Anonymous
02/09/2018 13:29
Subject: Paris To Do List With Children
Anonymous wrote:Luxembourg Gardens, for sure.
Our family did an amazing private cooking class. We went to the farmer's market with the chef and menu planned and bought ingredients on the spot. He really engaged the kids and got them involved.
There is a great kids' tour at the Louvre called Muse Clues (https://parismuse.com/tours/paris-muse-clues-louvre-tour/). One of my kids loved it - the others thought it was fine.
Can you recommend the specific company you used for the cooking class?
Anonymous
02/09/2018 04:10
Subject: Re:Paris To Do List With Children
Anything you did but regretted?
Anonymous
02/08/2018 22:48
Subject: Re:Paris To Do List With Children
Ventricular???...I meant to type Funicular! LOL
Anonymous
02/08/2018 22:46
Subject: Re:Paris To Do List With Children
Such wonderful ideas in this thread. Here are a few that weren't mentioned that our 7 and 9 year old LOVED last year. We were there for a week in October:
Musee Rodin: "The Thinker" sculpture is there in the sculpture garden and it is just a beautiful museum. And Rodin's "The Kiss" sculpture is also inside the museum itself. This museum is rarely crowded and can be seen in about an hour...hour and half with kids.
We did do Versailles, and they had a great time...buuuutt we were meeting some friends there (full disclosure: we were living in the UK last year and one of our daughter's classmates in England was from Paris...so we met up with their family at Versailles while we were on half-term break). I think without the friends they would have been a little bit bored with the inside tour...however, once we had completed the tour we went outside and we all went for a bike ride on the grounds! I think your 9 and 12 year old would LOVE this...and it's just beautiful. Plus, if they'd rather, there are boat rentals and paddle boats and such and places to eat. So definitely if you do it, get there early and plan to spend a good part of the day there and return around 3 or 4...
Luxemborg Gardens: We rented the little toy boats with the sticks that you use to push them. It was just a fun and relaxing thing to do...for kids of ANY age, really. And the boats are each decorated with the flags of various countries.
L'Orangerie Museum...has the HUGE water lilies paintings by Monet. Definitely worth looking at! This museum isn't very big, so you don't need more than about an hour there.
Giverny: I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but we took our girls to Monet's home in Giverny. The home is now a museum and the gardens and grounds are perfectly preserved as they were when he painted them! This was probably our favorite thing that we did...even though it is technically not IN Paris. In fact, if you are considering Versailles and are not sure, I would recommend this instead. Because looking at Monet's works just has so much more context and meaning once you have visited the actual location where he painted so many of his famous pieces. (Before we went, we checked out this dvd on MONET from the public library in a series called "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists"...it's animated and hilarious! They have one on many, many different artists, in fact! But it was fun to learn a little about him and then go and see his home and then visit the L'Orangerie and the Musee D'Orsay.) Just having a little context for the things they were seeing made all the difference!
Also...it's a quick stop in Montmarte near the bottom of the ventricular that takes you up to Sacre Coeur...but check out the "I LOVE YOU" wall! Your kids will think it's cool b/c it's basically a wall in a little garden area that has "I love you" written in hundreds of different languages. Fun to find your own language (or maybe a language they are studying in school) and take a pic pointing to it!
OH!...and I know everyone says Berthillion for ice cream...but actually we fell in love with a gelato shop that has stores all over France called Amorino! You get a macaron with your gelato and it's so delicious (and gluten free!)
Okay...stopping now...but honestly we just had so much fun! Oh! There is also a great little crepe stand between Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle right near one of the bridges (closer to SC than ND)...delicious and cheap for a quick lunch!
Musee Rodin: "The Thinker" sculpture is there in the sculpture garden and it is just a beautiful museum. And Rodin's "The Kiss" sculpture is also inside the museum itself. This museum is rarely crowded and can be seen in about an hour...hour and half with kids.
