Paris with an elderly parent

Wonderful mum.
I don't know whether they're the best, but this www.pariscityvision.com/en/paris/city-tour offers what you're looking for.
And don't forget Paris is a compact city with a dense metro network. Almost everything is within some five minutes from a metro station. A park or square or terrace is also never far away to recharge the batteries and to see the world go by.

Yes they have two companies that do HOHO tours. I think L'Open tours is the one we took. We thought it was a great way to get oriented, and you can decide which sights you want to go back to. I would not count on it being quick however. We spent a lot of time in traffic, and waiting for the bus at any stop at which we got off.

I would skip the metro since climbing those stairs will tire even the fit of us out :) The bus system however is great and generally easy to use also.

HOHO buses are not good transportation IMHO. I would Plan a trip with a focus on maybe one thing in the afternoon and one in the morning with great flexibility to just bag the plans if that seems good. There is a bus tour by Foxity that showcases the top sights in two hours; you can also do a HOHO with them for a bit more and that might be worthwhile. There are a couple of HOHO companies and you could do that but stay on the bus and use it as a tour.

Another way to see Paris and some out of the way spots she might not otherwise see is to do the canal boat tour that starts at Arsenal near the Bastille and wends it way through canals to Bassin de Villette. Part of it goes underground but mostly it is through neighborhoods you will not otherwise see and it is sort of fun to go through the locks along the way. You can take a nice picnic and bottle of wine and enjoy the day with little energy expended.

Museums like the Louvre have wheelchairs which she may not want to do, but it is something to know and in spite of the fact that the Louvre is an old chateau with tons of stairs everywhere, there is an elevator for every staircase -- so whether on foot or wheelchair she need not climb stairs. You get good at spotting the signs, but if you don't a guard can direct you to the spot around the corner where they are hidden.

The buses in Paris are designed for people with mobility issues; I would avoid the metro which is filled with stairs (a couple of lines have elevators -- 1 and 14 that I know -- but most involve lots of stairs) The buses kneel, they have wheel chair space and people 75 and over are entitled to have seats. You may need to be prepared to request that on her behalf so that the teenager flopped down in the reserved seats will yield them up. You can buy a booklet of bus maps at a news stand that makes planning easier. And the stops themselves are very well signed so you can see the route. Get Navigo Decouverte passes so that you can hop a bus without worrying about tickets even for short distances.

I traveled with my mother with mobility problems in Italy when she was 80 -- one issue that is true also in Paris is that every bathroom in a cafe or restaurant seems to be up or town a narrow flight of stairs, so using facilities in museums or the portable restrooms on the street when you see them is wise.

The other thing that was important is realizing that those sidewalk cafes are designed for your pleasure. Sitting for a couple of hours with a creme and a pastry or whatever and watching the world go by is restorative and an expected thing to do. One of the best 30 Euro I ever spent was on two giant gelato bowls at a sidewalk cafe at Piazza Navona in Rome -- overpriced (this was 15 years ago) sure -- but worth every cent. The waiter was gracious (Italians and perhaps the French too love to see an elderly mother being tended to by an adult child -- we had lovely treatment everywhere which thrilled my mother) and we watched the world go by in this lovely place for a couple of hours with our very tasty collection of sorbets and gelatos.

Have a great time. The memories are sweet; one of the best things I ever did for my mother and so glad I managed to do it while there was still time.

janettravels44
www.janettravels.wordpress.com

What a wonderful plan – these will be memories you treasure.

A few things I learned when traveling with elderly or handicapped family members… Although you may get push-back from your mother, arranging for a shuttle to take you to and from airport gates is a really good idea. You can also go to the desk at the airport to request early boarding, and that can make life a lot easier. Upon arrival at the destination, I found that arranging for car service from the airport to the hotel simplified things when my mother was tired and jetlagged. Get a hotel very near a bus stop and a taxi stand. (The recommendation to avoid the Paris metro is a good one... too many long passages and stairs.) A centrally located hotel can be a real blessing – making it easy to go back to the hotel in the middle of the day for a little rest. Make sure the hotel has an elevator that runs to ALL floors, along with air-conditioning if you're traveling in warm weather.

Budgeting for taxis will save her energy for the actual touring. An evening cruise on the Seine is a nice way to see Paris at night with minimal energy expenditure, and there also are evening bus tours if that would be more to her liking. Also, ask for help – lots of places have elevators (and some have wheelchairs), they're just not visible; I found people to be very kind and helpful. Finally, I'm not familiar with resources, but I would guess there are groups or agencies that specialize in city tours for less-mobile people. It would be worth checking with the tourist office or spending some time searching the Webb.

I would highly recommend taking a walking cane with a seat. Standing for periods of time can be more tiring than walking. This would allow your mom to be sitting down instead of standing all the time. It would also give her some stability on uneven surfaces. You can google "walking cane with seat" and see pictures of different canes.

