Kids in France

If you'll be in Paris from July 18 onward I can highly recommend the summertime activity called Paris Plague. Here is an excerpt of a trip report I did 3 years ago.

We are currently in Paris and I wanted to highly recommend the Paris Plage this year. We had seen the one along the Seine on 2 previous visits (this is their 12th year) but today we wandered along the Canal St. Martin/Bassin de la Villette where a 2nd Paris Plage opened today, July 20-August 18, 2013. This is the city's way of offering the people who must stay in the city during the heat of the summer a little recreational activity. While the one along the Seine is nice to observe, sandy beaches, chairs, umbrellas, music, etc., the one along the Bassin de la Villette (Metro Jaures) was outstanding. There were unique activities for children and adults alike that involved games, water vehicles, zip lines across the canal, great food/drinks, go carts, and much more. You can also take a 1/2h canal boat ride on Saturdays and Sundays for only 1Euro. If you have children or want to observing people relaxing and having a LOT of fun, don't miss this event.

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All of your destinations sound great for families with kids. Our two granddaughters, ages 11 and 13 especially liked all of the kid friendly activities along the Seine last summer. Unfortunately they were too early for the even more fun activities for kids and adults at the Bassin de la Villette. There is a new microbrew brewpub at the end of the Bassin, a rather recent addition. There is another family friendly brasserie at the Jaurez metro stop that has a view of the lock action on the canal.

I also bought a Paris scavenger hunt type book that we augmented and offered crepes as rewards for tracking down various landmarks, museums or cultural tidbits in Paris. Enjoy!

In Paris, I would check out the playground at the Tuilieries, with the trampolines and combine it with a trip around the new Grand Wheel.

And for the allergies, I would have about 5 laminated cards in French that explain what they cannot eat and any cross contamination consequences. The waiters can then take the card back to the kitchen to show the chef, etc. I advise multiple copies of the card because I don't want you to stress out if you lose one.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for these suggestions so far! They are great.

Is the ferris wheel the one at Place de la Concorde? I'm trying to find info online and am getting confused. There is a Grande Roue but it sounds like it is only there in winter?

I just responded to another posting about the PBS show "Traveling with Kids". They have done a number of shows in France including Paris. I think your kids, as well as you, will enjoy watching the shows. You can watch replays of the episodes on the PBS network, YouTube, and iTunes. You might be in Paris during the finish of the Tour de France bicycle race. I think your children might get a little bored watching the race, but you should be aware that it could impact some of the sites in Paris on that day. It finishes in Paris on July 24 this year.

The Concord ferris wheel is only at Christmas time; there is one in the Tuilleries in late summer. Another really great playground for kids these ages is the pay playground at the Luxembourg Gardens. There are several unusual pieces of equipment that kids this age love. In the Tuilleries and at Luxembourg Gardens you can also rent toy boats to sail on the fountain pools.

We always made a ritual of letting our kids select French pastries to carry to nearby parks for an afternoon snack. You could instead let them select them for dessert at the apartment.

Lonely Planet has a whole travel book series titled, "Not for Parents..." And there is one on Paris. My 8 year old really enjoyed it as it covered a lot of interesting information and very visual. I would recommend it. PBS Nova had a program called, "Building the Great Cathedrals" that I watched with my 10 year old. I think you can watch it on YouTube. It will definitely give them an appreciation of "flying buttresses" (which they just loooved to say) and medieval buildings. My 8 year old was totally bored by it but my 10 year old enjoyed it. For lighthearted faire both my boys enjoyed watching Ratatoille while we were in Paris and recognizing some of the sites from that day. Have a wonderful trip!

Our granddaughters liked the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik (film version, Hugo). We talked about the old train stations and they were really fascinated with the structure of Musee d'Orsay as well as the wonderful art inside. As we stood on the outside rooftop near the upstairs cafe, they pointed out building after building in the distance that they could identify as a train station. They both were in love with the Impressionist paintings and Degas bronzes. They had a favorite book when they were younger about Marie, the little dancer and they could hardly wait to meet her.

We just got back from Paris 2 weeks ago. My kids loved hanging out at the Tuilerie and Luxembourg gardens, eating ice-cream from Berthillon and Amourino, and they liked the ferris wheel at the Place de la Concorde (although they said the London Eye is much cooler). Their favorite place (which was very surprising to us) was the Renault Dealership on Champs Elysees. The upstair cafe has awesome desserts and the show room features interactive games and interesting cars. We didn't make it to the Museum d'histoire naturelle in Jardin des Plantes but it looked like a very cool place.

Our kids love Paris. They really enjoy the park at Tuilleries Gardens. They also love Luxembourg Gardens (both the area where they can float boats and the playground area). They enjoyed going to the top of Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. A few books that made an impact on the kids were Madeleine in Paris and The Magical Garden of Claude Monet (my daughter has a love of Monet due to that book and insists that we visit the Orangerie each time we've been to Paris just so she can look at the water lilies). https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764138553/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687642&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00000IZ83&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=72GNC9QHPERDTZ1JMTD0 You can also get a few movies. The Olsen twins have one about visiting Paris which my daughter enjoyed.

My kids also enjoyed visiting Rodin's sculpture garden. They would replicate the post and I took a picture of them. Lots of fun and good memories.

My daughter is allergic to peanuts, pistachios and cashews (not all tree nuts) We had cards made and laminated. All restaurants took them seriously and we had no issues. The main concern was ice cream (pistachio is hugely popular). She was fine with crepes because she is fine with hazelnuts but you'll run into a problem there for sure.

Thank you so much for these interesting and varied ideas for books, movies, and locations! I'm making a list and greatly appreciate them.

Thanks, Joanne, for the perspective on allergies. Thankfully no one is allergic to hazelnuts. Our list is similar--cashews, pecans, pistachios. I think we will bring a few allergy cards as you and Lisa suggest.

Laura

We spent a month in Paris when my son was small and there are a couple of things we did that he really enjoyed.
The Parc Zoologique de Thoiry is a great day out of Paris with kids! It's located at a chateau...the ancestor of the current owner started collecting exotic animals a couple hundred years ago and it has developed into a safari park and zoo. You can drive through the safari park with lions, zebras, a variety of species of deer, etc. Then you can go to the proper zoo which is quite nice...it has a fairly large playground for kids and lots of room to run around. My favorite part is the lion enclosure...they have dug a trench through the middle of it with a thick, plexiglass "roof" over it - you can walk right next to the lions. The lions lie on top of the tunnel, against it, and at feeding time the keepers throw meat into the enclosure and the lions leap over your heads to chase it. It's a pretty unique experience that the kids will love!
We also took a morning to go see the collection of Monet's water lily paintings and then in the afternoon we went out to Giverny to see his home and the lake where the water lilies were painted. It was a great day!
If you just google "Paris with Kids" and similar words, you can find lots of into about traveling with the younger set and making the trip fun for them as well as yourself! Amazon has quite a few titles as well that you can see with a simple search.