What are the best neighborhoods in Paris to stay in when you have a baby with you? I'm interested in where there are the most parks and playgrounds. Thank you!

You can hardly swing a cat in Paris without hitting a market or playground (small square). You won't need a playground for a baby so I'm thinking you want a square with some benches for you to sit on and flowers for you to look at while the baby is in the carriage/stroller.

Since these places are all over Paris do you have any other requirements? Will you be sightseeing and need proximity to particular sights?

Do you want an area that is primarily residential?

How long will you be in Paris? A week or are you moving there or will you be in Paris for a long time such as a year?

More information would be helpful.

If you are going for just a few days, the area around Luxembourg Gardens would be a good place to stay. The entire garden is filled with attractions for kids and there is a small playground. An apartment nearby would be a nice idea.

Yes, well my baby is 10 months so he likes to "walk around" , i.e. walk with my holding his little hands. He can also go on swings and in sandboxes, so that's why a playground would be fun.

We would also like to sightsee. Museums like the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay are at the top of my list, and the Centre Pompidou would be fun to visit also.

I also want nice shops. I love shopping / browsing for clothes for myself and for baby clothes.

We will be in Paris for 10 days. Thank you!!

agree with adrienne about the ubiquity of parks and playgrounds. Many churchyards were converted to parks with benches and play stuff, so even in the busiest areas (church of St Germaine, middle of intersection at Sevres Babylone, Marche des Rouge Enfants) you will find totlots with benches for moms (and nannies).

Luxembourg is of course fantastic but even toddlers aren't allowed on the grass in some areas, and I have actually seen a policeman stop to scold parents after saying, "No, no, mademoiselle!" to the bebe.

Prepare to see the most beautiful baby and children's clothing you have ever seen, and be thankful that the baby is too young to demand toys from the fabulous shops.

@Ackislander could you recommend a website for finding an apartment in Paris? I saw on your trip report that you recently stayed in an apartment there. Thank you!

I guess I'll go order the Fodor's "Paris with Kids" book ... saw it mentioned on another post about puppet shows

Do you think the Marais would be good, or St. Germain, or the 16th ? Thank you!

Luxembourg Gardens has a playground at the southern end. I think I saw some very young children there. It would be difficult to push a stroller through the gardens as many paths are dirt/gravel so if you want to visit the park every day you should stay at the southern end which would be in the 5th and 14th arrondissements. The northern end of the park (St-Germain) is more formal and that is where you're more likely to be chased off the grass.

But the museums are at the northern end, near the river.

Shopping is everywhere. The more upscale shopping is in the St-Germain area.

There are many apartment web sites.

There are parks everywhere in Paris, that is one of the good things about the city. But arrondisements are large, so the important thing would be to pick a place close to a park, it won't do you any good if one is very far away. The 15th is a good residential area and has a lot of parks, but you have to be near one. The Marais would not be my first choice, there aren't that many parks in that place, actually, and the place des Vosges isn't the same as a nice park where families tend to hang out. It doesn't have much green space. It isn't really a park like many others where families do go (ie, Montsouris or Andre Citroen or Geo Brassens or even the one behind gare Montparnasse). I don't understand the obsession with the Marais on Fodors, I don't find it that appealing but it doesn't have any large big parks like many other areas (like the 14th, 15th, 7th, 17th, and Luxembourg Gardens, even the 8th or some outer arrondisements have big ones). I'd say it's one of the worst areas in Paris for parks, now that I think of it (the Marais).

Here's a recent report on the 16th. If you want to sightsee it's probably not a good location.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...isian-turf.cfm

I agree about the Marais.

To get you in the mood, read Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon. Gopnik, resident expert-on-everything at The New Yorker magazine, writes about raising children a little older than yours in Paris. It is not a guidebook but it will encourage you to look at the city through the eyes of children.

There's a very long thread here named "Paris Apartment thread" with lots of information. If you search this forum for "Paris Apartment" you'll get lots more information. Look also at www.slowtrav.com. Reviewers there review their experience with agencies as well as the individul apartment.

With a baby, renting an apartment is an excellent idea. You'll probably want one with a washer-dryer. A 2-bedroom apartment would be ideal, but, if money's tight, one bedroom will suffice. It's just so nice to be able to put the baby to sleep in one room and have another room in which to talk, watch TV, etc.

We got the apartment we rent most often in the Marais many years ago from VRBO, but I agree that with an infant the Marais and certainly that apartment would not be the best. Though there is a great kids clothing shop practically out the door and plenty for Mom around the corner on rue des Francs Bourgeois, there are narrow sidewalks, lots of fumes from buses, and not much in the way of parks except for the Place des Vosges.

Being near the Luxembourg Gardens or near Ste Placide, which is sort of halfway between them and Sevres Babylone would be great. There are buses and a Monoprix on the rue de Rennes, the Blvd Raspail organic market on Sundays, shops galore in the area including Bon Marche and along the rue de Bac and down toward St Germain and rue des Sts Peres. It's an easy walk to the Seine and to Notre Dame as well, but I haven't used any agencies, sadly. Other places we have rented have come through alumni magazine listings.

We have used and liked Paris Vacations Apartments and Paris Perfect. When are you going?

When will I learn to preview? That should be Paris Vacation Apartments, not vacations.

Paris Perfect has lots of apartments in the 7th and is quite residential. They are great to work with.

I wouldn't base yourselves somewhere just to be close to a park, they are everywhere in Paris. There's a little one near the base of the Eiffel Tower, a couple around Notre Dame, St Germain, jardins Luxembourg, jardins Tuileries with its sailboats to watch....a day out to Bois de Bologne with its little train might be fun. I think there are puppet shows there as well depending on season.
We stayed around Place St Michel which is pretty lively, close to mulitple metro and RER lines, easy walk to Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle, J.Luxumbourg, and even the Louvre if you only have the one child. The choice of eateries is also vast but not always of great quality (it's near the student areas)

I suggest that you pick one of the neighborhoods with apartments with elevators and with wider, flatter streets.

Your baby is so small you don't need a big park, and walking on the grass isn't allowed anyway. But having a playground nearby would be nice, I think. A 10-month old won't care about puppet shows either.

I honestly don't think you want to go to the Louvre or the d'Orsay with a 10-month old, unless your baby will be taking a marathon nap in a stroller. Paris is really beautiful and you don't need to go into museums to appreciate its art. But what would be fun for your child is to let him or her run around the Palais Royale.

I just came back from Paris having traveled with my 5 year old. I would recommend the 6th arrondissement and make sure you have an elevator or a ground or first floor apartment for logging the stroller. There was a studio we almost rented right next to jardin de luxembourg. Thelocation was splendid although the studio is very small.
Your baby is definitely too young forthe paid playground inthe luxemburg garden.