It always sounds glamorous
after i tell people that my wife and I split our time between Paris and Rome.
But that runway-model images wears off pretty quickly after i mention that we
have three kids along with a dog and spend much less time sipping kirs at
sidewalk cafes than stacking the children on top of each other in order to fit
ourselves around the metro during a rush-hour dash to college, debating the pros
and cons of each disfranchisement public pool, or waiting desperately for that
ferris wheel to open in the Distilleries-the high reason for a kid’s year in Paris,
Is Paris child-friendly?
Yes. Not within the please-run-screaming through-our-restaurant way that Rome is, but child-friendly for the reason that there are tons of well-organized, exciting things you can do with children all over the city. Of all of the places we’ve lived, our kids happen to be the least bored in Paris, Sundays notwithstanding (things are closed on Sunday!) Nothing symbolizes this much better than the clean and tidy parks sporting functioning play equipment that dot the town. Some of these are large and well-known, but many are tiny little “pocket parks” have a tendency to seem to be around the next corner. My personal favorite is the place des Vosges where you can develop a sandcastle in the shadow of 17th century housing development, entertaining the children in a sublime architectural environment.
Obviously just being in Paris is educational by itself for kids. Learning how to mix it up inside a Parisian sandbox without speaking French is really a life lesson I could never replicate in america. It’s amazing how quickly an anglophone child can hold the concept, “c’est MOI!”
Caveat: My kids continue to be young (between the ages of 2 and 6), and thus my experiences with children in Paris tend toward the greater playful. Check back in a couple of many I’ll give you my thoughts on entertaining tweens within the city of light. Until then, here’s my top things to do with kids in Paris:
The Cité des Enfants
This really is hands-down our very favorite children’s museum on the planet. Everything works and is properly designed. We usually have to drag the children away-and I’ve been known to lose a couple of hours watching the how-to-make-a-baquette video. Buy tickets ahead and ensure you plan around their pre-scheduled entrance, although should you arrive early, there’s always the great Parc de la Villette just outside.
Parc de la Villette
This can be a reclaimed industrial landscape changed into futuristic park. Most of the playful park structures specified for by Bernard Tschumi with a child’s imagination in your mind. I’ve lost entire days here with my oldest daughter Stella (6). The most popular spaces include the enormous dragon slide and also the bamboo maze.
Jardin d’Acclimatation
This childrens’ park was really designed in the 19th century, and even though it’s been updated with lots of cool rides and play equipment there’s still an aura of old Paris concerning the place. (The jungle boat ride with it’s period depiction of natives relaxing in the grass and pith-helmet wearing colonialists is especially, er, historic.) We love it since most of the play equipment is created for the park itself (rather than purchased off the shelf and plopped there), that makes it far more intriguing and novel. You ought to definitely arrive on the “petit train” that leaves in the Porte Maillot, a narrow gauge choo-choo that chugs with the perimeter of the Bois de Boulonge before depositing you in the entrance. This place has everything: a zoo, a sprinkler park, huge expanses of park equipment for each age, and a boardwalk-like section of rides and unhealthy foods. I’ve been arguing for years that people should really just build a house within the woods here and relocate permanently.
Paris Plage
“Plage” means beach, and likewise to truckloads of sand which are dumped along the banks from the Seine in an artsy effort to produce an urban beach this late July and August festival includes food stands, bouncy houses, plenty of concerts, and cool games. Another annual activity for moms and dads of real small kids is chasing them down before they fling themselves in to the river. You see lots of harried very first time parents participating.
Ice-skating.
From December to March, the town sets up ice rinks at strategic locations round the city including in front of the Montparnasse tower and also at Place de l’Hôtel de Ville (the square before City Hall). The latter has got the advantage of being able to enjoy views of Notre Dame in addition to a small luge run-both inspiring on a gray winter day.
Le Jardin des Plantes
Across the Seine in the 5th arrondissement, the Jardin des Plantes is really a grand botanical garden in the center of the city and a favorite location for strolling. This is a good place to allow the kids run and sniff flowers. There’s additionally a ménagerie (zoo) with some cool monkeys as well as an old school natural history museum with huge, dusty dinosaur bones and never a trace of the frenetic edutainment which goes on in so many museums nowadays. Here it’s just bones-tons and a lot of them-all crowded into a majestic hall. You are feeling like you’ve stepped back into the 1800s. The kids are awestruck.