We did do Versailles, and they had a great time...buuuutt we were meeting some friends there (full disclosure: we were living in the UK last year and one of our daughter's classmates in England was from Paris...so we met up with their family at Versailles while we were on half-term break). I think without the friends they would have been a little bit bored with the inside tour...however, once we had completed the tour we went outside and we all went for a bike ride on the grounds! I think your 9 and 12 year old would LOVE this...and it's just beautiful. Plus, if they'd rather, there are boat rentals and paddle boats and such and places to eat. So definitely if you do it, get there early and plan to spend a good part of the day there and return around 3 or 4...
Luxemborg Gardens: We rented the little toy boats with the sticks that you use to push them. It was just a fun and relaxing thing to do...for kids of ANY age, really. And the boats are each decorated with the flags of various countries.
L'Orangerie Museum...has the HUGE water lilies paintings by Monet. Definitely worth looking at! This museum isn't very big, so you don't need more than about an hour there.
Giverny: I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but we took our girls to Monet's home in Giverny. The home is now a museum and the gardens and grounds are perfectly preserved as they were when he painted them! This was probably our favorite thing that we did...even though it is technically not IN Paris. In fact, if you are considering Versailles and are not sure, I would recommend this instead. Because looking at Monet's works just has so much more context and meaning once you have visited the actual location where he painted so many of his famous pieces. (Before we went, we checked out this dvd on MONET from the public library in a series called "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists"...it's animated and hilarious! They have one on many, many different artists, in fact! But it was fun to learn a little about him and then go and see his home and then visit the L'Orangerie and the Musee D'Orsay.) Just having a little context for the things they were seeing made all the difference!
Also...it's a quick stop in Montmarte near the bottom of the ventricular that takes you up to Sacre Coeur...but check out the "I LOVE YOU" wall! Your kids will think it's cool b/c it's basically a wall in a little garden area that has "I love you" written in hundreds of different languages. Fun to find your own language (or maybe a language they are studying in school) and take a pic pointing to it!
OH!...and I know everyone says Berthillion for ice cream...but actually we fell in love with a gelato shop that has stores all over France called Amorino! You get a macaron with your gelato and it's so delicious (and gluten free!)
Okay...stopping now...but honestly we just had so much fun! Oh! There is also a great little crepe stand between Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle right near one of the bridges (closer to SC than ND)...delicious and cheap for a quick lunch!
Anonymous
02/08/2018 21:12
Subject: Paris To Do List With Children
We are going this summer. My sister went last year and traveled Europe for the year with her kids aged 9 and 12. They said of all the places they went in all the countries their two absolute favorites were Eiffel Tower (pre purchased tour tix and ate in the restaurant) and their bike tour of varsaille.
Anonymous
02/08/2018 21:00
Subject: Paris To Do List With Children
Cite des Enfants is great - an interactive science museum. It's a good idea to buy tickets online in advance because there is timed entry for various parts.
My kids also liked the Musee des Egouts (the sewer museum, or as they called it, the museum of poo)
My kids also liked the Musee des Egouts (the sewer museum, or as they called it, the museum of poo)
Anonymous
02/08/2018 13:40
Subject: Paris To Do List With Children
Anonymous wrote:Restaurant Angelina for hot chocolate and breakfast.
Seine river cruise (a shorter length cruise)
All touristy, but yes.
My kids liked Pompidou.
Versailles--my kids actually enjoyed.
Invader street art -- we were there last year and my kids enjoyed spotting it. I've heard a bunch was stolen/removed, so this is probably harder. There are also street art tours you can take if that's a family interest.
Kids enjoyed looking at/running around Place des Vosges.
Anonymous
02/07/2018 20:37
Subject: Paris To Do List With Children
Anonymous wrote:Luxembourg Gardens, for sure.
Our family did an amazing private cooking class. We went to the farmer's market with the chef and menu planned and bought ingredients on the spot. He really engaged the kids and got them involved.
There is a great kids' tour at the Louvre called Muse Clues (https://parismuse.com/tours/paris-muse-clues-louvre-tour/). One of my kids loved it - the others thought it was fine.
The louvre museum tour for kids is 2 hours and 320 euros for a family of four.