Advertisement
Published: September 17th 2007
Paris 1
Sacre-CoeurSeptember 17, 2008
Paris is a Great City for Kids!!
We have spent the last week discovering what a great place Paris is for kids and their parents. Scott and I were not prepared for this revelation, hence when planning to live in France we allowed only a month here (finances helped fuel that decision as well). We figured it was a big city like all others that mostly provides ease of living for adults “san les enfants.” We were very wrong and now with only two weeks left here are so sad at the prospect of leaving. I have spent all day pouting…trying to think of a way to never leave this great city! As I write this my boys are at the parc Champs du Mars…playing rugby in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. What a memory for all of us!!
This last week was a busy one and at certain times exhausting. We crammed a lot of sight seeing and activity into 7 short days which also included school work. We continue to struggle through home-schooling. Believe me when I say there is not enough hair dye in the world to allow me to keep
Paris 2
Will does the Montmartre walk this up very long! We get through the work…but none of us are too interested in it and we just want to get out and play!
Last week we had the delight of exploring three new neighborhoods of Paris that I had never been to before. They are all up and coming Paris neighborhoods and it was great to get a little off the beat and track of Central Paris and the traditional time honored sites of the city of lights! On Monday we went to the Montmartre neighborhood in arrondissement 12. This is quite a touristy spot as it is Paris’ highest spot with views to kill. We of course climbed up and paid a quick visit to Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) Basilica. We savored the view and then went on a self-guided walking tour (It is here that we lost the tourists.) of this favorite of many artists and American expat types throughout history. This neighborhood was the hang-out of Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Julia Child, as well a Van Gogh, Picasso, and Renoir. It a great walk where we were able to visit many homes of those famous arts, as well as their cafes, art studio’s and the
paris 3
The Moulin Rouge famous Moulin Rouge and other night club spots. We discovered a cute little park tucked away in the middle of Montmartre where the boys played as break from our vigorous walk, it also featured a statue of Saint Denis holding his head! As this area of Paris is the only hill in town we had a great workout. We ended the day at Galleries de Lafayette, Paris’ huge department store searching for a baby gift for our good friend Kelly. The stuff was so cute…you must have lots of euros however to be a well styled “enfant” in Paris!
The other cool neighborhood we visited was the Bercy Village. This area of Paris use to be a scruffy area of wine depots. Paris has a new sports pavilion in the area and like many American cities that get a new stadium the surrounding area tends to experience a renaissance. The wine depots have become cute trendy shops and restaurants…but the best part is a huge park with a great area for the kids to play and beautiful grass, a fabulous walking trail that views the river and more great places for the kids to run, jumps and wrestle. It
paris 4
Will and Mickey was a fabulous place to spend the day. The landscaping was gorgeous and we had the best fall weather in the world last week in Paris.
In between Montmartre and Bercy Village we went to Disneyland. Yes, the happiest place on earth is just as happy in Paris. More so I think as it is a wee bit smaller and an ambitious family can get it done in a day (though my feet have yet to recover). It is also a great place for homesick American kids because it is just a train ride away to Main Street USA. You literally walk in and feel like you have left Paris and entered another world…one that most of us Californians are familiar with. We had a blast!! It was so fun. Disneyland in Paris has many of the same rides but some have a little different twist here and there. For example, Space Mountain has always been my favorite ride. A little fast paced but no real drops or twists…WRONG….many huge drops and we were turned upside down twice! YIKES!!! We tried to sneak Will on who didn’t make the height requirement. Thanks goodness the Disney cast member caught
paris 5
Sleeping Beauty Castle...Europe style...note flying butress us and won’t let him in. He would never have come out alive. Most of the other rides had minor differences that kept it interesting for us. We had one bit of excitement on Pirates of the Caribbean, where the lights went on and the boat stopped….we were obviously stuck inside a broken ride. We were there for 10 minutes and just as suddenly as the lights went on…they went off again and the ride continued. Justin said…”we now know all the secrets”…it was still fun. The next day, Wednesday, we were so tired we took it easy at our local park, Champs du Mars, and ran into some Scottish soccer fans here for a big game against France. Will asked them if they wore underwear under their kilts….”No they said….do you want to see?”
