Historic Paris Walk +; Timing? Do I Have this right?

Nancy -

The climb to the towers at Notre Dame can take an hour standing in line to enter alone. Typically, you also end up having to wait to go up the stairs from level two to level three because it is one way traffic. Once we waited on level two for 20 minutes just to pass to level three due to limitations of people. Please note there are 422 steps to climb up and down (including the bell tower).

The timing of the walk seems about right - what will extend your time easily is waiting in line etc. at Notre Dame.

Right now dusk is not hitting until 20h30 or so - thus light in the evening will not be an issue for you to go beyond 18h for additional items on your walk.

Kent- Kids are 12, 18, 20, and are good walkers.

Jona- So an hour for the tower (even if we line up 15 min. before it opens) sounds like it's not enough time...hmmm my day is getting shorter.

I already looked up sunset times (around 9:30pm our week, May 12), but the real issue is the closing times of the places (and I know my kids will be glazed over if I try to get them to do one of those late nights at a museum). Seems like most things open between 9-10 and close by 5-6 and with a sit-down lunch that doesn't leave very many hours. I know there's two sides of thinking on this, but I'm trying to plan sit down lunches (most days) and dinners. My husband and I have had some of our best moments abroad at meals with locals and we think it's an important part of the experience we want the kids to have. Am I right that if I go to a cafe it will be a faster/lighter lunch vs. longer for a restaurant? How much time should we allow for a lunch at a cafe?

Hard to judge exact times as you have no idea of how long lines will take. But if you find you have extra time after you have "finished" Notre Dame, be
sure to walk around the Seine side of Notre Dame to the back. First of all there are the best views of the flying buttresses, as well as a small playground, and then there are gardens and seats all the way to the rear. A great place to recuperate. Then I suggest crossing the road directly ahead to the Memorial to the Deported from WWII. This takes very little time and is located on the very tip of the
Ile de la cite and offers terrific views as well as a
very moving experience. It is very well done. Then
I would cross the bridge over to Ile St. Louis and
stroll around. It is a most charming quartier with some interesting shops and some places to eat. THEN
you can cross the Seine to walk to the Cluny Museum(highly rated in my opinion).

Nancy: I have had exactly the same experience at the Notre Dame tower climb as Jona describes, taking longer than you would think not knowing the actual conditions and crowd at the time you are there.

Cafe lunches can be as short or long as you like. I think your kids will really like going to the top of Notre Dame, the fantastic view and the gargoyles (I hope they have cameras!), so time spent doing that is probably well spent.

Thanks all. BG- Grandparent gave the kids cameras for Christmas and extra cards came in their Easter baskets. Couldn't see taking a bunch of disposables and trying to monitor how many photos my 12 year old was taking of the Eiffel...LOL!

Nancy -- sounds like you guys will have a lot of fun -- wish my parents had taken me to Europe as a child. Oh well, I'm going there now and having a blast too -- even at my advanced age.

Me too BG! I made my first trip out of the US in 2003! We've been saving for this for 5 years now, and keep calling this our "Trip of a Lifetime with the Kids". We figure this may be our last chance for a long time, if ever, that we'll have all three of the kids together on a trip this special (my oldest will be a senior in college so who knows where she'll be after). It's so expensive, but it's worth every penny of memories we'll make! Hey, we're already making them...learning French phrases, watching travel & relevant (ie. Longest Day-Normandy) movies together, buying a different French cheese every week, etc. It's already fun and we don't leave for three weeks!

http://www.monkeychef.fr/

Hi Nancy,
... the above may be of interest to you. It's fast food, and healthy ...
... bon appétit ... P

I know you mentioned that the kids might not want to do a museum in the late evening hours, but I took my son to the Louve on one of the nights it was open late and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. It was fantastic! You might want to keep that option in mind. Sounds like you will have a wonderful trip--don't forget to hike to the top of the Arc du Triompe. It's my favorite view of Paris and you get to see all the cars trying to circle around it. Doing it after dark is even more special as you can see the Eiffel tower lit up like a Christmas tree.

Deb

Deborah, Thanks for the tip! I'll make a list of those open late (The Louvre almost empty sounds like bliss!). My brother is convinced he wants to spend at least 8 hours in the Louvre (Just wait until his eyes glaze over after 2 hours in there- LOL. I used to teach art and a 1/2 day at a time was all I could handle without needing a break or heading to a different art museum.).