Is Paris child-friendly?
Yes. Not within the please-run-screaming through-our-restaurant way that Rome is, but child-friendly for the reason that there are tons of well-organized, exciting things you can do with children all over the city. Of all of the places we’ve lived, our kids happen to be the least bored in Paris, Sundays notwithstanding (things are closed on Sunday!) Nothing symbolizes this much better than the clean and tidy parks sporting functioning play equipment that dot the town. Some of these are large and well-known, but many are tiny little “pocket parks” have a tendency to seem to be around the next corner. My personal favorite is the place des Vosges where you can develop a sandcastle in the shadow of 17th century housing development, entertaining the children in a sublime architectural environment.
Obviously just being in Paris is educational by itself for kids. Learning how to mix it up inside a Parisian sandbox without speaking French is really a life lesson I could never replicate in america. It’s amazing how quickly an anglophone child can hold the concept, “c’est MOI!”
Caveat: My kids continue to be young (between the ages of 2 and 6), and thus my experiences with children in Paris tend toward the greater playful. Check back in a couple of many I’ll give you my thoughts on entertaining tweens within the city of light. Until then, here’s my top things to do with kids in Paris:
The Cité des Enfants
This really is hands-down our very favorite children’s museum on the planet. Everything works and is properly designed. We usually have to drag the children away-and I’ve been known to lose a couple of hours watching the how-to-make-a-baquette video. Buy tickets ahead and ensure you plan around their pre-scheduled entrance, although should you arrive early, there’s always the great Parc de la Villette just outside.
Parc de la Villette
This can be a reclaimed industrial landscape changed into futuristic park. Most of the playful park structures specified for by Bernard Tschumi with a child’s imagination in your mind. I’ve lost entire days here with my oldest daughter Stella (6). The most popular spaces include the enormous dragon slide and also the bamboo maze.
Jardin d’Acclimatation
This childrens’ park was really designed in the 19th century, and even though it’s been updated with lots of cool rides and play equipment there’s still an aura of old Paris concerning the place. (The jungle boat ride with it’s period depiction of natives relaxing in the grass and pith-helmet wearing colonialists is especially, er, historic.) We love it since most of the play equipment is created for the park itself (rather than purchased off the shelf and plopped there), that makes it far more intriguing and novel. You ought to definitely arrive on the “petit train” that leaves in the Porte Maillot, a narrow gauge choo-choo that chugs with the perimeter of the Bois de Boulonge before depositing you in the entrance. This place has everything: a zoo, a sprinkler park, huge expanses of park equipment for each age, and a boardwalk-like section of rides and unhealthy foods. I’ve been arguing for years that people should really just build a house within the woods here and relocate permanently.
Paris Plage
“Plage” means beach, and likewise to truckloads of sand which are dumped along the banks from the Seine in an artsy effort to produce an urban beach this late July and August festival includes food stands, bouncy houses, plenty of concerts, and cool games. Another annual activity for moms and dads of real small kids is chasing them down before they fling themselves in to the river. You see lots of harried very first time parents participating.
Ice-skating.
From December to March, the town sets up ice rinks at strategic locations round the city including in front of the Montparnasse tower and also at Place de l’Hôtel de Ville (the square before City Hall). The latter has got the advantage of being able to enjoy views of Notre Dame in addition to a small luge run-both inspiring on a gray winter day.
Le Jardin des Plantes
Across the Seine in the 5th arrondissement, the Jardin des Plantes is really a grand botanical garden in the center of the city and a favorite location for strolling. This is a good place to allow the kids run and sniff flowers. There’s additionally a ménagerie (zoo) with some cool monkeys as well as an old school natural history museum with huge, dusty dinosaur bones and never a trace of the frenetic edutainment which goes on in so many museums nowadays. Here it’s just bones-tons and a lot of them-all crowded into a majestic hall. You are feeling like you’ve stepped back into the 1800s. The kids are awestruck.
No comments:
Post a Comment