Flight and Room Booked, Now what?

First of all, Paris does not shut down on Sunday and Monday. Check the closing days for what you want to see and work out a plan from there. Now you have four days in Paris which is an excellent first dose.

Pssst! Lie to the younger kid and tell him D'land is closed for.......something. Then take him to Orlando, it's cheaper. Seriously, that's going to be an all-day project. You might want to switch that to one of the days you find a of things lot closed, if that actually happens. My experience in Paris has been that nothing I wanted to see is closed two days in a row.

Thanks Ed. The Disney thing is to make sure he really loves Paris. He may become very bored with old buildings and nude paintings and statues. Thanks for making me feel better about the closings.
What would be the best thing to do the Saturday we arrive? Should we do a city tour on a bus or the river tour? Or should we just walk around? I do not want to waste any valuable time knowing some things are going to be closed or very packed.

It's true, Paris doesn't "shut down" on Sundays and Mondays. But since this is the Easter weekend I'd check carefully each attraction for their opening times on Statuatory holidays. I'm sure you'll find more than enough to do. Just plan carefully so you're not standing in front of a closed attraction when another one would have been open.

Easter Sunday on rue Cler is very busy, with extra pastries and take-out food available. The day after Easter may be fairly dead as far as restaurants and stores are concerned. In my experience, there is always something open. The bakeries seem to alternate days off, so one will be closed Sunday and another in the neighborhood will be closed Monday. Other neighborhoods may operate this way, too. Ask in advance, and stay flexible.

We took our son to Paris at about that age. Here's our one week itinerary. We went for a February break and Paris was free of tourists - which was great)

DAY 1 - arrive in Paris - took the RER train from airport - kid liked this and liked figuring out their subway system (which is great - very efficient and really makes sense)
-got off metro and took a bit of time orienting ourselves and finding hotel (Hotel Levesque on Rue Cler)
-went to Tribeca on Rue Cler for lunch - great club sandwich and has good pizza
-walked to Eiffel Tower - walked halfway up Eiffel Tower (husband very tired). played at playground at ET
DAY 2 - www.parisgreeters.com - great service where residents give you a tour of Paris (free) we had a great woman named Sara. we walked for hours, went to lunch, she gave us a tour of montmarte neighborhood and we walked outside the ring road to the big flea market
DAYS 3 and 4 - we went to Normandy - Omaha Beach, theater at Arromaches, Bayeaux, Honfleur -great time
DAYS 5 and 6 - wandered all around Paris, took a highlights tour of Louvre with www.pariswalks.com (perfect for kid)

Personally, I would skip Disney. This was my son's first trip to Europe and he had a blast. We don't love art museums, we do lots of wandering and seeing historic sights. I think each night we walked over to ET (and rode carousel)- though we may have only gone up once at night. Had lots of drinks at outside cafes and he had a treat. Also, I am glad we got out of Paris for few days - are you planning any trips out of the city (other than Disney)?

Flight and Room Booked, Now what? ---

This may be viewed as a silly response BUT double check your passport for expiration date.

Any tour on your arrival day that involves sitting down for a while is not so great an idea, especially in the afternoon - you'll tend to fall asleep.

Plan to do lots of walking on that first day.

One thing my son (10yo) enjoyed was the Sunday bird market, at the location of the flower market on Ile de la Cité. Actually, they have many other small-pet type animals, not just birds.

stacey,

I have to agree with the others that dropping Disneyland might be a good idea, given the short time frame and the time to get out there and back. However, if you've already told your Son and he's looking forward to it, you're probably committed.

Paris will probably have lots to keep him interested. Be sure to emphasize that it's going to be "different" than home as there won't be a McDonald's on every street corner (although there will be some).

The Paris 2010 book has lots of information on the attractions that will be open on various days, so hopefully you can find something that will interest both of you.

Good luck and happy travels!

One thing we DO on every trip is go to McDonald's! My son is not a fan of the food so much as he is a fan of the Happy Meal toys.

My son is not aware of the fact that food can be given to you through a window, ie, McDonald's. He will be fine. We travel with him within the states and he does well, but he needs to have kid fun as well. I like the bird walk idea, thanks. I also think I will try to create some sort of scavenger hunt for each museum. He has a great fascination for the Eiffel tower, which is one of the main reasons we choose Paris and to bring him. Kids need more than video games, but they need to be kids.
I have some RS 2010 reading to do! I also purchased the Backdoor 2010. Thanks also for the tip of not seating on day of arrival.

Check out Bercy on the eastern edge of Paris, an easy Metro ride away. The little shopping village is nothing too special (there’s a pet shop, a comic book store, and several restaurants), but check “behind” the village as there may be a market in the parking lot across the street. There are two parks next to the village. The first one is somewhat formal, but interesting, with lots of ponds and ducks. The second park is linked to the first one by a footbridge over a busy road. The second park is big and grassy; a great place to have a picnic and to run around and be a kid. There’s also a nifty fountain built into the side of a hill that you can walk into without getting wet. If you continue past the top of the fountain, there’s a footbridge over the Seine. My BF and I spent most of a day in Bercy, and we quite enjoyed it. It was relaxing and picturesque, and we liked seeing Parisians playing with their dogs and getting some fresh air. Rick mentions Bercy Village in the Paris book and gives directions on how to get there.