Suggestions for Paris with niece
 

I plan to take my niece for her first trip to Paris when she graduates from high school in June. I plan to rent an apartment, preferably two bedrooms and need reports/ suggestions on specific properties.
Also, while I am quite capable of amusing myself for days on end in Paris, I'd appreciate suggestions about places to see/things to do that might appeal more to her. She is very intelligent, keen on science, speaks a bit of high school French, has not previosuly been in Europe and, oh yes, is a very picky eater (her mother swears she lives on cheese.) All suggestions are welcome!

I'd pick a theme or two, and help her concentrate on that.

Intelligent and a science fan are good starting points.

And cheese is OK. Plus Starbucks opend in Paris today or yesterday.

I'd get her thinking now about science-related thisng that might intrigue her. Architecture is science, of course, so the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumphe and le Defense (sp?) plusd the "new" Louvre and the Pompideau Gallery all have arthictetural science related components to them.

There's Mme Currie stuff, and my daughter (older than your neice) spent a lot of time in the catacombs, which you could count as sceince-related.

And there's probably Mme. Currie exhibits somewhere.

For fun food, you and she could work your way through some cheese speciality stores, creating some cheese and bread meals you can eat out of doors.

If she was to get a decent digital camera, she might assign herself a project to shoot and take home. It might be to find, one at a time, all the letters in her name, and the names for some friends or family.

So she shoots a big A on some sign and an N somewhere, and another N, perhaps as part of the name of a boat on the Seine, and an E on a Eiffel TRower sign, say, and then when she gets home shoe makes a prints of everything so Anne gets a great souvenir.

With several names in mind, you should be out and about and looking at lots of stuff, and having fun, too.

Just thoughts, but based on real life. My best friend took each of her neices from ottawa to New York when each girl turned 13, but part of the deal was the girls had to plan the trip.

Pam was interested in magic, so we got to a magic shop, a magincian's show in a restaurant, plus lots of other tourist stuff.

BAK

Take her on a tour of "Les Egouts" (the sewers). That's what I did with my niece. But uncles can get away with alot. :-D

Get her involved in the planning. Give her your guide books to read up on. Spend an afternoon at Borders or the like, and look through ALL the guidebooks. Let her decide what she wants to see. Taking my teenager with me to Paris and then later that year to London were IMO the best thing I have ever done for him. He is now addicted, and knows he wants to strive to have a good career as an adult so that he will have the money to travel across the pond every year. 'Nuf said!

Seamus, do a search on here for "fondue" and you'll find some good recommendations for a cheese lover (there are a bunch in the Latin Qtr. which would seem to be a fun area for her). Also, I'd suggest that you get her a Lonely Planet or Time Out guidebook. It will be fun to hear what she selects as "must dos."

Good luck!

Seamus
1.Take her to the fashion show at Galleries La Fayette, write them ahead of time for tickets (its free and very exciting, you are treated very nice)
2.Make sure you both bring passport photos to buy your weekly metro pass. It's a great deal
Have a great trip!

Would she enjoy going to tea? The Ritz does it up right (of course!) See: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/mo...ng/default.asp for more deatils.

A good place to start for an apartment is www.vrbo.com.... thsi will give you an idea of prices etc. you can come back and ask about the areas where you see one that seems to appeal to you pricewise etc.

Take her to the Cité de Science at Parc La Villette - lots of good exhibits there for a science buff.

Take her to Angelina (or is it true it's no longer Angelina, but now Flo?) on the rue de Rivoli for hot chocolate.

Take her to Etam and Pimkie and Zara and Monoprix for inexpensive fashions.

Take her on a bâteau-mouche ride.

Cheese shouldn't be a problem in Paris. I was going to suggest fondue restaurants, but someone beat me to it.

Have a great trip!

The mention of fondue above, made me think of something even better. Go to La Ferme de St. Hubert, basically a block or so behind Madelaine. This is a wonderful cheese store with adjoining restaurant. If she has never done raclette, do it! They'll bring the big wheel of cheese to the table on an electric heater deal and it melts. You scrape it off with a wooden paddle onto a plate with pickles, and boiled potatoes. You can get meat as well if you want. It is remarkable and she would love it. They also do a great fondue at the table, but the raclette would be really special. Great for lunch or dinner.

