Enjoying Paris With The Kids

We had such a wonderful time in Paris! We visited our good friends and met their baby son (who is the cutest), we ate lots of delicious bread and pastries, we visited new and old places, and we picked up our leased car to start our European road trip.

Since this was not our first time in the City of Lights, we decided to find an Airbnb apartment in one of the suburbs (Charenton-du-Pont) in order to keep our costs lower and to be closer to our friends’ apartment (turns out that we were close in distance but quite far in terms of using the Metro!). Because of this, we also weren’t in a rush to go see all the most known attractions in the city, though we did go see the Eiffel Tower on our first day! Thanks to our friends, we were able to discover some new and off-the-beaten-track locations and sights, and we also managed to avoid tourists traps the couple of times we went out to eat.

We love Paris and there is so much to do in the city. One of the reasons we really enjoy Paris is that it exudes art. In addition to the museums and such, we’ve discovered (mostly through our friends) places dedicated to promoting artistic expression, from art to dance to poetry etc. These places are available to the general public, in most cases for free, and there seems to be no judgments about people of all ages and backgrounds pursuing different forms of creative expression.

We also love that the city feels very social. There are always people sitting together, having conversations, sipping espressos or aperitifs—i.e., hanging out and conversing without phones in their faces. For example, while we were walking around, Joe overheard a man finishing his sentence with “and that’s the essence of civilization.” That was just a casual cafe conversation, but it’s so refreshing seeing people sitting down to talk, have intelligent conversations, listen to each other. Is it because they have more time? Less stress? Better quality of life? Different priorities? I’m not sure, but it sure feels like life moves at a very different pace in Paris and we really like that.

We spent 5 days in Paris and this is some of what we did:

• We visited the Eiffel Tower. We took the Metro and got off by the Champs de Mars so we would approach the Tower from the grassy lawn part. Right outside our metro stop, we saw a Patisserie and got the kids some macarons. The lady who helped us saw that Hugo was so excited about this special treat that she gave a free macaron to each kid! After that, we walked towards the Eiffel Tower, stopped at a playground for a long time and just hung out while eating some fresh fruit we picked on the way. Our kids had been craving outside time and playing in the dirt, like they do at home, so it was nice for them to get time to do that at the playground.  After the playground we went for a nice walk in the area before heading back home on the Metro.

• We spent most of a day at the Jardin d’acclimatation, an awesome amusement park that has been around for over 150 years. Hugo has been asking for years to go to the Jardin d’acclimatation since he learned about it in the classic kids book This Is Paris by M. Lasek. The Jardin recently underwent a 9-month remodeling process—it actually reopened on June 6, just two days before our visit! The rides at this park were perfect for Hugo’s age and he was able to go on most of them. Valentina was tall enough to go on some and, in some cases, the attendants just waved her through and she also had a blast! The rides had a very old-fashioned look but felt safe and modern, all surrounded by trees and green areas. There were also several cafes to go relax, get some food, a cup of coffee or even a beer (we opted for the latter). If you ever visit, we recommend you get the 29 Euro unlimited ride pass. Because we were there on a weekday, we didn’t have to wait in any lines, and Hugo and Valentina were able to go on the rides they liked best over and over again. We basically did each ride 5 times in a row and then moved on to the next. This was definitely a highlight for the kids of our time in Paris.

• Both kids were so tired after our visit to the park that they both took very long naps, so we decided to go out for dinner. We went to the Bastille area and picked a cafe. People were very friendly to our kids and we got a delicious French meal. Afterwards, we walked to the Ile St. Louis, where Notre Dame Cathedral is located. It was an absolutely beautiful Friday evening and the banks of the Seine were lined with people hanging out, having a drink, and enjoying the gorgeous summer weather. It was so lively there! We stayed out until after 10pm and saw a beautiful sunset in the streets of Paris as we walked back to the Metro.

• To celebrate one of our friends’ birthdays, we went on a cruise on the Canal Saint Martin. The first part of the tour was inside a tunnel that ran underneath the streets of Paris (who knew you were walking over boat tunnels on the streets above?!). The other part went through a series of lochs and dams in the canals in the northeastern part of the city. It was really neat to go on the tour, learn more about the history of the city, and to experience the canals in that way. After the tour and a delicious lunch by the canals, we went to La Grande Halle de la Villete to see an interesting interactive digital exhibition (that our friend had picked out). It was quite interesting and also very crowded. Right outside the exhibition hall, there was a Lego studio where kids could build with Legos for free so we headed there afterwards. At this studio, kids signed in and received a bin they could fill up with Legos (they have little Legos divided by colors in different bins, and a big bin full of Duplos too) and play for one hour. After they were done, they could either display what they had built, or they had to return the Legos back to the bins, separating them by colors. Hugo and Valentina had a great time here and Hugo proudly set his awesome “magical land” on display before leaving to head back home.

• On our last full day in Paris, we decided to go back to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which is one of our favorite places in Paris. We took the scooters with us and the kids had a wonderful time cruising around the park. After the park, we headed home to pack and we later met our friends at the Bois de Vincennes for a stroll around the lake. The Bois was very lively and full of people. There were lots of things to do there, including pony rides! Like la Villete, the Bois was another great public space full of people (but not tourists).

On our last morning in Paris, we picked up our leased car and headed out. From Paris, we started our drive towards Switzerland with an overnight stop in Grande-Riviere, France (a tiny town in the start of the mountains near the Swiss border). On the way to Grande-Riviere, we stopped at the Foret de Fountainebleau and did a great little hike in the Valle de Mee (we hiked through the rain to some huge rocks and boulders). We also stopped at Semur-en-Auxois, a neat walled medieval town with four old towers, and at Chateauneuf-en-Auxois, another neat hilltop medieval town with a super cool castle. From there, we headed to Grande-Riviere, where we stayed in a nice little Airbnb by a lake (and, as we learned the next morning, a lakeside path full of frogs, slugs, snails, butterflies, and lots of other little critters and wildflower).