ljjosette

Hi,

I am newly registered to the forum but have been following for about six months and am very grateful for all the helpful tips. I'm interested in hearing any tips for traveling with family and several children during peak tourist season (planned around kids' school schedules).

I will be visiting Paris for 8 days in late June - early July, with our family group of four adults, a six year old and a seventeen year old. We will stay in the 6th arr. at Hotel Clement, thanks to Fodors forum suggestions.

It is my sixth trip to Paris (and I've traveled extensively other places) but I haven't been since we had a child, and haven't visited at peak tourist time for over 25 years! It is my sister's family's first trip overseas. Two of us speak a bit of French. We all get along very well and the two kids are great and will love the city. The six year old adores art and goes to a lot of museums in our big urban area. But she's also a kid and loves to visit parks and play with other kids. The seventeen year old is interested in absorbing anything Parisian, and loves music, art, film, and writing. Both are pretty flexible.

We have our wish list of places we'd like to visit, (Rodin, Orsay, Orangerie, Louvre, Notre Dame, St. Chapelle, Cluny, Pompidou, Sacre Coeur, Versailles, Eiffel Tower), and have matched those plus some extra options up with the dates we'll be there and the days of the week things are open or closed. We'll mix that in with lots of city walks and exploring and realize we may not get to our whole wish list. But we'd welcome advice from others who have done a family trip in the summer as to how to best maximize our time to avoid the worst of the crowds at the most popular sights. And we're open to any ideas of fun things people have done with kids in Paris!

I plan to post a trip report when we get back, with reports on the kid and family perspective!

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Christina

I don't have any tips for kids, but in general, I think it is a truism that to avoid crowds the most, go either as early in the day as possible or late in the day. Crowds are heaviest in mid-day.

Cathinjoetown

Add the Luxembourg Gardens which isn't far at all from your hotel--lots for children including a Punch and Judy show.

Maybe try some of the smaller sights, Delacroix's studio in Place Fustenberg, again very close to the Clement, and Victor Hugo's house in the Place des Voges, the Place is worth seeing on its own.

Musée Carnavalet near Pl des Voges houses the museum of the history of Paris.

6 yr old will love the mechanical water sculptures just outside the Pompidou.

Hope you like the Clément, I'm a fan.

amamax2

I second the suggestion of the Luxembourg Gardens - there is a playground there my (then) 9 & 11 year olds really loved. The playground is open on Wed and Sun and they had fun playing with the French children.

My boys loved the Musee de l'Armee and climbing to the top of Notre Dame.

One thing we did on both trips with kids to Paris was pick something to "taste test" throughout the stay - our trip last year we chose lemon tarts and each day got one from a different place.

Steph4

If your children want to visit museums while having fun you should definitely go to the Cité des Sciences !

for some more game time you can also spend a day or an afternoon at the Jardin d'Acclimatation.

seafox

Make it a treasure hunt for the six year old, pick a bunch of pantings, sights, botanical items, street signs, food items etc before you leave and let them look for each and take a photo. When they get home they can build there own treasure hunt photo book.

ljjosette

Thank you for all the great suggestions!

Another minor question - we'll take the RER in from CDG. Staying at Hotel Clement in the 6th arr. near Mabillon and Odeon metro stops. Do you recommend just walking from the RER, or transferring to metro?

We live in a big city and take public transit or walk everywhere. We'll be carrying one piece of luggage each.
Thanks!

IdyllicItaly

I think the children, as well as the adults, would love the rides on the Batobus, http://www.batobus.com/ which operates much like a hop-on, hop-off bus. If this idea appeals to you, make sure to check the multiple-day ticket rates. In the summer, it operates longer into the evening so might be good to get to and from restaurants, too. It operates until 9:30 pm (but check the schedule closely; that might be the end of the ride rather than the beginning).

At the Luxembourg Gardens, besides the Punch and Judy shows, there are (or were) pony rides, great playground equipment, and the large circular pond for floating boats. There is even a large model - maybe 12 ft. tall - of the Statue of Liberty in a side garden http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationP...de_France.html

One museum that we plan to visit again is the Marmottan http://www.marmottan.fr/uk/ Besides a very extensive collection of Monet paintings, it now has paintings from the estate of Berthe Morisot's family. Directly in front of the Marmottan is the lovely Ranelagh park, too, with statues and reputedly one of the best puppet shows in Paris: http://www.lebestofparis.com/for-kid...in-du-ranelagh

Pepper_von_snoot

The Countess de Billy, who lives on the Rue de Varenne, thinks that young children should be dressed in matelots during the summer months in order to be appropriately attired for restaurant dining.

I think your children would appreciate Deyrolle taxidermy shop on the Rue du Bac.

For sweet treats: Amorino.


