's warm and muggy.

"attempted child abduction and thieving stories" are just that, stories. The Republique is in the 11th arrondissement, quite interesting and busy. Nation is in the center of Paris, in the 1st, busy and hardly prone to what your friends have been telling you.

As far as where to stay, it will depend on your budget and likes or dislikes.

For places to dine, you might be interested in downloading Patricia Wells "Food Lovers Guide To Paris" (www.patriciawells.com).

Nation is not in the 1rst or as close to sights in Paris but I believe that it is on the RER line that goes to Disneyland.

Nation is on the edge of Paris, but it is directly on the RER A line to Disneyland. But that is just a detail and I would stay at République if I had to choose between the two.

However, please note: Place de la République is being renovated, and the work will not be complete until June 2013.

http://www.placedelarepublique.paris.fr/

"Some friends have been telling us stories of attempted child abduction and thieving stories"

you are kidding right?

Does thieving happen in big cities, oh yes.

Definitely my vote would be for Republique in the 11th. It is a great, vibrant parisian neighbourhood with lots of great cafes and restaurants and good transit links. You can even walk to the Seine if you wanted to. Nation is more of a business district with less of the parisian atmosphere you are probably expecting.

As for child abductions - I dont think there is a cause for any more concern than any other large city. Use common sense as you would in say New York. Have your friends been to Paris recently?

That was a Liam Neeson film (Taken) about child abduction in Paris (really a teen). Seriously, there probably are some, but Paris is not a particularly dangerous city compared to some places in the world (not Western Europe).

However, due to what is going on in Mali, they have raised security concerns and pumped up the Vigipirate program, I believe (which is a security program). I haven't read anything about recent child abductions that I recall, and I am fairly current on French news.

this is the article in Le Monde a few weeks ago about Vigipirate and Mali http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2013/01/12/intervention-au-mali-le-plan-vigipirate-bientot-renforce-en-france_1816259_3212.html#xtor=RSS-3208


I don't know what robert2533 is thinking about Nation being in the center of Paris, it definitely is not, and it's fine out there around Nation in terms of safety (if a bit dull to my taste), but you can just look at a map and see it is much farther out than Republique. I'd go for Republique with a caveat as to exactly where teh apt is, as I do for any location. Things just seem a lot bigger and more open out there, also, which I suppose is because it isn't central Paris so newer and things are more spread apart.

Proximity to metro depends on the address of a place, no one can tell without knowing what the exact locations are.

Hi! Thank you for your inputs everybody! We shortlisted Nation because of its proximity to the RER A but with your suggestions I have decided on Republique and am eyeing the Paris France Hotel along Rue de Turbigo near the Temple Metro. I guess we can do the short walk from Republique metro with a kid + 2 big luggages.

And the 2 friends who've told me about the abduction cases were last there 2 & 5 years ago so I don't know... I mean when people tell you things like "never take your eyes off your daughter!", "hold on to tight to her everywhere!" "there are kidnapping syndicates out there!" in alarmed tones, I couldn't help but feel worried and shocked.

As for the pickpocketing and thieving, as bilboburgler said, its expected in all big cities so I guess we'll just keep our things close, our eyes open and hope for the best.

And the 2 friends who've told me about the abduction cases were last there 2 & 5 years ago so I don't know.

and if they did not have personal experience and only "heard" about it, their report is of little value. With such incidents, one should depend on reliable sources such as police reports and mainline newspaper reports.

Have you seen statistics on child abduction in the US (or your home country)? Perhaps you could share this with your friends.

"Every 40 seconds in the United States, a child becomes missing or is abducted."

There is also theft in small towns, not only large cities. I live in a small town and there is definitely theft going on.

Of course you will watch your daughter. What parent wouldn't watch an 8 year old in unfamiliar surroundings. But I don't think you need to put a harness on her.

I would enjoy your time in France and not worry about these things. I'm curious about why your friends went to France when they have terrible stories to tell. How do they know about the "kidnapping syndicates?"

That isn't a realistic statistic about children in the US every 40 seconds, it's touted by advocacy groups but that figure includes all children who have "gone missing", which includes just simple misunderstandings or miscommunications and the children show up fine, and it also includes runaways or parental or relative disputes (about half of them). The vast majority are resolved within a couple hours. It isn't abductions by strangers. So if the goal is to not believe exaggerated reports that are not pertinent to the situation, that isn't a good example to follow.