Father/Daughter trip to Paris

For 9 days I'd recommend an apartment, look at sites like vrbo.com, homeaway.com, vacationsinparis.com, and others. Search "Paris apartment" on this board and you'll find a lot of ideas. An apartment will give you space, privacy, a kitchen, maybe a washer-dryer, maybe a balcony or terrace, that you wouldn't get in a hotel. Some have two bedrooms, but the one-bedroom ones typically have a convertible couch in the living room. An apartment lets you sleep different hours, eat in when you wish, and live in a residential neighborhood with all the urban amenities you could want. The closer you are to the Seine, the more convenient and expensive. We've stayed in the Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement) and Montparnasse (14th) both on the Left Bank. Next fall we'll be in the Marais (4th). But don't feel like you have to be right in the center of things, the metro and buses make it easy to get anywhere and the money you save staying in a 2-digit arrondissement can buy a lot of tickets and dinners. Pay attention to what floor an apartment is on and whether there's an elevator (your daughter might be good for 3-4 flights of stairs but you might not!), and remember that in Europe the first floor is what we call the second. Look at a good guidebook, like Rick Steves' Paris or Lonely Planet or the Michelin Green Guide, for ideas about the sights you'd like to see. You know what you're interested in and not. And you can split up and do different things on some days. Nine days will give you enough time for day trips like Versailles, Giverny, Chartres, or St-Denis if you want to branch out. The Paris Museum Pass is a great bargain if you have the energy for several consecutive days of museum-ing, and it saves waiting in the ticket line at the more popular ones. Have a great time planning together!

Bob, you haven't told us a budget so that would help. When I took my 13 yr old son to Paris we stayed at the Hotel Brighton in a Tuilleries View Room, and the view was incredible. Also it was two twin beds, set up side by side ( but separately covered etc) but my son, being typical 13 yr old wanted the bed further away from me so he actually was able to push bed into another part of the room, the room was L shaped so he pushed it into other part of the L, this is significant because so many hotel rooms in Paris are much too small for you to push twin beds anywhere but a few more inches apart.. and just for info, finding a room with that has two doubles or twins is almost impossible in any budget -moderate hotel. The Brighton was a 3 star when I stayed there and now is a 4 star so may be a bit pricey compared to when we stayed there though. I have never stayed in a hotel , even a budget hotel , that didn't have a private bathroom, so I wouldn't worry about that much unless you are really really budgeting ... So , what is budget, this is really a key point.. bigger rooms have much bigger price tags.

I agree with the apartment suggestion. Check out www.vacationinparis.com - we've been very happy with them. I would suggest staying central, in the heart of things. So either the 4th, 5th or 6th. You guys will have a great trip!

I also like the 4th, 5th and 6th. My husband and I rented a one bedroom apartment in the 5th that I can recommend if you would like to send me a private message. There are twin beds that push together to make a larger bed in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room where our then 20-year-old daughter slept. We spent 10 nights there and it really was a comfortable home away from home. The owner lives in California and you pay in U.S. dollars, so no worries about what the exchange rate is.

One of our favorite things in Paris, with or without our kids, is a picnic on the grass near the Eiffel Tower. Use Rick's book to assemble your food from the shops on Rue Cler and then walk over. We usually do wine and cheese or dessert and wine and watch the sunset behind the tower and the lights come on...magical!! A night cruise on the Seine is fabulous too!

Since she's a young lady (and much younger than Rick Steves' target audience), I'd recommend also consulting the Time Out guidebook (online and/or print edition), since it's a bit "hipper", for lack of better words. I really liked thumbing through it when in NYC and Istanbul (it's a very thin book - another plus) http://www.timeout.fr/paris/en