Thin

NorCal_Jo

On your question regarding the RER, I've done it both ways (with kids/strollers) as we usually stay at an apartment close to your hotel. You can 1) transfer from RER B to Line 4 and get off at Saint Germain-des-Pres or 2) walk from RER (Saint Michel)which is probably about 15 min walk or so.
If you choose Option 1 - you could transfer to Line 4 at Gare du Nord, Les Halles or St Michel. The RATP.fr website recommends to transfer to Les Halles as a 3 min walk (don't confuse Les Halles Metro with Chatelet Metro which is much longer and no fun walk to connect from RER station at Chatelet Les Halles). Or you could transfer at St. Michel but you will walk a bit to get from RER B to Line 4 at St. Michel which then makes you think you might as well just walk outside.
If you choose option 2)it is a pretty easy walk and you either stay on the "main" roads with bigger sidewalks for your rolling luggage (Rue Danton and Blvd Saint Germain) or you cut the corner by walking on Rue St Andre-des-Artes which is a fun smaller street with less car traffic but also less room for a rolling suitcase...

We were in Paris recently with our 5 and 3 year olds and they loved all the standard kid friendly stuff (Eiffel tower especially at night to see the sparkling lights, Batobus, Luxembourg gardens playground, etc). We also went to the Cite des Enfants in the Cité des Sciences museum. It is a separate section within the museum where you buy a 90 minute pass for the relevant age group (2-7 or 5-12) so the 6 year old could do that while others visited different sections. Best to buy the ticket in advance from the website.

My 5 year olds favorite gelato shop (Amorino) has a location on Rue de Buci (maybe about 5 minutes from your hotel) and is open late so we usually stopped there for a night time treat.

Have fun!

kerouac

I recommend taking the kids to the "Dynamo" exhibition at the Grand Palais -- I just posted a report about it here.

Gretchen

I think you have a treat of a family!! I am going to suggest that you hire Michael Osman for a day if you can at this late date, maybe especially for a museum tour. He is a WONderful teacher for all ages, but in a wonderful anecdotal method. His taking us to the Louvre and Orsay was a really eye opening trip. He could also recommend places for your kids. I do like the idea of the "scavenger hunt" for the museum (if you can't get Michael.
Don't overlook the Carnavalet--the museum that chronicles Paris through art.

Gretchen

I will mention also that if you can get Michael for a day (or more), it takes the "tour director" role off your shoulders for a time--and truth be told, he took us places I had not seen before on many trips to Paris. He will do any type of tour you want.

caroline65

We have just come fron Paris. Our kids loved the fat bike tour of Paris.It was the highlight of our time in Paris. You can get a tandum or trailer for your 6 yr old. Our 5 yr old loved the trailer. The Luxembourg gardens were lovely and they have pony rides and there is a carousel. We all climbed the Eiffel tower.

justineparis

|I second the Fat Tire Bike tour recommendation, I have done them all ( over many years) and loved the one to Monets Gardens the best but the day and night ones are fun too,, the night one is a bit late for younger kids though.

ljjosette

Thanks for the recommendation for Michael Osman. I did email him about booking him for a Louvre tour. He and his partner are both booked, but he sent a nice message back.

For those who know the St. Germaine stop of the #4 metro line, I want to give super simple directions to my sister's family to get from there to the Hotel Clement on 6 rue Clement. Any suggestions for the easiest route for someone who has never been in Paris?

Thanks again to all who have given such great suggestions! I will write a trip report when we return!

Christina

FYI The word is really Germain, not Germaine, because it's not a female name. Mabillon is really the closest, and St-Germain-des-Pres and Odeon are about the same distance, about 4 blocks away each. I think Odeon has one up escalator, however, so that is what I would use with luggage. St-Germain-des-Pres is a small station (no lines connecting through there), so I'm not sure there is one there, I just can't remember (maybe someone else knows). Odeon still isn't huge given there are only two lines through it.

I'd just print out the map on the hotel's website, that's all. It is very clear and shows the streets, the hotel is marked. Just zoom in on it and print enough surrounding area. I also suggest they have a Paris map on them, although sometimes people don't arrive with one. The Streetwise Paris map will probably come in handy amongst all of you, you could buy that ahead of time.

I think it much better for them to use a map than rely on instructions from someone on the internet, which can be confusing (or sometimes wrong). YOu'd have to know exactly which exit they were getting out of, etc. It's only a few blocks, they should be able to read a map, I hope.

Cathinjoetown

Are they coming from Gare du Nord? If so, they should get off at Odéon as it's on the same line (#4). It's very close. There are up escalators at Odéon. Getting to the Mabillon stop involves changing lines which isn't worth it.

Here are directions from Odéon but verify with a map:

From the metro stop Odéon, head west on Blvd St Germain on the south side of the street. Cross over rue Mazarine. At the next street, rue de Seine, turn left. You will be heading south.

The first street on the right is the very small rue Clément. Turn right on to rue Clément, the hotel is on the right about 5 doors down, #6 rue Clément, north side of the street. The large enclosed Marché St. Germain is on the south side of rue Clément.