Anonymous wrote:We went in August last year. Lines were long at the Pompidou Center, the Louvre and Sainte Chapelle. And the Eiffel Tower -- we bought advance tickets, but those only allow you to skip the first line. You go up the first elevator and then there are more lines. I don't know if this is normal, but we entered the Louvre through the river entrance, after getting off the Batobus, and there was absolutely no line. We saw the massive, snaking line underneath the I.M. Pei pyramid on our way out ... and were grateful we hadn't needed to wait in it.

The fair in the Tuilleries was a big hit, and so were the wooden boats (Luxembourg Gardens and Tuilleries). Resist buying ice cream in the Luxembourg Gardens, where it is expensive and not very good. Save your allocated calories and euros until you get to Berthillon.

The boats in the Luxembourg gardens are great, and there's other things too-- pedal cars, playgrounds, a carousel, puppet theater (all these cost something).

If you have a multiple day museum ticket there's another entrance to the Louvre to the north of the pyramid you can use as well. Pierre Herme also has a great ice cream sandwich, but the flavors may not appeal to kids.

We went in August last year. Lines were long at the Pompidou Center, the Louvre and Sainte Chapelle. And the Eiffel Tower -- we bought advance tickets, but those only allow you to skip the first line. You go up the first elevator and then there are more lines. I don't know if this is normal, but we entered the Louvre through the river entrance, after getting off the Batobus, and there was absolutely no line. We saw the massive, snaking line underneath the I.M. Pei pyramid on our way out ... and were grateful we hadn't needed to wait in it.

The fair in the Tuilleries was a big hit, and so were the wooden boats (Luxembourg Gardens and Tuilleries). Resist buying ice cream in the Luxembourg Gardens, where it is expensive and not very good. Save your allocated calories and euros until you get to Berthillon.

Anonymous wrote:Second the apartment recommendations.

Also, don't miss the Jardin d'Acclimatisation in the Bois du Boulogne - great old fashioned amusement park.

It's Jardin d'Acclimatation actually. Jardin d'Acclimatisation makes it sound like you're talking about air conditioning. Haha!

Anonymous wrote:We used www.chezvous.com to rent an apartment on multiple occasions. Paris in summer with kids is terrific. The only untenable line we encountered was for going up the Eiffel Tower.

And the eiffel tower now lets you buy tix ahead of time

We were there last July. Great trip so I'd say if you can only go in July, go. We rented an apartment in Paris (www.vacationinparis.com) and it was the way to go. One good thing about a hotel is that it likely would have had a/c. There was a heat wave last summer and few apartments have a/c (rental or otherwise), so it was hot. The crowds at tourist spots were big. I've spent quite a lot of time in France before so we did not feel the need to go to the Louvre, try to get into Notre Dame, etc. We walked around them but didn't go in, there were huge lines.

We spent a week in Paris and then did another week traveling around the country. It was a nice balance. Personally I'm fine with just walking around in different neighborhoods, eating here and there. We went to some smaller, more quiet museums. If you haven't been to Paris before and are counting on going to the major sites, then it might be a different story and I'd go during off-season. I love October in Paris.

We used www.chezvous.com to rent an apartment on multiple occasions. Paris in summer with kids is terrific. The only untenable line we encountered was for going up the Eiffel Tower.