We visited Paris at the end of March. At this time the weather was pretty variable. The temperature itself wasn’t cold but there was a cold breeze at times and some occasional rain. The decision of Paris was made by our 8 year old who was keen to go on the Eurostar and see the Mona Lisa (more about this later).
We took the Eurostar from London St Pancras. The journey itself was quick and easy, and with only an hour time difference it took no-one any time to adjust!
Though I had done a fair bit of research prior to the trip we threw a lot of it out of the window and planned as we went along. I had tried to book tickets for the Eiffel tower and the Louvre in advance but for the Eiffel tower (online booking up to 60 days in advance for lift tickets) the tickets were not available for our dates and the Louvre’s online ticketing was down. So in the end we bought these tickets via third party agents. This cost us more but allowed us to see the sights. If you can get the tickets directly I would recommend it! But all is not lost if, like us, you hadn’t got in there quite quickly enough.
Our hotel – Hôtel Opéra Liège was a perfect base for the 5 nights we were there. It is just over a mile from Gare Du Nord station and was small and boutique style. They offered a fantastic laid-back breakfast buffet with only around 15 tables. The selection varied day to day. There was an honesty bar with a selection of drinks and snacks and room service could be ordered. We stayed in duplex suite which was perfect for the four of us.
Our itinerary:
Day 1 – We arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon. We stayed in the Opera district (9th arrondissement) at the recommendation of a relative. This was a perfect location to explore from. We wandered down to a local café to get a drink and eat crepes!
We then walked over to Montmartre where we wandered around the shops, visited the Sacré-Cœur and the wall of love. The view from the Sacré-Cœur was amazing!
We then ate in a restaurant close to the wall of love – Le Relais Gascon (6, rue des Abbesses). This restaurant was perfect with the girls. There was a children’s menu with a good number of options for them. They were using one of my pens to draw on napkins and the waitress noticed and kindly brought over a second pen so they could both draw at the same time. It was friendly and good value. The food was tasty.
Day 2 – We had a relaxed morning in the hotel room after several early mornings (we had been to Disneyland Paris prior to spending time in the city). We walked down to the Seine via place de la Concorde.
We crossed over to the south of the river and bought tickets for the Batobus. This boat service has 9 stops and you can buy a pass that lasts 24 hours. It allows you to hop on and hop off. We took it Notre-Dame. Whilst the cathedral is still undergoing renovation it was amazing to see the work being done and take in the atmosphere of the area.
From here we walked over towards the Jardin des Plantes. We arrived at lunchtime and ate at Les Belles Plantes which was a beautiful setting and a perfect family-friendly venue. The children’s menu offered a tasty selection of food (perfect portion sizes) and doubled up as a colouring in activity, complete with pencil crayons. For the adults the food was the perfect portion and really tasty. It was difficult to choose what to eat.
Following lunch we went into the gardens. We wandered around the greenhouses and the garden and then into the Grande Galerie de L’Évolution. This huge space is full of models of various animal and the huge skeletons of two whales. There are a number of levels full of information about species and diversity and evolution. We all enjoyed our time here and could have spent much longer. We also visited the limited exhibition on Felines which was fantastic.
You could spend a whole day at the Jardin des Plantes. We managed only a portion of all the things to see here. We walked back down through the gardens to the north side of the Seine and took the Batobus to the Eiffel tower.
We had booked a tour which took us up at night time. As such we had chosen to eat a larger meal at lunch and then visited a café near to the tower for a lighter evening meal. We came across Boulangerie brasserie de la tour Eiffel. The café had a view of the tower and a good selection on the menu. The waiters were friendly and even offered to take a family photo for us! The food was not gourmet but it was perfect for what we needed and reasonable value considering the view.
The Eiffel tower was busy as you would expect. There was a lot of security to pass through. We had tickets to ride the lift to the second floor. As we were going up late we didn’t plan to visit any of the restaurants at the tower. Instead we took the time to take in the view. The wait for a lift back down was long and as it was late we ended up taking the stairs. Both girls managed this just fine.
