Two weeks in France with children-- need recommendations!!!
 

We will be traveling to France this summer for two weeks and are just starting to make plans. We are tentatively thinking to go to Normandy, Brittany, maybe Loire, maybe Champagne, and Paris. We have three boys aged 5, 11, & 13 and are looking for activities that will interest them. They love sports and are very active but also enjoy history and art museums in limited spurts. Suggestions of sights and activities that we should do? Suggestions of great towns that we should not miss? Hotels?

My children also are very good eaters and will try any type of food. Any recommendations for restaurants that have good food but are appropriate for a family?

Merci!
Jeanne

topping

Very general info request so hard to respond. This summer, you are late for planning for a family of 5. Need expectations on price points, amenities, etc. How long in each location.

If you haven't already searched the forums, there are many posts here on France with children, Paris in particular. A Fat Bicycle tour in Paris might be fun for them. I would not try to do four regions plus Paris in two weeks - I would pick two at most (Normany and the Loire are doable, or Normany and Brittany) plus Paris. Then look for some trip reports from those areas and see what really appeals to you.

Check out Futuroscope:
http://uk.futuroscope.com/
Quite different from other theme parks and you can take the TGV either directly or almost directly. I'm sure you could find other things in the area to interest you/them.

http://eurapart.com/budget.html
This website is a listing of the chain hotels in Europe--budget, midprice, etc with info and links. The budget are often very good value basic accomidations. Some have suites or family accomidations.
In the past 10 years (and 12 visits) I've stayed at most of the budget hotels listed in France. Premiere Classe: basic. Etap, one step up from Premiere Classe. Balladins (spent most of my road time (1+week) at Balladins all around France, only bad time was one near Lille.They have some very good prices (this was in April). Stayed at an Ibis in Ghent (Belgium), pricier but my what a nice hotel!
Anyway lots of options.
DO, repeat, DO-get a cell phone and sim card for France. If you have an unlocked cell phone, take it and buy a sim card then buy minutes as needed. My own (old)phone had a problem so I bought a new one include the sim for under 30 euros. Might want to consider a phone for the eldest of the two boys for peace of mind--yours and his. You can also look for phones and sim cards on ebay (I have gotten my sim cards that way each trip before, one seller has website in English and very reliable.
Also: I don't know anything about the people but the website looks like it has some good suggestions:
www.france4families.com/
One hotel I stayed at recommended Flunch (all you can eat veggies, salad, etc, then one main dish of choice, reasonably priced) but they were closed by the time I got there. Seems to be quite popular, tho' with the French.
They have both McDonalds and KFC but neither (had to try them, just to see) are like the US, are pricey for what you get not worth the mention except to caution against them.
You may see places advertising 'kabobs or kebabs'...they arenot the meat on a stick as wek know them in the US, they are the mixed meat schwarma which is carved off in slices. Not bad (depending on the recipe and restaurant) but more fast food than Middle Eastern yummy. I love French pizzas but be prepared for a very thin, non-bread dough crust. And yes, some places have 'kebab pizzas'.

I think it's great you're taking the boys to France and hope you all have a great time!

I'm obviously biased but I think that Brittany (my little part of France) is perfect for a family holiday.

There's everything here; culture, beaches, countryside, cuisine, celtic history and loads, loads more.

For a wider view you may wish to look at http://www.aTasteOfGarlic.com - my Life in France blog review site. That covers the whole of France and may give you some ideas?

>>>Normandy, Brittany, maybe Loire, maybe Champagne, and Paris<<<

This is definitely too much for two weeks.

In each region, you find things that you can do with kids:

- In Brittany, beach activities and exploring menhirs, cairns and tombs. There are some parks as well.

- In Normandy, also beach life, and the WW II bunkers.

- At the Loire, the castles and Clos Lucé with replicas of Leonardo's machines.

- In Champagne, a visit of the underground Launois champagne museum and caves.

- North of Paris, Parc Asterix might be a good example for a non-Disney theme parc. www.parcasterix.fr

For the Americans:

"kebab" is Turkish and meats just "meat". Shish kebab is meat on a stick, döner kebab is meat on a rotating grill, köfte kebab is meatballs, iskender kebab is meat in joghurt sauce (after a guy named Iskender), Adana kebab is meat with red bellpeppers (after the region Adana) etc.

"iskender kebab is meat in joghurt sauce (after a guy named Iskender)"
WOW!!! It was a surprise to me to learn that Alexander himself was dedicated to the fine arts of cooking.
And I loved the Futuroscope park (suggested by sfgirl above), very interesting for children and adults.

Like sfgirl, I would recommend the Futuroscope as well.

Nausicaa in Boulogne-sur-Mer is also fascinating to children.
www.nausicaa.fr

Will you be driving when you are not in Paris? That is the only method that makes sense for a quick trip, and it would allow you to plan a big circle trip so that you don't have to backtrack anywhere.

For the family Brittany and Normandy is the place to go on the beach, hang around ports, play in rock pools, eat street food.

Champagne is basically countryside and other than the zip line to the East or Eperney and the canals it is not kid country to me.

Paris, not for me and kids but others may suggest different.

Loire, well chateau are ok, the coast is ok, Isle de rey a bit further south and Le Mans to the north with roman walls etc

Agree with posters that two regions plus Paris is more than enough. You will find many things for children that are under the radar for international travelers--smaller adventure parcs, go-cart tracks and the like that you can mix with the more adult attractions.

Most towns of any size, particularly along the coast, will have tourist offices that can advise you of local attractions and one-offs--there are fetes and fireworks displays all summer long.

