Bones and body parts! The Galerie d’Anatomie comparée et Paléontologie is sure to capture the imagination of older children with its eerie and grotesque pickled samples; skeletons galore of every creature imaginable are the other main attraction. This is also located in the 5th arrondissement.

Paris also has numerous woods and parks to keep younger ones amused. Our favorite was the Parc Floral de Paris in the 12th arrondissement. (Metro: Chateaux de Vincennes.) This park offers free activities like table tennis, butterfly gardens, concerts, puppet shows, carrousels, and pony rides. If you can muster the will to go an extra yard, seal feeding is a must at the nearby zoo along with 60 other species of beasts. Parc Zoologique, 53 Ave de St Maurice 12th arrondissement; Metro: Porte Dorée. Admission: adults $9.99; children $6.26.

Where And What To Feed The Kids

For me, the big benefit of a self-catering holiday is that you can eat in after an exhausting day. And if you have picky eaters, at least they won’t starve. 

Within walking distance of Ste. Genevieve de Bois, our local supermarket was Carrefour. Food costs a fraction of the price back home in Ireland—a bag of 20 mini-croissants costs $2.48; 12 ice creams: $1.61; bottle of wine: $1.23 to $3.90: 1 kilo of mussels $4.20.

One of the biggest expenses was drinks. All my kids are Coke fiends—in a café it can easily cost $45 for six Cokes and a couple of beers. I learned fast—it costs only around $3.75 to buy six cans of Coke from a small corner shop.
.
A great budget eatery near Notre Dame is Emporte la Plat. (This chain is located all over Paris.) Sounds like “take-away,” but it’s a shop that sells ready-cooked Asian food as well as providing sit-down meals. Dinner here cost $79.35 for us all. The price included soft drinks for the kids and a bottle of wine for us. Enough for everybody, dinner was succulent langoustines (king prawns) in a curry sauce with noodles and rice. We could have had spicy meats and vegetables for the same price.

If money is tight, lunch in central Paris is far less expensive than evening meals. Many restaurants offer plats du jour (dish of the day) from $10.80. These menus are excellent value: Sardegna a Tavola does a superb three-course menu for $17.35. A Sardinian restaurant, it features delights such as thinlysliced salami and other charcuterie... chunky vegetables... ravioli stuffed with ricotta…f arfelle pasta with mint, crushed almonds, and chilies. Looking as dramatic as it tastes, the black pasta with squid in its ink is divine. Dinner costs about $37 per person. (Sardegna a Tavola, 1 Rue de Cotte, 12th arrondissement; Metro: Ledru-Rolin.)
.
Followed by sticky honey cakes, other firm favorites with the children were Grecs (kebabs)—pitta bread stuffed with veal or lamb served with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and sauce. You can grab a Grec for around $5. You’ll find a number of Grec-purveyors around St. Michel (5th arrondissement) and on rue Marx-Dormay in the 18th arrondissement.

It’s official: Paris does love children. Locals fondly called us la grand famille—and we even had Japanese tourists taking our photographs. Best of all, I returned home to Ireland with money in my pocket.

If you’re in the city longer than a week, you can cover any additional traveling with carnets priced at $12.40 for 10 tickets. Under 4’s travel free on public transport, while 4- to 10-year-olds are eligible for a carnet at half-price. These tickets can be used on the whole Paris network: metro, RER, bus, and the Montmartre funicular. 

One final tip: If you have young children, try to travel between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to avoid rush hour.

The best way to live like a local - Renting a gîte is the best way to live like a local; you usually get the entire house to yourself. For Ville du Bois, the house we rented at Ste. Genevieve de Bois, contact: Monsieur Jean Meslin, 36 Bis, rue du grand noyer 91620, La Ville du Bois, Ste Genevieve de Bois, Essonne,
France; tel. (33)169-296-336 (office); tel. (33)776-513-860 (cell); e-mail: j.meslin@wanadoo.fr.