nolefan1

I will be travelling to Paris 11/16~11/24 with a group of 38 high school french students and teachers, some of which have been before. Several questions:
1. Weather??? I have been told everything from slightly cool to expect snow. (we are coming from b'ham alabama)

2.What is going on in the city that time of year? I am not a chaperone, so I intend to partake in the release of the new beaujolais.

3. My 15 yr old daughter is adamant about going to the bohemian district. How safe is it?

4. We are with an arranged tour but have 2 free days. What do you suggest doing? Is it okay for the kids to be unchaperoned in small groups? Alot of them are pretty fluent in the language. We will of course be seeing all of the usual highlights (eiffel, notre dame, st chappelle, sacre coure, louvre, musee d'orsey, river cruise, etc...)

Michel_Paris

I was there at that time last year, first day...rain, rest of time too warm to wear a fall jacket...so...layers and an umbrella.

By bohemian, I would guess the 4th/10th arrs. No probs, in fact you will not have any issues in Central Paris. It is a safe city, just take normal big city precautions.

I was a bit disappointed by Beaujolais nouveau release. restaurants had menus and bottles for the occasion, but not much more. My friend who lived there said it was not a big deal, more for tourists, since there is much better wine available for low cost.

The Segway tour is popular, the Catacombs might be interesting. I would think hanging around the 4th with all its shops might interest many. The Porte de Clignacourt (St Ouen) flea market might be good...Any interest in ballet or concerts?

There are twoo good weekly magazines that list all that is goin on in Paris for that week, sold at all newstands (and Relais stores at CDG)...Pariscope and Officiel des Spectacles.

I would make sure the kids each have the address of the hotel, an idea of how the metro works (perhaps buy carnet of tickets) for them, and a good map amongst the group.

Not having kids...I'll let the parents kick in their ideas...

cheryllj

Bohemian district? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if your daughter is talking about the area of Montmartre near the Moulin Rouge, be advised that there is a long strip of, er, "adult" oriented establishments that have a lot of risque and nudie photos that are open and visible as you walk by on the street.

I wasn't bothered by this, but the last time I was there, I was with some friends who are small-town southerners and they were glad they hadn't brought their parents on that particular day. It was perfectly safe to walk around, at least during the day, but the area does cater (in part) to tourists looking for "nudie" shows, etc.

Michel_Paris

That area is near Sacre Coeur. In theory if you are doing that site via a tour, you would not be wandering around there. As stated, not dangerous, just bit seedy (seedier atnoght).

Area is also location for Amelie movie, so it is nice around Montmartre apart from that one area.

StCirq

I have no clue what you mean by Bohemian District (are you sure it's Paris they're going to?), but there are very few unsafe places in the parts of Paris that tour groups will be going to. Perhaps you meant the Latin Quarter? Perfectly safe.

Weather that time of year is totally unpredictable. Google it a few days before departure to see what's in store. Be sure to have rain gear. I've been in November when it was balmy and again when it snowed.

Speaking decent French is certainly a boon for kids traveling around the city, but I would never have let my kids loose in Paris at the age of 15 even though they know the city, the métro and bus systems, and the language very well. I would sometimes walk with them to a particular intersection and let them shop or wander around in a small area with instructions to meet me back at the starting point at a particular time, but just let them loose? No. Wouldn't do that in any foreign city at that age. Mine were allowed to do that at the age of about 17, and that was after years and years of international travel. But that's just me. If you do let them loose, make absolutely sure you know who's in which groups, that they have emergency plans in place (what if everyone but one of them gets off at the right métro stop? Stuff like that) that are detailed and well understood by everyone. And I wouldn't recommend groups of more than about 5-7. Beyond that, just herding them, or having them herd themselves, is a nightmare. I used to chaperone kids of this age - it's amazing what can go wrong. It's also a fabulous experience if well thought-out in advance.

kerouac

Snow is extremely unlikely in November, albeit not impossible. It probably won't even freeze, but you will indeed probably feel colder than in Birmingham.

nolefan1

Thanks so much for the info. I had actually read about the Moulin Rouge area. Any worse than Bourbon Street in New Orleans?? My kids weren't fazed that much by the wino's, prostitutes and dealers that much in the Big Easy. (kind of disturbing to me)

What about the two big cemetaries? Worth the visit?

ira

Hi N,

>3. My 15 yr old daughter is adamant about going to the bohemian district. How safe is it?

