Paris (France) travel tips/suggestions... with kids

[CardiacCoug]

Holy crap, when did this happen?

Now I feel kind of bad about making all those podcast and accounting jokes.

He would be one of the few people on the board who could possibly be eligible to be buried in Pere Lachaise -- you have to have lived in Paris or and/or die in Paris. I'm thinking a mission only probably wouldn't count though.

[myboynoah]

Sorry, stayed with my parents at their apartment.

It was a lot of fun.

We made it out to Mont St Michel and stayed the night there. On the way back to paris we went through Normandy and stopped and saw the Bayeaux Tapestry. That thing was so cool. Not sure why but it was one of the highlights of the trip for me. But I have been to Paris a few times before, so maybe because it was something new, but even my kids really liked it and said it was one of the coolest things they saw.

The catacombs were pretty cool too. That was new this trip as well.

The tapestry is so cool, especially Harold getting shot in the eyeball.

[happyone]

The tapestry is so cool, especially Harold getting shot in the eyeball.

I really thought the Tapestry was the high light of my weekend trip to Normandy in '08. I always wondered what the story is of the naked guy on the border

I really don't know which I liked better - The American Cemetery or the Tapestry

[hostile]

One of the things our kids enjoyed was watching the street artists in Montmartre and picking one to do a sketch for them.

[SteelBlue]

I'm not gonna read the thread to see --probably others have suggested visiting Pere Lachaise cemetery -- this is probably my favorite thing we have ever done in Paris -- hired a guide that took us around to all the cool stuff. We started at the top of the hill like they describe here near the tomb of Oscar Wilde, then walked down and found the graves of Jim Morrison, Frederic Chopin, Gertrude Stein, Moliere. Very fun and somewhat non-touristy thing to do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A...haise_Cemetery

Adding this to my list. Thanks.

[BigPiney]

Adding this to my list. Thanks.

Saw this today. https://lifehacker.com/the-best-pari...ers-1823596244

Some good tips.

Depending on how long you are there. Getting a week long metro pass is a great deal. They work from monday- Sunday. So if you go over a weekend and start a new week it would not be worth it. It was 5 for the card and then 20 for unlimited for the week. And that was all five zones. So out to the airports and Versailles as well.

It is called the Navigo. That is the best deal.
https://parisbytrain.com/paris-train...go-decouverte/

[Moliere]

I'm not gonna read the thread to see --probably others have suggested visiting Pere Lachaise cemetery -- this is probably my favorite thing we have ever done in Paris -- hired a guide that took us around to all the cool stuff. We started at the top of the hill like they describe here near the tomb of Oscar Wilde, then walked down and found the graves of Jim Morrison, Frederic Chopin, Gertrude Stein, Moliere. Very fun and somewhat non-touristy thing to do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A...haise_Cemetery

I’m not dead yet! Moliere’s burial story is actually very interesting. Okay, maybe it’s just interesting but PL was not his initial burial place.

I agree though that PL is worth the visit. Hiring a guide is a decent idea. Last time I went I just took a photo of the map at one of he ntrances and used that to get around. The map has all the famous people listed out and trying to find some of them is fun. Kim Morrison is always he hardest to find.


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[hostile]

Another thing we enjoyed was a string quintet concert in Sainte Chapelle.

[Moliere]

Another thing we enjoyed was a string quintet concert in Sainte Chapelle.

I’d also highly recommend this. Maybe my favorite post mission memory was hearing Vivaldi four seasons played in Sainte Chappelle. They even had a harpsichord instead of a piano. Very cool.


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[Green Monstah]

I'm going to comb the thread for the best tips, but I'm taking my family of six to Europe over Thanksgiving Break. We're leaving the Friday before Thanksgiving and coming back nine days later. I was able to snag round-trip tickets to Zurich for $600 per person (one stop in London).

We land in Zurich on a Saturday, and I think we'll probably stay until Monday morning. Any must-do activities for Zurich?

We'll be in Paris from Monday evening to Saturday morning.

Anyone know if there are car seat laws in France?

[Moliere]

I'm going to comb the thread for the best tips, but I'm taking my family of six to Europe over Thanksgiving Break. We're leaving the Friday before Thanksgiving and coming back nine days later. I was able to snag round-trip tickets to Zurich for $600 per person (one stop in London).

We land in Zurich on a Saturday, and I think we'll probably stay until Monday morning. Any must-do activities for Zurich?

We'll be in Paris from Monday evening to Saturday morning.