Day 3 – Again we took a relaxed start to the day after having a late night the day before. We had booked tickets for the Louvre on this day so we walked from the hotel. We walked past The Palais Garnier which was magnificent from the outside. I’m sure a visit inside would be spectacular. Instead, our girls decided a bit of retail therapy was needed. There are a number of shops in this area and in the end they both walked away with a new item of clothing from Zara!
We used the Carrousel du Louvre entrance which was a little quieter than the main entrance but possibly not as quiet as the Passage Richelieu (Porte de Richelieu) entrance. The queues were long and the museum was busy. I am sure there are quieter times to visit (we arrived for 1pm). I also think this is not the most child friendly museum – it’s large and busy and our 4 year old was just not that interested. We sat for a while whilst the big girl drew one of the paintings and the little one worked on her sticker book. We also grabbed a drink and snack from the café – this was hectic and felt rushed. We finally found the Mona Lisa and our eldest enjoyed seeing the painting it was overwhelming with the crowds.
Having had a late night the previous day we took the opportunity to return earlier to the hotel for some relaxation. We decided to order in to the hotel for dinner so that the girls could get their PJ’s on.
Day 4 – We made plans to visit the Arc de Triomphe at around lunchtime. We walked over earlier and had a brunch at Café de Paris. Again, for somewhere so close to a large attraction (and with a view if you sat outside) it was reasonably priced and the staff again were very friendly and gave us the opportunity to practice our French! Though there was no specific children’s menu the were happy to split an omelette for the girls and serve it up separately and well-presented. The onion soup was particularly tasty!
On to the top of the Arc de Triomphe at around 1pm we went. It was a windy day – and it was exceptionally windy at the top. Yet it didn’t spoil our enjoyment about learning about it’s history and seeing the amazing views from the top. Again, we had heard that sunset was a particularly good time to visit but we had decided not to have too many late nights as all the walking was leaving the girls tired!
From here we walked along the Champs Élysées and meandered through the streets back towards the hotel.
Day 5 – Our last day – and the longest walks of all! We walked down to the Musée D’Orsay. We had booked tickets two days prior to our visit. There was a queue as we entered but this moved quickly and smoothly. The museum has free leaflets with a selection of some of the most famous pieces in the museum. The girls picked one up and took it upon themselves to look out for each of the pieces of work and tick them off as they spotted them. There are two restaurants in the museum. We sat and ate lunch at Café Campana. It was busy, and there was a queue but once say the staff were attentive and the food and drink tasty. Again, they have a designated children’s menu. In total we spent 3 hours exploring and saw most of the exhibits. Compared to the Louvre it was much more relaxed and the children enjoyed this far more. The artwork appealed to them and they enjoyed walking about to seek out the works on their leaflet.
From here we walked along the Seine and then down into the 6th Arrondissement. We stopped at a café for a drink before walking into the Jardin d’Luxembourg. Here we spent time seeing the beautiful flowers that were in bloom, watching the model sailboats being pushed around the Grand Bassin and children having fencing lessons. We then walked up towards Notre Dame, stopping at an Italian restaurant – SoHo Trattoria. This was an Instagram lovers paradise with the décor and swing chairs! The names of the various menu options were ‘interesting’ but the food was tasty. There was no children’s menu but the girls shared a pizza. I wouldn’t stop here for an amazing toilet experience though!
We then walked all the way back to the hotel via the 2nd and 9th Arrondissements. We realised we had missed a whole area to truly explore and enjoy the food options. These pedestrianised streets were full of restaurants and bars. When we next visit this will definitely be top of the list to explore.
Five nights really allowed us to see plenty of Paris without it feeling rushed and exhausting. By the time we were leaving we still hadn’t seen everything we could have. Also recommended via my research was the Jardin D’Acclimitation and Bois de Vincennes which are further afield. We had been keen to stay central on this occasion and walk as much as we could. We managed our time in Paris without using public transport. There are also a number of experiences and tours that can be done – such as the chocolate museum, tours of Montmatre and bakery tours. We found that most weren’t accommodating of Fifi our 4 year old.
