bendigo

Crazy - hours are at these links - Summer sales are on now - open until at least 8.00pm everynight - 9 & 10 for late night shopping!

http://departmentstoreparis.printemp...ges/index.aspx

http://haussmann.galerieslafayette.com/

Enjoy!!

bilboburgler

I love the Euro 40 tip, can I be your driver???

FrenchMystiqueTours

There are no family unfriendly areas anywhere near The Marais so you can relax. Your vibe detector must not have been working properly.

annhig

As for leaving valuables in the flat, pickpocketing is more likely than a break-in. The more things you have hanging off your arm or off the stroller, the more likely you are to be distracted. >>

see previous thread.

glad that you are settling into Paris, I'm sure that you'll love it. The jardin des plantes is a good place to go when it's hot and the kids can run around whilst you enjoy the gardens. you can get there by walking from the 5th [near the Sorbonne] or it's the furtherest stop on the bato-bus. [which is a very useful way of getting around as it goes along the river from the Eiffel Tower to the Jardin des Plantes and back via Notre Dame].

bdsbeautyblog

Agree with FrenchMystiqueTours.

Also, be more adventurous in your restaurant choices! Generally in my experience, the restaurants with "bilingual" menus tend to either rip you off or have bad food. That, or the translations are not good so you don't end up ordering exactly what you get anyway! Go on, live a little

Agree with the recommendation of the Jardin des Plantes.

KTtravel

There is a darling carousel in the Luxembourg gardens that your children might enjoy. Here is a link that may be helpful: http://www.luckylittletravelers.com/...rg-garden.html

crazyfamilyof4

today hubby arrived . .YAY! 3 weeks was a long time to not see each other!

So yes, we did the HOHO bus tour . . beautiful weather . .the kids again did their sleeps while we listened and saw the main sites of Paris.

We then decided to go for lunch in the Latin Quarter .. got 3 courses for 10euro . . BARGAIN!I had this leek pie, fish dish, ice cream, son had duck pate, traditional sausage (which I thought did not look or smell like a sausage they would eat . . boy was I wrong! They LOVED it!)and ice cream and hubby had pate, pork chop and apple pie. So with drinks it came in under 40 euro and our children were well fed so I was extremely happy.

Anyway from here we made our way back home and mum decided to have the kids for the afternoon so hubby and I made our way to Champs de Elysees . . .had a decent little shop but I really wanted to go to the LV shop and sadly the line was soooo long that it would be closed by the time it would be our turn . .so here is hoping that tomorrow will be better!

then to top it off . .mum decided to also give us the night off! SO we stayed in while we fed, bathed and put the kids to bed and then hubby and I walked up the road to a wonderful little bar/café that had happy hour cocktails and simple food! 5.50euro for the cocktails and beautiful truffle pasta and confit duck!

How I wish I could convince her to stay on!

Anyway, plans tomorrow are . .more shopping . . different area though . . going to a church that uis near the Moulin Rouge ..meant to have an amazing view of Paris and then hubby is going to stay home with the kids while mum and I go to an art gallery . .not the Louvre ... going to the one that was the old train station . .Museum de Orsay . . I have been there but mum hasn't and she is a real art lover . .however, I just didn't want to put the kids through it etc so this way I assume hubby is going to be jet lagged so the kids can have down time while hubby rests.

Not sure the plan for the night but I am sure we will figure it out. WHat district are the hip clubs and bars in . .the more upscale ones.... hoping to go out late one night for a few hours.

Thanks everyone! Chat soon!

crazyfamilyof4

now the 3 days I have out in Disney (Marriott Village d'Ile-de-France Bailly-Romainvilliers)

We have our car so our plan of attack is - mornings Disney with the kids then put them in the car for their sleeps and drive out to a)Orleans b) Epernay (for moet and chandon caves and/or c)Givenchy


Thoughts? any other places you think would be better?

StCirq

<<going to a church that uis near the Moulin Rouge ..meant to have an amazing view of Paris...>>

Oy.

bilboburgler

No Epernay and the Avenue de Champagne is lovely.

http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Champagne_Cellars.php

FrenchMystiqueTours

Why are you going to Orléans? A terrible choice given the wealth of much better options near to Disney. Did you mean Giverny (not Givenchy)?

Much nearer to Disney than Orléans you can visit Provins (one hour drive from Bailly), a walled medieval town that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. They have medieval re-enactment spectacles of horsemanship (The Legend of the Knights) and falconry (Eagles of the Ramparts). Look at the tourist office website for more info. I bet the kids would enjoy the medieval shows:

http://www.provins.net/index.php/english-version.html

If you mean Giverny, that is a 1-1/2 hour drive (if you don't get lost and there's no bad traffic) from Bailly and is best done as a day trip from Paris. Both going to and returning from Giverny you'll have to drive around Paris and traffic here can be really bad depending on the time of day, the weather, or if there is an accident. If you go to Giverny understand it will be extremely crowded and you want to arrive by opening time at 9AM, if possible, to beat the worst of the crowds.

