Bayeux-How many days? & Ideas for kids in France

You might be able to interest the boys in the first floor of the Orsay Museum with the huge late 19th century action paintings and bronze ferocious-animal sculpture, the Egyptian section of the Louvre and some of the action-packed Roman sculpture, the basement of the Musee Carnavalet (no charge) which houses neolithic canoes found in mud in the Seine. Also there are the science and music museums at Porte de la Villette and the tours of the sewers and catacombs.

Michelle, we have taken both our sons to Paris when each turned 14. I took oldest son one year, ,hubby took next son when he reached 14.

Both loved visiting The Catacombs( which older son had researched online,, I expected my kids to find 3 sites they wanted to see) . Look up the history of the Catacombs before you go,, they are not just "piles of bones" ,, the tunnnels were used in WWII by both Resistance and Germans.

One son LOVED the Louvre,, and the other much preferred the Army Museum at Invalids.

I also recommend you look at Fat Tire Bike tours.. they are fun and anyone can do them( I have and I am not a biker or particularily fit)

My husband and I spent four days in Normandy in September. We visted Mont St. Michel and the Bayeux Tapestry one day, took two Battlebus Tours and spent the fourth day touring the sites on our own. I would have loved to have had one more day, but if you're doing it all on your own, four days may be enough. It depends how much time you like to spend in museums. We spent most of our time outdoors and not as much in museums.

Stuart Robertson is a former Battlebus guide who now gives tours on his own. You might want to try him.
http://www.normandybattletours.com/

Sounds like you are doing the trip we did last summer (August 11-20, 2009) with our three boys ages 9,11 and 13 at the time. We used Normandyours with Danielle as a private tour guide. Worth every cent! Stayed at Le Tardif in Bayeux. We only did two days in Bayeux. No one was interested in the Tapestry.

We did five nights in Paris and I would highly recommend the following: Tuilleries gardens had a Ferris Wheel and a carnival arcade, taking a picnic to the lawn in front of the Eiffel tower, sailing a boat in the Luxemberg Gardens, taking a Bateux Mouche ride. These - along with our day in Normandy - are the things our boys are still talking about. We did one museum - the D'Orsay. Skip the Louvre, but put your toes in the fountain next to the pyramid entrance.

Also, our kids wound up loving the small bistros and just walking! There are a million great "inside" things to see, but I can't stress enough - let them walk and just "be" in Paris.

Have a great time - we did.

We stayed on Mont St. Michel. My then 11 year old son loved wandering around in the evening and early morning. It's like a castle! We also watched "The Longest Day" to help get them ready for the D-Day beaches. Don't write off the museums, my kids enjoy museums if there is a good audioguide. They both enjoy the RS audiotours. We also saw the tapestry at Bayeaux. There is a good audioguide that goes with it to explain what you're seeing. It only takes about 45 minutes. Combine it with a trip to the cathedral to see where it was hung. We recently were in Paris and both my kids enjoyed the Cluny. Lots of medeaval stuff that you don't see in other museums.

When my husband told me he wanted to see the "tapestries" in Bayeux my reaction was anything but enthusiastic. Another boring rug hanging on the wall?!?!?

But it turned out to be the highlight of our trip. Never seen anything like it. And even for kids very interesting to see as it kind of reads like a cartoon ;-) Ours were 4 and 6 at the time and went along with us just fine.

Can anyone provide the OP Michelle with information about being in Normandy during the first week of June. In April 2009 we did a Battlebut tour, and our guide mentioned the enormous number of visitors during the first week of June, implying that the roads were clogged with cars, some memorials were closed to the public, and it was essentially impossible to see very much. It could be that he was referring to June 6, 2009, which was going to be the 65th anniversary (with many dignitaries in attendance).

Perhaps I am worrying for her for nothing -- or perhaps not. I'd hate for her to end up in a massive traffic jam and not see much at all.

:)