I will will be traveling to Paris (1st time) next week and I have a couple of questions. Any recommendations for places to purchase prints/posters or unique gifts? My four year old son will be coming also and I would appreciate any tips or recommendations on eating in Paris with kids. Also, what are good beers to order in France? Thank you!

For prints (inexpensive) there are many stalls set up next to the Seine. It is very fun shopping here and the posters make great gifts. You can buy a sturdy tube at the post office or book store for transport home. Also there is a similar area up by Sacre Couere. You could even get a portrait of your son done up there. <BR><BR>

There is a great poster shop on rue Vielle du Temple in the Marais. It is pretty far up, next to Bains Plus (a prententious bath-stuff store) on the left hand side as you north up the street. Good place. <BR>There are tons of great places to eat with a four year old in Paris. I know, I have one! You really don't need to go to MacDonald's! The following places are reasonable, quick, child friendly and serve delicious, fresh food:<BR>Aux Pains Perdus<BR>Lina's Sandwiches<BR>(both serve for take out or eat in and have many locations)<BR>www.linascafe.com<BR>www.aux-pains-perdus.com<BR><BR>Le Pain Quotidien is more of a cafe. They serve great salads, light meals, desserts and bread at communal tables. Really delicious. There are 4 or 5 of them in town. www.lepainquotidien.com<BR><BR>Good luck!

Sorry, forgot your last question about beer. Sadly, beer is just average here. You may be dissapointed if you are used to English beers or American microbreweries. Abbaye de Leffe is a commercial Belgian beer available all over, about 7% alcohol. If that is too strong, you can try Fischer or Pelican, which aren't bad. Most French beers on tap are nothing special IMHO. The Frog & Rosbif pubs are pretty good microbreweries (several addresses...) and there are many fine beer bars around with tons of beers in bottles. Try La Marine in Montparnasse. Cheers.

Second the comment about the Seine vendors. Also, we were pleasantly surprised by the selection and prices in the Louvre gift shops (expected to be robbed, but found some decent prints, posters, deocrative items). Obviously, some items are more unique than others. There is a post office in the Louvre to ship things home (they were wonderfully helpful). If your kid is into matchbox cars, pick him up a La Poste van (not really cool, but distinct. Food with a four year old shouldn't be a problem (at least if you keep things relatively casual). Neigborhood restaurants have a variety of foods, and fast food sandwich shops even serve hotdogs. Enjoy a 1664 (beer) in Paris. It wasn't available in the US (or at least not my state) when we first traveled to Paris.

We don't shop. We just do beers.<BR><BR>Kroenenberg 1664 (not regular Kro--1664 is better)is great with a cheese and sausage plate. We also like DAB. My husband can drink Leffe; I'd rather Leffe it alone. My last resort is a Heineken, readily available everywhere.<BR><BR>We've tried the brewpubs scattered around Paris, but we didn't like the feel. There were a couple glitzy ones on the Montparnasse side of Rue St. Germain that just didn't feel right. There's one hole-in-the-wall near Chez Maitre Paul that was interesting. Room for about 10 people, max. Regulars there. Knew beer bigtime.<BR><BR>There's a karoke bar in a basement on Rue St. Germain opposite the Pres de St. Germain with a huge selection of beer and a good beer-drinking crowd. Eat some mussels, guzzle some beer and sing away.<BR><BR>Have fun.

Another place for great little (mostly inexpensive items) souvenirs and things your son might lie is along the rue de Rivoli...runs parallel to the Louvre along for quite a few blocks. I picked up cute berets and knitted striped caps for nieces and nephews; also toy cars, metro signs and other assorted stuff. Don't forget the toy departments in the large department stores; esp. Galeries Lafayette; and specialty toy or children's shops like Au Nain Bleu. For posters ther was a great store in Monmartre, just down from the square where all the artists are. And in the Caroussel du Louvre there is a small shop with wonderful posters, daytimers, address books, etc. Agree with previous posters as to food for your cild; lots of sandwich shops, pizza, chicken dishes. We've taken peanut butter with us when our son was young.

Good point about the department stores. We purchased several toys (to surprise and entertain for the flight home) at Samarataine (sp?). Granted, many of these were readily available stateside, but a few were unique. We enjoyed that visit for other reasons, too. Cool furnishings and a nice vista from the observation deck. Had trouble getting elevators though (for our stroller)...

The fun thing about shopping along the Seine is that it doesn't feel like shopping. If you are looking for trinkets, you can load up on a trip to Montemarte. From my experience, though, try to stay away from kitschy stuff (though I still like my little Eiffel tower). There are plenty of unique items to be found that don't necessarily say "Paris" but still say Paris.

For unique gifts I have had good luck at the Louvre gift shop, the food halls at both Le Bon Marche and Galeries Lafayette, and the Maille shop (for mustard) at Place de la Madeleine.

The Louvre has more than just museum stores. One that I remembered was a a houseware store (or was earlier this year) called Boddum (sp). Decent prices.