Anyone know if there are car seat laws in France?

Sorry, I've been swamped at work...which you might have known.

There are a lot of good ideas in this thread. I'd obviously recommend my lengthier posts which are actually from a document I keep updated after each visit to Paris. I tend to get a lot of requests for ideas of things to do so I just started compiling them all into a document.

Sounds like you'll be in Paris for 5 days. If you just want to hit the big highlights (Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Musee d-Orsay, Notre Dame, etc.), you have plenty of time to do that. In fact, you can do most of that in 2-3 days unless you are the type that likes to spend hours upon hours in the Louvre looking at paintings. I for one get bored with museums like that after an hour or so. I can easily to the Louvre in about an hour or two.

In November it's going to be cold so plan on bringing at least a jacket if not a coat. One benefit is that some of the areas might already be decorated for Christmas, but I honestly can't remember when they typcially break out the decorations.

If you are interested in doing day trips outside of Paris, I'd recommend the following:

Versailles: This is probably already on your agenda and it's an easy 15 min train ride from Paris. Absolutely worth it, however the gardens won't be as good in teh late fall. Tour the palace and if the weather is nice, walk the gardens to the trianons and Marie Antoinetts village. The temple is very close to the gardens and even if you don't go into the temple it's probably worth stopping by and seeing the grounds. They have a visitor's center, which is more targeted to non-members but it has a miniature model cutout of the temple.

Chartres: About an hour train ride from Paris. Chartres has one of the most famous cathedrals in France...if not Europe. There isn't much else there so if you don't care for cathedrals, you can skip it. It is a nice little town with a pretty centreville.

Rouen: By far my favorite Norman city. It's about an hour from Paris and is one of the only larger cities in Normandy that didn't have its centreville completely destroyed by bombs. I can't emphasize how pretty the centrevile is as it has the old Norman architecture and some historical significance sicne Joan of Arc was burned there. The cathedral is also one of the tallest spires in Europe and the LDS church is right next to it. If you do Rouen, I'd actually recommend you rent a car in Rouen for the day and drive the semi-short drive to Etretat to visit that city and see the cliffs/beach.

Bayeux/beaches of Normandy: You will probably need more than a day trip for this but it's definitely worth it. Take the train to Bayeux (or Caen and drive to Bayeux) and go see Omaha and Utah beaches as well as the other sites in the area. The one time I did this, we used overlord tours and our tour guide was worth the cost. If you are a WW2 history buff, then you can probably just drive around yourself and see everything.

As for food, if you have little kids eating dinner in a restaurant is going to be a chore. The French don't serve dinner quickly so expect to sit for a while longer than usual. Your small kids will probably get sick of it. Paris has plenty of options outside of a typical restaurant, but one of my favorite things in Paris is to just walk around in le Marais or the Latin Quarter and just pick a random restaurant. I've never been disappointed by anything I've ordered. For lunch, we usually just get sandwiches from a boulangerie. They are cheap, good, easy, and quick.

Oh, and eat a lot of pastries. You'll have a difficult time eating another American croissant again wehn you return.

Let me know if you have any specific questions like where to stay, how to use the metro/RER/buses, where Moliere is buried, etc.

[Green Monstah]

Sorry, I've been swamped at work...which you might have known.

$72k/acre. If you guys can make money at that price, I'll move to Midland and work for you for free.

[Moliere]

It's always fun to bump this thread

Bought four tickets to Paris for spring break 2019 for $500 a piece. I've seen them lower than that at times, but these were convenient times with the return flight being direct from CDG to IAH. Taking MJ and hte two oldest kids. Now I can't stop thinking about the trip...which I guess is a good thing. I'll visit stuff I've already seen as the main goal is to show my kids the places I served, which includes most of Normandy, Versailles (adn the temple of course) and Paris. We will probably skip Picardie.

[Applejack]

It's always fun to bump this thread

Bought four tickets to Paris for spring break 2019 for $500 a piece. I've seen them lower than that at times, but these were convenient times with the return flight being direct from CDG to IAH. Taking MJ and hte two oldest kids. Now I can't stop thinking about the trip...which I guess is a good thing. I'll visit stuff I've already seen as the main goal is to show my kids the places I served, which includes most of Normandy, Versailles (adn the temple of course) and Paris. We will probably skip Picardie.

Here right now! World cup in Europe is a blast.

[myboynoah]

Here right now! World cup in Europe is a blast.

Totally. Keep the windows open tonight when France plays.