The Marais (4th Arrondissement) or Montmartre?

>4. Is it okay for the kids to be unchaperoned in small groups?

This is a joke, right?

kerouac

For 'bohemian' send them to Bastille or Oberkampf, which is 'bobo' -- one of the 'bos' in that term is indeed 'bohemian' (the other bo is 'bourgeois' which in this context means 'fake' -- i.e. too much money to be a real bohemian).

cheryllj

The Pere Lachaise Cemetery is interesting, and a popular place to visit if only to see Jim Morrison's grave (I was interested in Chopin and Piaf) but I'm not sure what the "other" one is that you mention.

The risque part of Montmartre is no worse than Bourbon street. In fact, during the day, it's quite similar (my friends even said, "wow, all of a sudden we're on Bourbon street!&quot, with the nudie/sex photos easily visible from walking by on the sidewalk. On Bourbon street, they will sometimes put black bars over certain photos in the windows, but I didn't see any black bars on the photos in Montmartre.

Momof3sons

You and the other students' parents are going to need to determine what level of independence you are comfortable with for your children.

While in Paris this summer, generally speaking my sons were with my husband and me. However, one or more of the boys went out in the morning to get breakfast from the one of the local bakeries each day. One day my 17 year old and my 13 year old decided not to go to the Orsay with us, so they travelled from Notre Dame back to our apt. near the Pompidou via the Metro and walking no problem. Also, all three boys had hoped plans would come together for them to spend the day/evening touring in Paris with my 17 year old's roommate from a summer of 2006 leadership camp in Wash. D.C. who lives near Sacre-Coeur. Unfortunately, the plans didn't come together.

I should mention that although I've tried to raise my boys to be responsible and independent, they are from a small town in Maryland and have spent minimal time in actual cities. They have only ridden the Metro in D.C. once or twice. That said, they had no problems navigating the Paris Metro. In fact, although we often travelled around together, they were always way ahead of us and had to wait at the platform for us to catch up.

We did provide each one with a card that had our Apt. address and the phone number of the one international cell phone that we had with us. We also made sure that each one of them had a small amount of local currency and several carnet metro tickets. In addition, we did run through the drill of 1. if you get off a train and we don't - we'll get off at the next stop and you take the next train to us, or 2. if you stay on a train and we get off, you get off at the next stop and we'll follow on the next train. Would I let them roam freely and randomly with no idea of where they were going and when we'd meet up - NO but we were OK with some level of independence.

As I said earlier, it all comes down to your confidence level and how well you think your daughter could handle certain situations.

nytraveler

Don't know your kids - and how much city smarts they have - so it's hard to say if you would let them go in groups. The first time we took my step daughters to Paris we let them go off shopping for the day by themselves (after we were sure they understood the Metro) - but they both have decent French - and are used to navigating New York and the subway with friends.

If your kids aren't used to cities - and the potential for petty crime and scams - I might be less likely to let them go off alone.

Also - don;t know what you mean by bohemian. If you mean the are about Moulin rouge - it's not Bohemian - just quite tacky with various sex shops etc - and not someplace I would send them alone (or anyone at any time - unless that's what they're looking for).

Loveling

About the kids going off alone: I think that depends on their "age-development". My little sister could have traveled to Paris by her self at age 15, but I would not have let my little brother out of sight at the same age. So I guess you need to know your kids for that one.

I traveled by myself to Zurich at the age of 15. And by that I mean taking the train from school to the airport, and meeting friends in Zurich. But then my parents always let us be independent.

gruezi

As a parent, I wouldn't want to know the chaperones let a group of 15-year-olds off on their own in a foreign city unless there were some parameters about where they were going and for how long etc. Visiting a particular neighborhood and having a meeting point and time is different then head to Pigalle and see you whenever...

The left bank was traditionally where bohemians lived in French history but no real bohemians could afford to live there nowadays...thus the term bobos... seems the younger crowd is into Marais these days...