10 days in Paris with 16-month old. Advice appreciated!
 

Bonjour fellow travelers!
Gone are the days of backpacking as a single woman.... Now I am traveling to Paris in July for 10 nights with our 16-month old. We have rented an apartment in the Marias and are getting all of our baby travel gear together. I feel very comfortable with most aspects of the trip but am wondering about a few things...
- Do restaurants typically have highchairs or should I bring a travel booster seat?
- Our sweet girl eats well but there is always a mess of food on the floor when she is done. Are there some more "family-friendly" places to eat that won't get too upset at us about this? Or should we get down all all fours to clean the floor when she is done? Or leave a big tip? For some reason I just picture all of the French babies as much better behaved and neater than my kiddo. :)
- What is the protocol on taking strollers and babies into museums?
- Does baby ride free on the metro or do we have to buy her a ticket?
- Any recommendations for day trips?

Any other advice would be appreciated! Thank you for your help!
Cheers!

One nice thing about traveling with a little one in July is that you can enjoy an outside table where the mess won't matter as much and the birds will quickly clean up the crumbs when you leave.

I'm thinking the best kind of day trip for a toddler is a park and you'll certainly be spoiled for choice of green space in Paris.

Some bistros and brasseries may have highchairs; many will not. I doubt a "restaurant" will have one.

Eating outside solves the mess on the floor issue. But assuming you can't eat outside all the time, I'd be sure to go to places where a mess on the floor wouldn't be an issue. Like Flunch or Hippopotamus or Paul or some other soup-salad-sandwich place, or museum café.

Babies are free on the métro. I believe you can take strollers into most if not all museums.

I think the Metro might be a chore--negotiating stairs, escalators, crowds with a stroller. Doable, of course, but you might want to figure out bus routes--slower but much more enjoyable and there are spaces to park strollers.

Dine at outdoor tables at cafes and do picnics in the parks. Paris has some wonderful playgrounds.

I just topped an excellent trip report for you. Here is the link to it too, just in case.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ed-monster.cfm

It's a long read -- but full of invaluable advice.

Hippopotamus is a family friendly chain -- they won't mind if food ends up on the floor and there are high chairs. However, the food is not great. You can do so much better in Paris. We ate there and felt completely comfortable just disappointed that we wasted a meal in Paris!

Jardin Luxembourg has a wonderful playground. We spent hours and hours there.

Meals take longer in Paris -- it's part of the fun! But it's not so fun when your little one gets antsy. Don't forget to pack things to keep her happy and occupied at meal times. It will be helpful if they are not the same toys/activities that you plan to use on the plane.

Have Fun!

I second the bus idea-people are really great to riders with kids and there are kind of designated areas for strollers and most folks give up seats to parents with kids. Those little umbrella type strollers that fold easily are invaluable from what we have seen. If you can try to avoid the really busy traffic times though-they can get very crowded. Just look at the nearest bus top close to your apartment and it will show all the stops. And now they both announce the stops and show you a ticker kind of sign on the bus telling you what the next up-coming stop is. You get the added benefit of really getting to know your way around Paris in a way that is impossible with the metro.

Here is a link to a great site called Delicious Baby about traveling to Paris with a child about your age and eating at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, just in case you are starting to worry that you will be condemned to eating in the apartment the whole trip or sitting on park benches!

http://tinyurl.com/2dcxgm7

We live in Paris part time and when folks with kids visit we love to head over to the Cafe Marly at the Louvre if it is nice enough to eat outside since that way the kids can run around a bit. Italian is also a popular choice with parents and kids who visit us since it is generally a bit more casual. We also find that lunch is generally easier at some of the more formal places and they always have been great to our friends with kids-sometimes even catering to special requests like leaving sauces off for fussy eaters etc.