Since it's a bucket list tour, get a car and driver for a half day. You don't need to go up the Arc, for instance, to be able to say you're seen the Arc and gone down the Champs. I'm sure Rick has recommendations in his book, or contact his cohort Steve if it's possible to email him.

Remember the Metro is underground so you will see, uh, tunnels. No scenery. But it can be an efficient way to travel medium-long distances since there's no traffic (but lots of walking).

Consider doing a private tour by car. 4 Roues sous 1 Parapluies has an option where you can get a driver and have a custom tour of Paris by a 2CV Citroen car. They also have a selection of routes that cover various highlights if your mother is unsure about exactly what areas she wants to cover and she just wants to see some of the major sights like the Arc, Eiffel or Notre Dame. Viator offers similar 2CV Citroen car tours.

The Paris Metro might be efficient, but there is no way I would take my 84 year old parent around Paris using the Metro. There are just too many stairs, and with some of the bigger stations you are dealing with long underground passages. And during peak hours, there's always the risk you won't be getting a seat and your mother will be standing up holding onto a pole (you can't always count on someone offering up their seat to an elderly person). Stick with taxis, or at least become very familiar with the bus routes (they, too, can also be quite crowded during peak hours, and slow if hitting a lot of traffic), but it's much easier to get your mom on/off a bus and she can take in more of the scenery while she is riding around. The Route 69 Bus crosses the city (east to west) and you will pass a lot of the major sights on this route. You won't get the Hop-On/Hop-Off tour bus commentary, but it's a lot cheaper.

How wonderful that your 84 year-old mom is still going though her 'bucket list' items and wants to visit Paris.
I think I love that about her too that it is ... nothing specific, mind you, just "I want to see Paris."

Choose your hotel carefully so they can arrange a car with driver for you to use each day. I would recommend a location in St Germain des Pres or St Michel - on the Left Bank near the Pont Neuf and Pont des Arts. This choice would work well, for example ... http://www2.citadines.com/en/france/paris/saint_germain_des_pres.html

I wonder how many days you have?

Day 1
Car with driver to Eiffel Tower for a photo stop, then Arc de Triomphe - Champs Elysees - Place de La Concorde. Have your driver drop you at the Tuileries Gardens where you can take a rest and visit the Orangerie Museum. Lunch at a bistro on Rue de Rivoli before deciding on the Louvre.

Day 2
It should be a short walk from your hotel to Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame. Arrange a car with driver to meet you by Notre Dame at a designated time (say 1pm ??) and drive you across to the Musee d'Orsay where you can lunch in the restaurant before taking in the art.

Day 3
Explore options in the Marais - Pompidou / Carnavalet / Picasso / Place des Vosges
Or, closer to the hotel perhaps - Pantheon / Cluny / Luxembourg Gardens

I've taken 3 trips to Europe with my mom in the past few years.
On our last trip in October, she was 88 & she still wants to continue traveling!

Helpful tips I've learned from traveling with my elderly mom:

1. Request wheelchair assistance at all airports-- even though my mom gets around fairly well, sometimes there's much walking at airports & it's great to have someone (who knows the airport very well) to help you maneuver you through the airport(s) through customs, immigration/passport check-point, baggage claims, etc..

2. Always book hotels with elevators & make sure there are no steps going up to your room, once you get off the elevator.

3. Many tourist attractions ( museums, etc..) have "hidden" elevators-- just ask, or sometimes you can find this info on their websites.

4. Expect to take many breaks throughout the day & make sure to keep her well hydrated.

5. I've learned to be extra vigilant of my mom, because sometimes she will not tell me that she's tired, but I know when it's time to go back to the hotel, take a taxi or just sit for a while.

6. Sometimes less is more... the fewer destinations & longer stays work better than moving from one place to the next (avoid 1-2 night stays)

7. Make sure she takes all her medications plus written prescriptions from her doctor (just in case...)

Have a wonderful trip & take lots of photos!

Edit: I almost forgot. Make sure to pack light. We each take a 20"carry-on roller suitcase & plan to do laundry every 6-7 days.
On our last 2 trips, I ended up rolling both carry-on suitcases and had wished we only had one suitcase instead of 2!

The bus is your friend in Paris. Use this site to plan getting from place to place.

Thank you, everyone, for the EXCELLENT suggestions. Mom and I travel together a lot and in fact, spent 2 weeks in Germany earlier this year. But while I've mastered the basics for traveling with a companion in her 80's, I haven't been to Paris since the 1970s and wasn't sure how easy it would be for her to get around. Thanks to this group, we have a lot of options to explore and the information you have provided will be very, VERY helpful to us as we start planning our adventure.

One other fun thing to do in Paris is to take the Batobus. it is a hop on hop off boat on the Seine. It stops near all the tourist sites and is nice because you see things from the water. Stops are right across the street from the Orsey, Louvre etc. If you get tired it is a nice cruise along the Seine. The tickets are good for a day.

