Paris in Nov with a 5 and a 3 year old(boys!)

The Luxembourg Gardens has an amazing playground they will love. As well as a carousel, donkey rides and marionette shows. And there's a cafe and bathroom close by.

I just remembered... there's also the Jardin D'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne -- it's an old fashioned amusement park geared towards young children -- perfect for a 3 and 5 yr old.

Thanks so much, they LOVE carousels.
These are great suggestions.

Kids that age don't always remember much from a trip, but if you have a routine every day for three weeks they'll remember more. Every day you could go for a hot chocolate in a cafe, check to make sure the Eiffel Tower is still in the distance, watch the Seine. They will probably love riding buses, but the Metro might be a little scary for you.

There is a merry-go-round at the St. Paul Metro stop. It may be running in November. They would probably enjoy the Batobus running between the major sites along the Seine. You can buy passes and hop-on, hop-off.

In the area of the American Church in Paris, there is a small playground across the street and near the river. It is perfect for small children. The book, Paris to the Moon, by Gopnik describes daily trips to Luxembourg gardens play area with his little boy. Small playgrounds are scattered throughout the city. Other parents in Paris will know places to take your boys.

Just doing some looking around, there's a couple of kid places [INVALID] there's a doll museum, might not be their thing, but they're having a temporary Santa exhibit while you're there. It's free for kids on Sundays, free for everyone on the second Friday of the month from 10-noon. It's called Musee de la Poupee, and it's by the Pompidou. The other is a science museum that has a section just for 3-5 year olds. Lots of hands-on stuff. It's called Cite des Sciences. Kids under 6 get in free. Might be some good options for rainy days.

There's a small play area on the grounds at Notre Dame as well.

I'd recommend a boat tour on the Seine (Batobus is on/off, but doesn't have the commentary like others do if you're interested in it). There are some neat exhibits on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. An aquarium close to the Eiffel Tower.

Another option is for you to go to Disneyland Paris for a day. You can take the train to Marne La Vallee and it is literally just steps away from the entrance. You could rent a double stroller if you want to keep them corralled! (We used to call the stroller the only socially acceptable form of restraint for my son, so I know how things can be LOL!)

Don't forget food can be a form of entertainment. There's gyros in the Latin Quarter, street vendors with crepes (avoid the Nutella ones if you don't want them covered in chocolate!) and of course the bakeries. You can sit at a cafe and the kids can have hot chocolate while you get a coffee or tea.

Bonne chance and Bonne courage with the two little ones!

Oh, and get them used to the Paris sights by way of cartoons. "Ratatouille" and "Aristocats" both have great scenery. Read them the "Madeleine" books by Bemelmans. Maybe you can find "an old house in Paris that was covered with vines..."

Thank you to all the wonderful moms for the suggestions. I am pretty psyched now. My husband is going to be away in Fontainebleau at INSEAD, so I will be solo with the boys. They already are excited about Metro, the trampolines and my younger one thinks we are going to "Rick Steves' Europe".

Tuileries gardens have a pond for sailing model boats, and for a long time had a simple carousel (i hope its still there). Also must buy hot chestnuts from one of the many vendors in that area. many kids play in the fountains on Place Concorde

Come on down to Fontainebleau for a bit. There's a great carousel in the Centre Ville (20€ for 20 tokesn), the chateau is really impressive (although it might not hold their attention span too long). There's a playground within walking distance of the chateau. Pizza Pazza serves kids pizzas in the shape of a bunny (and before 8pm for dinner!) You can walk into the forest from INSEAD. One of the paths right by there leads to a cool cave that someone obviously had lived in once. There's boulders to be climbed on, assuming the weather cooperates, mushrooms to be hunted and sand to be played with (yep - sand in the middle of the forest). The movie theater has risers for kids (if there's something kid-friendly available, although it will almost certainly be in French.) And a good outdoor market Tu, F and Su mornings.

Will you have a car or access to a car? There's an indoor play-place in a mall nearby Fontainebleau for inclement weather, The Cartonnerie with ice skating and bowling and many other things.

The Cite des Sciences and the park nearby. You can take the St. Martin canal boat there if the weather is decent. There's an enormous dragon slide your boys might like!

Be sure to make an early visit to Luxembourg Gardens to check the schedule at the Marionette Theatre. Then return on another day at the correct time to see the performance you want to see. The theatre is usually only open about 3 days per week, and they usually run two different feature schedules. Your boys will love it, even if they can't understand the words. (You will, too!) The puppet's actions speak (loudly) for themselves! It's too bad that this theatre art never caught on in America. Our children really miss out! Enjoy!