If you want to see one of the most elegant château in all of France I would suggest that instad of Giverny you visit the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte. The gardens in Versailles were modeled after the gardens in Vaux. It is also an easy 40 minute drive from you and there are never huge crowds. Here is the château website:

http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/

Goldens

Please don't take the kids on the Moët Chandon tour.
Perhaps your mother will babysit them.

socaltraveler

Crazy has been advised on several threads to not take toddlers on the champagne cave tours. C'est la vie.

But I think Mum is gone by then.

cathies

Crazy, I assume you mean Sacre-Coeur basilica at Montmartre for the views over Paris?

I agree that the children should be left with mum for the champagne tour, if for no other reason than out of consideration for other adults who will have booked.

I'm glad you are settling into Paris.

StCirq

Orléans - terrible choice.

Epernay - terrible choice with kids.

Giverny - no need for a car; far easier to take the train.

In any event, if the plan is to spend mornings at Disney, then presumably have some lunch, you won't have any time left to go gallivanting off anywhere much at all.

If you meant Givenchy, that's just another power shop.

FrenchMystiqueTours

I'll also add that very near to Bailly (only a 15 minute drive) you can visit the charming little town of Crécy-la-Chapelle, which refers to itself as the Venice of the Brie region due to the canals that cut through the village. It has medieval vestiges and was a haunt for artists in the late 19th century. Not far from Crécy is another charming town called Coulommiers, which has one of the best preserved Knights Templar Commanderies in northern France. Coulommiers is also noted for its 2 famous cheeses. Here are the tourist office websites for these towns:

http://www.cc-payscrecois.fr/Crecy-la-Chapelle,203.html

http://www.coulommiers.fr/

http://www.coulommiers.fr/tourisme.html

Both of these towns are on the banks of the Morin river and I believe you can rent boats and paddle on the river from either town. The tourist offices can explain this to you and I believe they will speak English at both tourist offices, but I'm not positive.

I made a photo report about visiting both of these towns and exploring the countryside between them. If you want to see photos of these places then here is the link to my report:

http://tinyurl.com/7wnybgw

crazyfamilyof4

Morning FrenchMystiqueTours . .thank you ever so much for all those wonderful suggestions and links! Will chat to hubby and mum and see what we come up with! Mum will be with us. In regards on taking kids to the caves...if the kids could go to the Ritz (where people also book months in advance for and is not really a place for preschoolers and toddlers) and they were fine sitting here then I am sure walking in cold caves will also be fine. MUm will be with us and if the children don't like it then one of us will change plans but I think they should still be included . . as I said months ago ...our children have always been included in whatever we want to do and they have always been fine. This trip is also proving to be he case with how flexible they are to sleep when the time comes to sleep etc I'm just lucky they don't have to be in a strict routine.

StCirq - thanks for you honesty. I was thinking about Joan of Arc when considering Orleans. Is there are things to do in Epernay besides champagne tasting ... I assumed there was.
and in regards to Giverny - we were thinking about Monet's garden . . thought it would be a beautiful walk around etc...I hope I am right.
Why though with a morning at Disney/lunch ...why can't we do something in the afternoon? Would you suggest a better idea is doing one big day at Disney and then one big day driving around and seeing other towns? that's the other option.

bilboburgler

Epernay, is more or less a one trick pony, there is a zip wire a bit further north (not for non-french speakers "aaaaaarh")
and some canal walks and walks through the montagne de reims (to the north).

SusannahT

There are many chateaux & castles nearby to Disneyland. To the south - Vaux-le-Vicomte, Blandy-les-Tours, & Fountainebleau; to the north Chantilly & Ecouen; west is Champs-sur-Marne (Haven't been there). Crecy-la-Chapelle sounds lovely but haven't been there. Giverny would be great but is a long way...

Enjoy!

justineparis

I am blown away by the 40 euro tip and can't seem to get over it,, you know that 5 euros would have been considered generous,, and 10 extravagant..

I find it impossible to understand how sometimes you want budget suggestions and other times you seem to throw money away with wild abandon..I get taking a taxi now and then to make things easier though.. but I guess the 40 euro tip just seems like something a very rich person could afford only.

I agree some kids are better in different situations then others.. mine were not, but my stepson is a dream.. sits in restaurants for an hour or more etc without being noisey or disruptive.. so you sound like you have easy kids,that does make it possilble to take them many places easily. .
but I do think visiting Provins might be more fun or interesting for the kids, did you look up the website..
Monets Gardens are nice, but so crowded in summer, that you basically can just shuffle along the walkways, the kids won't be able to really run around or anything...