Mt. St. Michel impresses all ages and lots of energy can be worked off climbing to the top. The Normandy D-day beaches, one of the cemeteries and the Peace Museum in Caen will make impressions they won't soon forget.

For hotels this summer, particularly after first week in July, you really need to get cracking asap.

Have a wonderful time.

Thanks so much for all of your feedback!!

In reference to hotels, we weren't going to prebook any of them except for a hotel in Paris. Do you think this would be a mistake? This would give us the flexibility to stay in one location for longer if it appeals to us, etc..

We were hoping to stay in gites or B & Bs in the countryside and to book these via the local tourist office once we arrive. Let me know if this is a bad plan. In terms of price, I was thinking E200 or less? Is this reasonable?

We would also be open to renting a house that would be centrally located so we can do day trips to Normandy and Brittany (looks like visiting the other regions would be too much)-- any suggestions as to a town that would be well located and offer good housing and food?

I have looked at a few of the upscale hotels in Paris and am SHOCKED by the prices. So we really need to find a smaller hotel that would have a family style room or connecting rooms in Paris. Suggestions? We would like the hotel to be well located so we can walk to most attractions (exercise off all that great food we will be eating!). We would like the room(s)in Paris to be under E325 per day.

We will rent a car for the portion of our trip that is outside of Paris so we have the flexibility to go where we wish and when we wish. Any suggestions for good rental companies?

And we would love good restaurant suggestions as we are all big foodies!

mistake, yes. As an adult I'm prepared to rough it, but with a family i'd book.

This summer by now I'd have booked. There will be opportunities but you can end up walking around until you find something

E200 a day for everyone in central paris. Hmm, not too bad.

family style rooms is more of a US or Oz style. I'd go for an appartment. Loads of advice on this site on how to search for Paris appartments

I'd try to take a train if poss to be close and then rent a car as a car in Paris is a bit of a pain. But the family train tickets suck up the euros

You want to go to France this summer (I'm guessing August since it's already June and you haven't booked), with a family of 5, without booking any hotels outside of Paris? Seriously?

I've taken my chances before (with mixed results, now I book ahead), but with 3 tired and hungry kids . . . you want a place booked imho. You are going to waste a lot of hours if you don't, and may end up in some sorry places, or paying through the nose for whatever you can find.

I thought Brittany was really popular with British tourists in the summer. Maybe I'm wrong on that. I don't think you can rent "gites" at the drop of a hat, they are rented for specific time periods (usually a week, beginning Monday, at least in high season) and arranged in advance. Maybe if one happened to be vacant and you found out about it somehow, you might be able to rent it.

I don't think you will be able to rent a gite or a house on the sp when you are going to be staying in each place only a couple days from your desired schedule. You want to cover five different areas in two weeks, so that's 2-3 days per place.

If you are willing to spend 325 euro on a hotel in Paris, you shouldn't find hotel prices shocking. That is an upscale hotel by my standards, yikes. They are very reasonable for a major European capital, I think Paris hotel prices are quite good. I don't know where you are comparing them to, but I think they are cheaper than New York, and London. And they are often cheaper in summer, lots of hotels have discounts at the end of July and August.

Gosh, Jeanned, we did this with our two kids when they were 14 & 11, in off season, and that was stressful enough.

if you are intent on doing this, this year, I suggest picking just two places, and renting apartments/gites. this should get you below your €325 limit in Paris, and below €200 in the countryside.

the next question is - where? frankly, 3 very active boys are unlikely to be occupied for a week in Paris itself; the dordogne with its castles, caves, and canoeing would be a much better bet. in fact, you could spend a fortnight there and not get bored. another possible area is the vendee - with Futuroscope near Poitiers in the south-east and le Puy de Fou [a great french theme park with romans, lions, chariot racing, jousting, etc.etc.] in the north-west. these are both a terrific day out and we and our kids loved them, so much so that we're going back to the Puy de fou next month - 8 years after we first went - with our now adult children.

if you do plump for Paris, rather than Disney, I'd go for Parc Asterix which is just south of the mouse kingdom - another very french and very fun day out.

Here's the website for the gites de france organisation - probably your best bet for holiday cottages outside Paris at this stage:

http://www.gites-de-france.com/gites/uk/rural_gites

have a great trip!

Paris is one of the 3 cheapest cities in Europe for 1 and 2-star hotels and the most expensive city in Europe for 4 and 5-star hotels.

You can save a lot of money by not worrying about luxury in a room where you will not be spending much time.

Last year my wife, 13 year old son and myself stayed several days in Normandy at a wonderful B&B called Ferme du pressoir. It's an 18th Cent. 850-hectare working farm with all the usual suspects (animals that is). It's about 20 minutes from the beaches. However, the B&B rooms are very very modern and tastefully decorated. My son would go to the chicken coop each morning and get eggs which Odile (the owner of the B&B) would then cook for breakfast (the breakfasts are sumptuous). Great place for kids. We all loved it. I'll be glad to give you more details if you like.

Forgot to add, that I wrote a trip report about our travels last year, including more details about Paris and Normandy, titled "Our Month in France".

I will try to respond more fully with more ideas later, but for now, have you thought about renting a short-term vacation apartment in Paris? We(family of 5 w/3 kids) rented one in the Marais area for 5 nights last August and it was the perfect set up. Much more economical than a hotel (considering what it was) -- more space, a great location, and cooking options so you didn't have to eat out at every meal - or could get simple crepes or falafel sandwiches and bring them back to your place. Our apartment was a bit cramped with the 5 of us, but it was certainly bigger than 2 hotel rooms. Well decorated and furnished too. We could pretend it was our apt and that we lived there, which was a nice little dream to have!