I actually had some alone time on Friday, something that has been very precious since leaving California in June. Scott took the boys back to Aqua Blvd. (bummer I missed it again) and I went to the Musee D’Orsay. The whole time I was there I thought of my friend Dave Cook. He went in August and raved about it. I thought it was
paris 6
Alice in Wonderland maze great. I was there for 3 hours loving every minute. It was another place in Paris I had never visited. The building is amazing…worth the price of admission in and of itself. The views were stunning. The art was fabulous as well. Scott will visit the Musee tomorrow while we do school! I wish I could go back. After my visit there I walked all over the Left Bank of Paris looking to find one more thing to add to my baby gift. I wandered into a little boutique. My salesgirl did not speak English. She was so eager to help me and I to be helped. The previous week, I tried to make Scott a doctor’s appointment in French and failed miserably. The receptionist tried for 5 minutes to help me before turning me over the English speaking gal. I was determined to make this shopping experience work. I described what I already bought and what I was looking for to match. I told her the age of the baby, the size I wanted to buy and the colors I wanted. Voila….it worked…I got a cute skirt to match the tee-shirt I already bought. We understood each other and
paris 8
Bercy Village has these great statues represnting the rest of the world were both so pleased. I was so happy with my effort that I used my French the next day getting the boys haircuts!
Friday was a first for Scott and me too. We actually had dinner alone together at a great little Bistro in the Marais neighborhood. Cousin Dorothee babysat the boys. The weather was fabulous and we sat outside and had a lovely three course traditional French meal. We both had steak, a rare treat as we have had little beef since coming to Europe and I had the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. We walked from Trocadero back to our apartment under the glorious night and beautifully lit Eiffel Tower after dinner. It was one of those dates out of a book, until of course we got home to two kids and a messy house! We had the opportunity while riding the Metro to have come across a few Americans…the kind that makes us so proud. Four girls in their 20’s got on the metro, one of them announced loud enough for all to hear that they needed to get off at the Franklin D Roosevelt stop. There was a good 45 second pause…and her
paris 9
Getting our hair done finally!! friend replied, again loud enough for all to hear, “Wasn’t he like one of our presidents?” I felt a shiver go up my spine…then she went on to say…”Didn’t they call him, like FDR, or something like that? When was he president anyway?” Scott and I didn’t speak the remainder of the ride….once off the train we first laughed and then said OMG….why???
The weekend brought us a little excitement on Saturday and Sunday to our third great Paris for kids destination, Parc de la Villette. Saturday, we were off to the World Cup Rugby Pavilion set- up at Trocadero, Scott walked out to take the garbage and told us he would meet us downstairs…he also said he didn’t have the key. Will followed him. Justin said he did have the key in his pocket and we walked out and closed the door. As he went to grab it to double lock the door…he didn’t have it. He had two euros instead. Great!!! The keys were on the kitchen counter behind the 1891 solid wooden door, on the 4th floor of our apartment! The property manager’s phone number was right next to the key! We had to walk to
paris 10
Will's first professional shampoo an internet café, find his number on my email, go buy a phone card, call his office, get his emergency number, call that just to get his voicemail. I left a mildly panicked message. We wandered around some more, got the boys their haircuts, and then tried again. He finally answered and was in Reims, at his son’s school. He said he would be back to Paris soon and would meet us in a couple of hours. Thankfully by night fall we got in to our apartment but it made for a few nervous moments throughout the day. Justin by the way is off key duty!
Sunday is we traveled to the 19th arrondissement, to Parc de la Villette another huge park in Paris. These parks are so big that there is no way to see the whole thing on foot, but we walked all around and after playing on the crowded play structures and wrestling on the grass for a while, we decided to go into the Cite des Enfants, which is a huge complex similar to Exploratorium, only bigger, better, and newer. The kids toured a real French submarine from World War II in addition to all
paris 7
Park at Bercy Village the other great exhibits.
It was a busy busy week. I do not want to leave Paris!!! Like I said today, in addition to being tired….I moped all day that we only have two weeks left in the most fabulous city on earth!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.075s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0464s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Dave
non-member comment
Kids in Paris?
I must admit that I was thinking that Paris was more for adults, but it does make perfect sense that there is plenty for kids and families as you are finding out. Good for you also to branch out and experience parts of Paris few visitors get to see. Just South of where you were in the 19th at the Parc de la Villette is another park that looks interesting called Parc de Buttes Chaumont. You may want to check it out if you haven't already. You could combine that with a visit to another up and coming Paris neighborhood which is a little further South from Chaumont. Belleville was once an independant commune that was annexed by Paris in the 1860s (like Montmarte). More importantly it is where Mr. Depp has a house. Glad you got a chance to visit the Orsay. Hopefully Scott takes the opportunity too.