Three teens, 16,13,11 and three days in Paris

We were in Paris last year. My 15 year old son loved the top of the Arc de Triomphe and the top of the Eiffel Tower. But he also loved seeing notre Dame (we were too late to climg the tower) and the church that was named in the DaVinci Code (i remember the roseline part) It didn't have anything much to do with the book/movie, but it was old and dark and he thought it was great.
One place that I didn't plan on was les Invalides. This is where Napoleon's tomb sits and there is a military museum there. We spend hours there -- the displays were detailed and fascinating. I would not have guessed that he would be interested, but he was

A bit of a strange question,, my kids found it exciting to be on holiday anywhere,, and never pulled the "I'm bored" as if they had it would have been their last paid holiday with us!

Paris is a great city for teens. I have taken an 11 yr old and two 14 yr olds. Plus I myself have been there as a child and as a teen.

One suggestion most kids will love, take a Bike Tour, its fun and safe. Fat Tire Bike Tours is run by Americans so no language issues. It is a shame you only have 3 days , as I would suggest one of their daytrips as particulary great, to Versailles or Giverny. Try their city tours, no need to prebook or prepay,, so you can play that by ear, great way to get accquainted with city,, and I cannot fathom any kid being "bored" by it. It is easy for us older folks too.

Ohter sites my kids liked.

Eiffel Tower of course,, trying taking the stairs up instead of elevator.
Arc De Triomphe has great views.
Same with Towers of Notre Dame, ( plus seeing the gargoyles up close is fun, and visiting the bell tower)

My sons both loved the Catacombs,, truly unique,, cannot imagine a kid not finding it extrememly memorable,, google it.. LOL
My son found this site online,, as I made all three of my kids find 3 sites they wanted to see ,, making them part of the trip planning process, not just along for the ride,, trust me, this elimanates whining if they have to help make plans.

My daughter loved musuems, and enjoyed the Orsay the most.

The Boat cruise is easy to do,, takes one hour,, it is included in the night bike tour, so don't duplicate.

Catacombs are a must. My teens liked best: Eiffel Tower, Orsay, climbing the dome at Sacre Couer, Pere Lachaise cemetery (mostly for Jim Morisson's grave), Shakespeare & Co, accordion players in the Metro, Amelie's cafe (if they know the movie) sitting in cafe's, street performers, street food, food markets and wandering around. We were there an entire week and no one was ever bored or unhappy (this is not always true at home, rest assured).

For my kids everything was just so different that it was interesting (we're not from a big city but they've been to NYC, for example, many times). Even things like the candy vendor outside the Metro station was fun because it was so big. Oh yeah, crepe vendors, too! Don't worry, really. If they get tired send them to a cafe to chill.

(My kids are 16 and 13-turned-14 while we were there)

Check out the temporary exhibit at the Cite de la Musique/Musee de la Musique to see if it would appeal to your kids. It is near the science museum and the area is pretty cool looking--very modern and a nice antidote to all of the older architecture they will see elsewhere. Also, if they are into musical instruments, the Cite de la Musique has a great collection of instruments through the ages. They also have short lectures occasionally by musicians who demonstrate their instrument. I got lucky to happen upon a Sengalese musician/storyteller when I was there several years ago. The temporary exhibit at that time was Pink Floyd's The Wall. If your teens happen to like fashion, there is the Musee do la Mode et du Textile. When I was there they had a cool exhibit where some of the clothes were "green screens" so that scenes could be projected onto them as the models walked the runway.

I checked the museum pass site to see what is currently on at the museums I mentioned, but I kept getting error messages. However, I did find something interesting under "What's New." The cinema museum has an exhibit on Georges Melies who is famous for inventing special cinema effects. No idea about any of it, but it might be worth looking into.

Just to echo some of the replies here...get them involved.

Have them research sites. We make a list of places we want to see and "code" them by whether the site is indoors or out, active or passive, hours of operation, covered by museum pass?, etc. We spend lots of time planning our itinerary but try to be flexible with it while we are there - and the list helps us change our plans quickly.

We put our kids in charge of train schedules. Very doable even for younger kids. Maybe your 11 y.o. could be in charge of getting you places?

None of us speak French, but our family listened to a Berlitz CD for weeks before our trip - anytime we were driving (to/from school, soccer, etc.). Hubby and I managed the polite words and simple requests but the kids actually learned quite a bit. They helped a ton with conversations.

We also read Rick's "Back Door Travel Philosophy" aloud together to set expectations. They had to remind me to be militantly optimistic from time to time! Things will go wrong - but those are the stories you'll remember!

Have a great time!

My son enjoyed the Catacombes, the Paris Sewer tour, the Eiffel at night, climbing the tower of Notre Dame and, just riding the metro and telling us where to go and how to get there. Have fun making lifetime memories with your kids--we did!

In the evening, very close to the front of Notre Dame (on the pedestrian bridge to the right of the front) there are roller bladers that set up and do amazing stunts. It's fun to watch. Also, street entertainment in front of Notre Dame at night.

I am going to Paris for two to three days myself with three twenty somethings...I do know they want to see only limited (if any) museum pieces ; i.e.; art works. It may surprize them tho once they get into the Louvre. They want to see Versaille, which actually surprized me. I like the idea of having them pick three site they would like to see. And if they have a cheap camera each you can make it fun for them to get unusual shots to put in the family album to show others. My son is just out of photography school mind you, but he cannot wait to get unusual shots, like the gargoyles, perhaps catacombs (if allowed) and things their age group likes more than us liking family shots. I like the river rides they have also. Have fun! Let us know what they liked?

Susan, unfortunately there is no flash allowed in the ccatacombs and it's very dark so pictures aren't very good.