This is the first time for all of us in Paris - 6 days/5 nights Thanksgiving week. Is anyone willing to give me the must do's and don't bothers for family of 4 (kids 10 & 12)
Sewer tour? Museum pass? Catacombs? Restaurants? Which boat tour? I'm a virgin to Europe and need help! How many museums could your kids stand? etc. Thanks.

Regarding the museums, how many museums would your kids be willing to visit if you were at home for this same period of time?

I would recommend doing the audio guides (taped recordings) since it gives you the highlights of the collection without taking too long to visit. Most of the guided tours I've been on drag on more than their attention spans will allow!

I like the boat tour after dark so you can enjoy the magic of the city lights. We've used Bateaux Mouches and Bateaux Parisien. I know that there are some with very definite opinions of which one to choose.

Have you looked into the Hop on/Hop off tours? http://www.paris-opentour.com/index_eng.htm It will allow you the flexibility to get off and visit something that interests you or simply a great view and recorded commentary.

You will have a terrific time!

I've never been to Nos Ancetres Les Gaulois, on Ile St. Louis, but it sounds like a fun to place to take kids for a meal. You might want to check out the website to make sure it's appropriate for kids the ages of yours. www.nosancetreslesgaulois.com

Have a great trip!

We took our children (ages 7 and 12) to Paris two years ago and they absolutely loved it. Here is what we did to make our trip great:
1. Buy books set in Paris/France so that the kids can relate to what they are seeing. For example, our daughter read about the little dancer Degas used so she really enjoyed the impressionism musuem. Our son read about the French Revolution so he liked the archeological things we saw. I just went on Amazaon and BN.com and search for books with relevant titles. We also had them keep a journal. We had them watch Rick Steves Paris story and other movies set in Paris.
2. To not overload them and keep them in good spirits, we struck a deal with them that they would have to do what we wanted in the morning, e.g. see a museum etc. and that they could pick an activity in the afternoon (they traded off afternoons). One parent could continue looking at the musuem while the other parent did the kid's activity. They picked great things which really added to the trip, they did a carnival in the tuilleries garden, did the sailboats in luxembourg gardens, checked out arcades and the pompiepu museum and a tour of candy and toy stores. The parent left behind could linger more in the museum and everyone was happy.

3. Our kids prefered not staying in the center of busy hotel districts so we stayed in the 7th district near Rue Cler and the Effiel Tower. We stayed at the Muguet Hotel and our kids loved it. Many hotels in europe do not have rooms with 2 double beds so this was our first experience having them sleep in their own room which they enjoyed. Since we were celebrating our daughter's birthday, Catherine at the Muguet gave them a room at the front of the hotel from which they could watch the Effiel Tower sparkle every night. We brought our two-way walk-talkie radios in case they needed to talk to us. This area is very near metro stops which we used (we bought a booklet of tickets, i forgot the name, which we shared among the 4 of us.

4. Yes, do the museum pass because it saves waiting in line, we bought ours at the textile museum next to the louvre. yes get them audio tours for every museum. Some of them may be geared for kids, its keeps them busy and if bored they can have fun pressing the buttons.

5. We had dinner at the second level of the Effiel Tower at a restaurant (I think it is Altitude 95, but check towers website). Kids loved it and food was good. Kids also loved Angelina (the choc. restaurant-do search correct name should pop up.

6. At Rue Cler our kids would go out with a parent and buy crepes as snacks as well as fruit. The area was very kid friendly.

7. As far as how many musuems kids can stand, in our 5 day, 4 night trip our kids did, Rodin Museum, Napoleon's tomb, Louvre, Museum Orsay, Pompediu Centre, a concert at Saint Chappel (I know I mispelled that one).

8. You are doing the right thing checking out this forum. I used it a lot and it was very helpful. We also used Rick Steves and gonomad.net to get tips. Have fun and I hope this helps, itv. p.s. sorry for all the misspellings, its been a long day.

Great fun is a Bicycle Tour.

www.fattirebiketoursparis.com

I did the evening tour with my kids (12 and 14) which also includes a river trip, but as it will be dark then you may prefer one of the day tours. It was the highlight of our visit to Paris.

Also kids usually like to climb - you have the Arc de Triomphe and Sacre Coeur as well as the Eiffel Tower.

None of my children ahve been very good about museums and art galleries so I don't even think about doing that with them now; One or two churches a day is the limit for them. I did think my boys would like the Conciergerie but we didn't have time to get there, likewise the catacombs and sewers - so much else to do and see, even just wandering around.

The children did enjoy Montmartre, with the artists around Place du Tertre, and we found the most fabulous ice cream shop on Rue Norvins - 42 flavours to choose from!

Itsy's suggestions are good, I especially like the idea of the trade-off so that the adults can enjoy a museum in peace occasionally!

Have a great trip - it's a wonderful city!

Get them the "Horrible Histories" book on France. Fun to read, and actually has a lot of interesting facts.
My children liked the Science Museum at Parc de la Villette.
As others have done, we also plan half the day, usually the morning, then lunch, and let them decide for the afternoon.

Oh, forgot to say; Around Paris with Kids, from Fodor's is good.

my boys' votes go to climbing Notre Dame to come face to face with the gargoyles and the Catacombs.

One year I gave my kids some Asterix comic books and movies before our trip and took them to Parc Asterix. It stayed in theme with the stories and the kids loved it. If you go to the gladiator show, be sure to get there on time...we arrived 2 minutes late and even though it was pouring rain and the show was almost empty, they wouldn't let us in!