Three days in Paris with seniors and kids

Hi Susan, the Marmottan Museum houses the world's largest (private) collection of Monets. It's a wonderful place. The Orangerie has the fabulous waterlillies, and the D'Orsay has quite a few other works. There aren't any original paintings at Giverny or the American Art Museum but it is a very nice day trip to see his home, gardens, and grave.

The kids (and adults!) might enjoy the Museum of Carnival Arts which is near where you're staying. Interesting collection of old rides and games on display. They filmed parts of Midnight in Paris there.
http://www.arts-forains.com/index_anglais.php

I'm not a train expert so I'll leave that to someone else.

Hope you have a great time in Paris!

Two websites you might find useful:

tomsguidetoparis.com
parisbytrain.com

There are no passes for transport that will be cost effective. The exception would be if you are there on a weekend, the kids can get day passes for Paris for half price called Ticket Jeune. Kids under 4 are free on public transport; kids 4-9 can use half price ticket -- a carnet of 10 for 7.25; for adults in Paris a carnet of 10 is 14.50 and that gives you 10 rides anywhere within Paris and anywhere the metro goes (sometimes a bit outside Paris) The ticket jeune youth day pass if for anyone 25 and under.

Giverny is in Normandy and no pass for Paris would cover it anyway. You get tickets to Vernon from St. Lazare. It is an easy trip. when you get to Vernon you catch a shuttle bus to Giverny and pay for ticket on board; step lively as the bus gets full and leaves people behind and if you are the last ones on you will be standing.

Kids 17 and under are free for most museums -- all that are included in the Museum Pass. the Museum Pass will give you access to shorter security lines at the Orsay and Orangerie where may great Monets are. It doesn't include the Marmottan but that museum is worth a separate trip and ticket. I don't know what kids cost there if anything. Kids just walk in with their parents who have the Museum Pass at almost all museums and monuments (Arc du Triomphe and Invalides are the only two exceptions I know of and the lines are rarely long there)

Within Paris and with 5 people to transport from place to place, I would suggest getting the Uber app and using that to find the drivers who have large vehicles (SUVs. mini vans, etc.). Won't cost you much more than a taxi, easier to call up (no need to find a taxi queue) and you avoid taking crowded city buses or the Metro with 2 senior citizens and 3 children.

You can get train information on best prices, schedules and purchase tickets directly from them to get out to Giverny from one of the SNCF offices. Besides having offices inside the big train stations, SNCF also has a few retail outlets scattered around Paris. You can also look over their website if you want to check on your options now rather than wait until you are in Paris.

Without knowing the ages of your children, hard to make recommendations. E.g., if you have 3 kids in high school, it's pointless for me to be recommending things that little kids might like and vice versa. About the one universal activity I would suggest for older or younger children would be some sort of river cruise (particularly the ones near sunset so you can see some of the big monuments light up as it gets dark).

If you are not into taking taxis or Uber, I would recommend the bus system, especially if the older people do not like going up and down quite a few stairs (which is usually what the metro requires). Get a good guide book for the bus system, as the maps in most guidebooks are hard to figure out. But once you learn the bus system;, it will take you almost anywhere in Paris (and you can see sights along the way, which you generally cannot in the metro). Peter