I just took my niece this last November (Thanksgiving Week) to Paris (her Sweet Sixteen birthday present). While planning the trip I gave her a Paris guidebook and asked that she make a list of the sights and places she wanted to visit (MUST and nice to see). One of the biggies on the list was shopping (and we had a lot of fun with that). Also, I based on her list the selection as to where to stay and ended up at the Best Western Left Bank St. Germain. Loved it. My niece's favorite subject in school is also science and math, so I was not surprised that her choices focused on churches, streets layout (bridges), and architecture. The only sections of the Louvre that she was interested in seeing were the Egyptian, Greek and Etruscan (go figure). As far as food, I can't help much, this girl was so excited to try Frog Legs on her first dinner in France (I had no idea where she gets that from...:-D). Meatballs in Burgundy Sauce was another big hit.

As ever, great suggestions from kind and helpful fellow Fodorites. Thanks, and keep those cards and letters...er, postings coming!

Hi Seamus,

Don't miss the Pompidou and D'Orsay museums. Might be a good idea to get a museum pass. We took our daughter to Paris when she was 13 and she loved both these museums. When we were at the Pompidou there was even a (peaceful) demonstration outside with students in costumes on stilts (still don't know what that was about, but it was amusing).

Also, I'd recommend a restaurant called Le Grand Cafe near the Old Opera House (which is worth going in to see). The restaurant is gorgeous--stained glass everywhere (she should check out the ladie's room) and the food is wonderful and not too expensive.

What a great uncle you are--she's very lucky!

Start off your visit to Paris at the Paristoric movie at 11, bis Scribe, next to the Amex office at Opéra. It's a wonderful overview of the city and may help her to focus on what she wants to see most.

When we took our children on trips, we always gave them input as to what, where and when. Someone above suggested you let your niece look through a Paris guidebook and list some things she wants to do or see. That's a great idea.

For some reason that currently escapes me, I always had each of our children write down seven places they wanted to visit. I took all the lists (including mine) and averaged them all out. There were always some overlaps, some too expensive, some not able to be scheduled, etc., but on the whole everyone got to do at least three things on their list and everyone always had a great time.

The Museum of Science & Industry is a great idea and in the same area is the Museum of Music. It's an interactive museum with earphones that are laser activated. Our daughter loved it (and so did we!).

Place Stravinsky with the crazy kinetic fountains outside the Pompidou Center is another favorite of our daughter.

You have a lucky niece. Hope you both have a terrific time.

One of my favorite places is the Deyrolle shop. It could only exist in Paris. This 155+ year old taxidermy shop is straight out of a fairy tale where family pets and wild animals don?t actually die, but live in suspended animation in this shop.
The shop is the quintessential Cabinet of Curiousities, with its faint smell of fomaldehyde, creaky wood floorboards and shelves crammed with creatures great and small. You'll walk down one aisle only to find it blocked at the end by a stuffed water buffalo. You'll look up and see a stuffed hawk in mid-swoop. A veritable Noah?s Ark, you see glass-eyed creatures ranging from the smallest butterflies to a mounted ostrich. Big animals include polar bears and baby elephants. Most touching are the domestic pets, cat and dogs, many left behind because the owners could not bear the grief of seeing their beloved pet again (the exact description of a stuffed cocker spaniel that I had asked about).

You might wonder how such a shop makes its money. You too could have your pet stuffed for a fee. Or you could rent a lion for your next film. They also sell crystals and geodes. The day I was there, a small group of schoolchildren were purchasing a butterfly for a class project. In any case, it's certainly one of the more unusual and memorable places in Paris. Hope you enjoy it too!

OK, now there's a place I would not have thought of visiting...we can share our first visit to a Parisian taxidermist!
Thanks, folks, for all the help.

At the edge of the Latin Quarter near Luxembourg Gardens is the Pantheon which is in an old church and has some science exhibits, including a recreation of Foucalt's pendulum. In the basement are crypts where famous scientists, writers, philosophers and generally great thinkers of France are buried. http://www.virtourist.com/europe/paris/36.htm
There is a natural history museum at Luxumbourg Gardens.