Ideas for Spring Break in Europe

We are going to Europe for Spring Break and then some. Most of our
stay will be with my brother's family in Bitburg, Germany (close to
the Luxembourg border), but we'll be taking some time to go off on
our own to visit some friends in France. While we're in Paris,
we're planning to hit the "Big 3" - Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame,
and the Louvre. What else do you think 10yo and 8yo boys would enjoy
seeing in Paris or anywhere else in northeastern France? Any
suggestions for reasonably priced, kid-friendly hotels in Paris?
Thanks for any ideas.

Chris...

We've taken our boys to Paris twice, when they were 5 and 10 and then
when they were 9 and 14. Their favorite things were the Eiffel Tower,
Arc d'Triomphe, and the Seine boat rides. We did pay for one of the
guided boat tours, but they enjoyed the "batobus" a sort of water taxi
just as much. They would ride the Metro all day.

They were horrible at the Louvre the first time. They enjoyed about 30
minutes of it! I would go to the Musee d'Orsay instead. It has a neat

annie...

I missed the Louvre the first time I was in Paris and I've just
finished "The Da Vinci Code", so it's high on my list. We'll be doing
enough "kid stuff" on the rest of the trip that we're going to make
them suffer through one day of "adult stuff".

Chris...

I think there are is some "visiting the Louvre with kids book." We
tried to make games, like finding an animal in every painting, counting
the number of angels, etc. The Mona Lisa is so much smaller than
anyone expects and is in a room by itself. It was really crowded when
we visited and the kids couldn't get a good view of it. You will
probably want to decide what particular things you want to see and what
you can skip. It is interesting to see the DaVinci code sights, and
there are all kinds of books and tours now centered around the story.

clock window and the boys recognized more of the paintings--lots of
Monets, Van Goghs, etc. We visited Giverny where Monet's gardens are
located. They really enjoyed that and in the spring the flowers may be
wonderful. Our kids enjoyed the gardens at Versailles, but only
because the fountains were on--I don't know what their schedule is in
the spring. Our boys, in sum, didn't enjoy much of the
castle/chateau/museum/cathedral attractions! Our favorite times were
picnicking on the Champs du Mars by the Eiffel Tower and just soaking
up the atmosphere. They liked the ice cream, crepes, and going into
French grocery stores to find weird stuff.

annie...

I'm so looking forward to doing just that!

We did not visit Napoleon's tomb with them, but they would have
probably liked some parts of it. We toured the sewers of Paris which
was interesting (and cool on a hot summer day) but I think it might
really depend on your guide, ours was not too good.

We stayed at two different hotels. Finding places with quad rooms is
somewhat difficult. We liked both the Palais du Bourbon and the Hotel
de France Invalides, both are 2 star hotels near Invalides.

annie...

Thanks for the recommendations.

Enjoy the trip.

FazBeta...

some ideas in Paris:
boat rides on the seine
sacre coeur and montmartre at night (there are artists who do
caricatures and so on. I love the atmosphere)
le palais de la decouverte: funny science museum for kids
...
Anne

loomis1...

Just wanted to say that all the replies have me jealous ;) I studied
architecture and landscape architecture in college(BS and MLA). I've
never been to Paris, but would love to go some day. Try Parc de la
Villette, its the largest park in Paris and has several playgrounds
(including one with a dragon with its tongue for a slide). Maybe the
Opera House would be interesing as well if they have any kid's
programs.

Although your boys are a bit older than the target audience, if you
ever read any of the "Madeline" books to them you might want to look at
them and be able to point out some of the places that are pictured in
them (Notre Dame du Paris is one, the Paris Opera House is another).

ooops...gotta go...baby woke up.

Barbara Bomberger...

In four years of living in driving distance, we have never been, but
for some, Disneyland Paris is a must. How reasonably priced it is I
dont know.

The kids may like a side trip to the Paris Cemetery where al kinds of
historical figures are buried.

NOt france, but you may look into a side trip to AAchen, also in
Germany near the border. It is a Cathedral where the body parts of
Charlemagne are enshrined (some on display as I recall) as well as
roman ruins). Trier is probably to far to go but it has some serious
Roman Ruins.

Again not in France but if you have the time while to drive and it
Bitburg, consider Bastogne, assuming your kids like hisotyr at all.

Penny Gaines...

I've heard good reports of Parc Asterix, a theme park based around the
character Asterix in the books by Gosciny and Uderzo. However,
until April 7th.

Mike...

Having just returned from a 5-day trip to Paris (just prior to
Christmas), with a teenager. let me give you my insight (for what it's
worth).

Why not add Versailles to the list - for pre-teens Notre Dame and
possibly the Louvre might bore them. Take a river boat ride on the
Seine. I would also suggest going to Montmartre (& sacre c'oeur) - the
cemetery at montmartre was "interesting" - lot's of famous ex-people.
Walk the champs-Elysees from the Louvre to the arc de triomphe.
Get used to the Metro, unless you want to drive - stay away from the
Galleries Layfette (huge expensive dept store) :-)

Amy Austin...

I'd make sure that they watch Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" first,
so that they'll recognize some of the landmarks. I'm sure there are
other age-appropriate movies that take place in Paris, but I can't
think of them right now.