| The Museum
National d’Histoire Naturelle went down well with the older children. It
has several museums gathered within the Jardin des Plantes (botanic
garden). The enormous Grande Galerie de l’Evolution is jaw-dropping
with its Noah’s Ark-like stream of animals—displays are fantastic. Plus
the children loved using the microscopes and playing the interactive games
in the Espace Découverte. Located in the 5th arrondissement, take
the metro to Gare d’Austerlitz or Jussieu.
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. |