The last time my Mom was in Paris she was 87 and used a 4-wheel walker. We took it slow and easy and didn't try to do too much in one day, and since we'd both been there before and had seen the big sights, it wasn't an issue. We did use the L'Open HOHO bus, but just stayed on for the full route. I think we did 3 of the 4 routes. This is a very slow way to see Paris, so be patient and be prepared for long waits in traffic and being rerouted due to demonstrations or whatever else might be going on.

One of the last times I was in Paris (at 67 & 68), I had a bum knee, and the next time a bum hip. I used the buses almost exclusively for getting around, slower than the Metro, but more scenic. I also used a cane, and even if your mother doesn't use one at home, I recommend that she take one and use it while in Paris. The sidewalks are often slanted slightly toward the street (so the water runs off when the shopkeepers hose them down) and the pavement is sometimes broken or has dips. A cane will help with balance and it will work almost like magic for seats on the bus and rides on elevators that are reserved exclusively for the disabled. One challenge will be that you will find most "toilettes" to be either up or down and steep narrow stairway. While Paris doesn't have the conveniences for the aged and disabled we are used to in the US, I have found the locals to be very considerate and helpful.

my experience of the Batobus is that it is crowded and unpleasant in summer and that there are steep steps down to the landings. The Seine Cruise with the most user friendly dock is the one that launches on the right bank just up river from Pont d'Alma -- that one is ramped and easy to access.

I just returned from Paris last week and have a few suggestions.

1. Metro = Steps, more steps, escalators going the wrong direction, long tunnels, more steps, then more tunnels, and once you pop up onto street level, you still may have a ways to walk.
   
2. Instead of HOHO bus, use the metro/public bus system. Check Rick Steves Paris for local bus "do it your self tours". I did the bus 69 tour - 1 block from our hotel. And it literally stops within a block or two of many, many top sights (Eiffel tower, Rue Clare, Army Museum, d'Orsay, Louve, Notre dame, Bastille, etc.). Avoid riding bus during rush hour as it is crowded.
3. The hotel we stayed at would be a good location and they have an elevator (small). The front desk people could not have been more helpful. Hotel Victoria Chatelet on Avenue Victoria, a block off the Siene on the right bank(135Euros for small room and 163 for large room). I shared room large room with my neice . The bridge to the island with Notre Dame is a block away. Boulangerie around the corner for breakfast (or in hotel). Lots of restaurants within 1-3 blocks also.
4. If you go to Montemare, recommend taking a taxi up the hill.

I took my mom to France last year; she'd never seen the chateaux on the Loire, and that was our focus. She turned 88 on the trip, so the part about moving slowly and tiring easily is very familiar. She took a cane with a seat as well as her usual folding cane - but to our surprise, every chateau we visited had lots of seating, so the seat-cane really wasn't helpful for us. It's heavier to carry than her usual cane, too. But the situation might be different in Paris, depending on what you are trying to see.

I also strongly recommend the use of a wheelchair in the airport. Mom doesn't use one any other time, but those long airport walks and long lines to stand in really wear her out. A side benefit is that when you accompany someone in a wheelchair, you both go to the head of most lines... And at CDG we were told that because she used a wheelchair, the airport would arrange a free shuttle to/from the airport hotel where we spent our first and last nights. I don't think they'd have taken us into Paris, but it was a very nice service for us. She also brought her blue "handicapped" hangtag which we used on occasion if there were parking problems. And as an elderly person, she often got a reduced or free entry to the various chateaux. Again, I don't know if this will be true in Paris; we were in the Loire area in October.

Hope you both have a wonderful trip!

There are indeed hidden elevators. There's one at the Arc.

The Arc de Triomphe does have an elevator. Just ask the ticket-taker at the stairway entrance and you'll be whisked up. However, it's a rather long walk through the tunnel to get to the Arc, and a flight of stairs to get up to ground level, then another flight or more from the elevator to the top.

For an easier access viewing spot, go to Montparnasse. Elevators all the way to the roof, and a great view of the Eiffel Tower. Parisians say this is the best place to see Paris, because it's the only place you don't see Montparnasse from!

Vedettes du Pont Neuf is good for a Seine cruise. Sit for an hour in the front of the boat, once during the day and once after dark.

Go to an evening concert at Sainte-Chapelle. You'll be able to sit and enjoy the stained glass windows - and avoid the potentially long security line during the day.

More great advice and suggestions. Thanks, everyone!

to get to Vedettes du Pont Neuf you go down a really steep stairway -- I think there is a workaround, but I would just go ahead and use one of the very mobility impaired friendly flat boats that launch from Pont d'Alma area. Once on the Vedette you then have to climb up steep stairs to the upper deck as well and worm your way along the narrow path to the front --