I'll be travelling with my husband and 9 month old son this Christmas to Paris. It just occurred to me I have to arrange getting from Charles de Gaulle Airport to our hotel with an infant for the first time after 11 years of carefree travel without a child. Ideally, we'd like to taxi it, but how do I do this with the baby and no car seat? I wasn't intending on bringing it. Does anyone have any suggestions? Help!
Posted by
Richardson, TX, USA
153 posts
Disclaimer: no kids.
I did a Google on 'car seat Europe' and got the following as the first hit:
http://parents.berkeley.edu/recommend/where2buy/carseats/travel.html
There's a lot of interesting discussion in there about car seats and whether to take one. (When I was a kid, they hadn't been invented, and somehow we survived, but that's another thread.)
Posted by
Copenhagen, Denmark
70 posts
Parisian taxis will probably not have children car seats. Children are required to use a car seat in France, but there is an exception for taxis, which means that taxis almost never provide them. There is probably not very much to do about it other than having the child on your lap, bringing your own car seat or use public transportation
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
You'll probably want a taxi with your son and end up holding him on your lap.
Posted by
Bend, OR
576 posts
If I were taking a child, I think it would be far SAFER to just take the RER train into town, avoiding the dangerous traffic without a carseat.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
251 posts
We went to France, for Christmas, with our 9mo old son and found not problem with transportation. We used the train (the TGV going to Quimper has a stop in Paris), and the RER, but again both of us are very comfortable with France and getting around after living here.
I am an American mother in a modern world. I absolutely refused to put my child in a car w/o car seat. Even as my French in-laws critized me and sighed, I stamped my little food and refused. Especially in Paris, the drivers can be crazy. Nothing is worth your piece of mind. You may have different feelings about being a mom but remember to trust your gut regardless of how inconvienient it is.
Ultimately we rented a car, and a car seat with it, so no problems. Does your baby carrier double as car seat? Those can be picked up, you will probably need a carrier for other reasons? I assume you are carrying him on you lap on the plane?
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
251 posts
Oh, one more thing.
While this doesn't fall under transportation I wanted to add just a few expereinces. Maybe you already know those things.
I would take a whole suitcase just for diapers rather on buying them in France they are $$$ especially at the stores in central Paris.
There are not a lot of public changing areas in Paris, and in December it can be tough to use a park bench. I often used foyers or covered areas in parks with no problem.
The one item I didn't take but wish I had. My stroller. We took a back-pack which just doesn't work as well as in the U.S. For all the walking we did I wish I had lugged my beautiful stroller.
Happy Travels