Two days in Paris with 12-year-old son
Jan 9th, 2009, 04:13 PM
#23
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At that age, my son enjoyed climbing to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and watching the crazy traffic below. And the fancy expensive sports car showrooms on Avenue Kleber and the Champs. And having a snack at a sidewalk cafe every afternoon about 4:00. (You know how boys that age can eat!) He was intrigued by the fact that club sandwiches came with an egg on top.
Jan 9th, 2009, 04:26 PM
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Leaving the Louvre, there's an arrow pointing DOWN, which most people miss and your boy will LOOOOVE it -- actually it should thrill everybody. It's the actual WALLS of the medieval CASTLE that PRECEDED the Louvre. They are HUGE! Discovered when they dug up the courtyard for the I.M.Pei thing. Oddly enough,not featured on website. All I could find in Louvre giftstore was a B & W postcard.
Did anybody mention going to the Conciergerie on Ile d la Cite?? Very medieval, and some gory stories to tell by guides.
Did anybody mention going to the Conciergerie on Ile d la Cite?? Very medieval, and some gory stories to tell by guides.
Jan 9th, 2009, 06:20 PM
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We visited Paris with our 12 and 9 year old recently. In our experience kids want to DO rather than SEE.
Climbing anything is a good bet. For example, climb the Eiffel Tower rather than take the lift. Climb Notre Dame tower.
We also visited Paris' science museum, Cite des Sciences at Villette (on the metro). It is an interactive museum, although some French is useful for some of the exhibits.
Our kids speak a fair bit of French but can be a bit reserved and so we encouraged them to do things like order crepes at the local market, go buy the croissants for breakfast and the like.
You could also try a cycling tour. We didn't but it would be fun.
Sorry, can't think of any medieval or weapons that we saw. Perhaps the Army museum (where Napoleon's tomb is). This was the highlight for a friend of my son's when they visited Paris.
Climbing anything is a good bet. For example, climb the Eiffel Tower rather than take the lift. Climb Notre Dame tower.
We also visited Paris' science museum, Cite des Sciences at Villette (on the metro). It is an interactive museum, although some French is useful for some of the exhibits.
Our kids speak a fair bit of French but can be a bit reserved and so we encouraged them to do things like order crepes at the local market, go buy the croissants for breakfast and the like.
You could also try a cycling tour. We didn't but it would be fun.
Sorry, can't think of any medieval or weapons that we saw. Perhaps the Army museum (where Napoleon's tomb is). This was the highlight for a friend of my son's when they visited Paris.
Jan 9th, 2009, 06:30 PM
#26
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Have just realised that I missed reading the rest of this thread (or maybe I got interrupted so many times that everyone replied while I was trying to write!).
wrt the Eiffel Tower, we visited in late Sept at around 9:30am. The queue for the lifts was already very long but there was no queue at all to walk up.
wrt the Eiffel Tower, we visited in late Sept at around 9:30am. The queue for the lifts was already very long but there was no queue at all to walk up.
Jan 9th, 2009, 07:26 PM
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This is an old thread, as the OP has come back to tell us his trip was a success, which is great to hear. For people who might see this thread in their research, I want to add a couple of things I think kids would like:
The Palais de Decouverte, a great hands-on science museum with exhibits from many scientific endeavors, the Musee des Arts et Metiers, also an interesting museum, filled with inventions and science, the Musee du Quai Branly near the Eiffel Tower, which has collections of tribal and cultural artifacts from 5 continents,and the Natural history museums at the Jardins des Plantes. These are all things DH and I visited in October on our quest to see the "off the beaten path" Paris.
Barb
The Palais de Decouverte, a great hands-on science museum with exhibits from many scientific endeavors, the Musee des Arts et Metiers, also an interesting museum, filled with inventions and science, the Musee du Quai Branly near the Eiffel Tower, which has collections of tribal and cultural artifacts from 5 continents,and the Natural history museums at the Jardins des Plantes. These are all things DH and I visited in October on our quest to see the "off the beaten path" Paris.
Barb
