Paris, three days with three children--suggestions?

maineparent
Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:08:48 +0000

Plan specific day itinerary before you go if at all possible. Get a metro map online and plot your routes if at all possible so you can maximize your time there.

We loved the Arc de Triomphe at dusk…it is just beautiful in the evening and at night.

Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre area is also best at sunset time…so if you can plan your two evenings around those nighttime destinations, you are fortunate…

the Eiffel Tower is great really early in the morning…before the long lines form…I suspect there will be lines, but not as long as the ones the rest of the day…

I like the Louvre but again, I usually have very specific things I want to see…when we went as a family in 2000, I took my youngest who was 10 or so at the time and my husband took our oldest who was 15…we did the basement with the moat…and the crown jewels, and the large room with the 17 or so paintings of Marie Antoinette’s time as young bride and mother etc…I kept my little guy moving with specific things to see and a plan and we had a blast…my hubby on the other hand got lost and wandered and so their experience was much less enjoyable…they saw some great Dutch paintings but that was about it…

I really liked Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides… they have some exhibits in the auxilary buildings on armour that are tremendous…they also have dolls dressed in miniature original costumes going back hundreds and hundreds of years…really stimulating visually to see the perfection…I think your son would like the armour…

I would ditch Versailles…I always felt like it was all reproductions anyway…

Musee d’Orsay has the best impressionist paintings…the Picasso museum is ok…
I liked seeing the Opera…they have a great miniature of the stage inside that shows all the ramps and pulleys etc to put on their shows…

I would encourage you to have your kids read one book, like the one on Camile Pis$aro (it won’t let me type the first 4 letters of his last name) by Irving Stone, Depths of Glory…or a book on Marie Antoinette to help get in the mood for the visit…also, one of the tour books is in alphabetical order by sight, vs by location… that book was my most helpful because I could look up Tuilleries or Picasso Museum or Sacre Coeur without having to know which district it was in… have the kids read about the top things on your itinerary before they go so they are poised to appreciate it more, if you can. Definitely have them study the metro system so they understand how the lines work…and how to get back to your hotel in case you do decide to split up.

The hardest part of traveling with kids, I think, is that when they are hungry, they ARE hungry and need to eat immediately. That means you cannot stroll around and look at menus…so, you need to either pack snacks or be flexible or be willing to pay $$$ for spur of the moment meals. Poulet frites is one of the best meals in France and most American kids love it and you can get it at most cafes…hamburgers are not as readily available…pizzas are a good option also for quick and dirty …

Enjoy…