Children in Paris Bars

Yes. I'm sure there are rare exceptions, and also swanky places where she would be allowed but you'd feel uncomfortable. But your average neighborhood wine bar will be fine.

We had no issues in a few wine bars with our 13 and 15 yo sons last year, other than we wanted to stay longer and try more wine and they wanted to get moving as they were getting bored.

This will not be well received by most, but I frankly would not want an 11 year old sitting at the next table to me in a bar in Paris. Minority opinion. Having a glass of wine or an aperitif in a bar is an adult pastime and pleasure.

She will be fine in most places.. as long as she behaves( I don't mean that to sound harsh, just that children are held to a higher standard of behaviour in public in many places in Europe.. keeping their voices and demands lower than many North American children are used to.. ) My 11 yr old daughter was absolutely fine anywhere I took her.. however I did not press my luck by taking my 13 yr old son to some of the same places as he has a few issues( disabilities) that would make us and him uncomfortable in some more adult type places ( nice restaurants, wine bars etc) ..

My 11 yr old daughter loved Paris and enjoyed most everything we did.. so have a ball..

I also suggest that you ASK your granddaughter to do some research and come up with a few places SHE wants to see ( nowadays kids can easily google" top sights in Paris " so this is not a difficult task) .. having kids invest a bit of research equity in fancy city vacations makes a huge difference I think.. they whine less and feel more invested in trip and not like they are luggage being dragged about by adults. I did this was all three of my kids ( each got a one on one trip.. one son went with my hubby and I took the other son and my daughter on their own trips also. )

She may want to try something new, too: diablo menthe (sweet soda with mint syrup) or menthe à l'eau (cold water with mint syrup) or the above with grenadine syrup, orgeat (almond syrup). These are cafe standards for the younger set. Wine bars should have them, too. My kids looked forward to these when visiting family in France.

As to wine bars, yes, absolutely. Most that I have been to also have food so we felt absolutely comfortable with our children. Here are some that I have been to that were fine for children: L'Avant Comptoir, L'Avant Comptoir de la Mer, Le Baron Rouge, O Chateau, and Vingt Heures Vin. I have taken my children to all of these places except O Chateau and it was not a problem in any way shape or form. In fact, my son turns 12 next month and he loves L'Avant Comptoir de la Mer and I have seen children at all the places that I mentioned. I don't know why it would bother someone in a wine bar to have a child sitting near them who was well behaved and eating something while his or her adults drank wine but to each his own. As to "real" bars not night clubs but places like Experimental Cocktail Club where the only thing to do is drink and listen to music though it is not a night club, I would say no.

I would just take your granddaughter to an ordinary cafe, where you can get wine and she can get whatever she wants - hot chocolat, orange juice...
I don't think that most actual wine bars serve "eau a la menthe" or other stuff for kids.

Bets is spot-on on her drinks suggestions! The French love their syrups and you can get a Diabolo-fraise (strawberry), Diabolo-menthe, or any flavor. I took my highschool students two years ago and they fell in love with the Diabolos. So much that I surprised them during the year with one of the syrups I brought in class.

Makes my mouth water!

In my experience, children are not frequently evident in bistrots or brasseries or upscale restaurants during the week. However, for the Sunday mid-day meal, often the big dine of the day, families throng to the tables en masse.

Yes, but you probably wouldn't get them in a typical wine bar.
I'd go for a cafe, where there are lots more options for syrups...

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Kids in bars? Look, I'm all in favor of introducing crying babies on airplanes to the soothing properties of strong gin, but kids in bars sets a dangerous precedent: what if they get a taste for the good stuff? If they're swilling plonk, I got no problem with that, but there's only so much Chateau Margaux '44 to go around and the heck if I'm losing out on it to an 11-year-old! I'm sure 2-Buck Chuck will satisfy the little angel for right now, but let her get a taste of a solid Côtes du Rhône and the next thing you know, every pre-teen on the block will be driving up the price Bordeaux futures! Good lord, how's a high-end drunk supposed to compete with that kind of pressure?

Naw, I actually saw some kids in a bar in Paris, and they were both well-behaved and observably sober. No one seemed to mind them, except when they started quoting Sartre while I was trying to belt out "My Ding-A-Ling" because I'd forgotten the words to La Marseillaise.

Vive la France, vive la France.

-- Mike Beebe

My old roommate is British and lives back in London now. Her daughter goes to every bar her parents and grandparents go. She and her brother did the same as kids. They lived all over Europe and went the French schools everywhere they lived. I don't think kids in bars is out of the ordinary in Europe.