Paris with Kids

On our last visit, although we were still tourists, we made ourselves more at home: Instead of staying in a hotel, we found an apartment to rent in the Marais. It was tiny and none too clean, but it did make it easier to eat our dinnertime nems in our pajamas when we were too tired to go out for dinner. We explored the neighborhood boulangeries near our Metro stop instead of taking taxis to chic groceries in far-off arrondissements (one result: we stumbled upon a brioche flavored just slightly with orange -- look for one next time you're in Paris). We met my cousin (then living in Paris, lucky woman) at her neighborhood pool and went for a swim.

We took buses, something I'd never ventured to do in Paris. Predictably, many stops were missed.

Knowing we'd been here before and that we would come back, we didn't mark up our Pariscope quite as much. Martin was fascinated with the Metro maps in each station and loved to help plot our route, so taxis were a thing of the past (which improved our finances greatly). When he heard that the new No. 14 line was ultra-mod and driverless, it went straight to the top of his to-do list. Although we never managed to make it onto the No. 14, we did fit in a barge ride on the Canal St. Martin, which was a huge hit.

The barge proceeds from the Musee d'Orsay at an extremely stately pace, arriving at Parc de la Villette three hours later. (Bring food: The boat offers incredible views but no nourishment.) Some of the trip is through mysterious, lichen-encrusted tunnels, and several stops are made to wait for the locks to achingly, slowly fill with water. When the gates open and the waters rushes in and sprays everywhere, all the kids (and a few of the adults) on board get extremely excited.

One day we went to the Jardin des Plantes (Botanical Gardens) in the fifth arrondissement to see what a Parisian zoo looked like. The snakes were great, and saying the tongue-twisting names of the animals out loud in French was even better.

Another day, we journeyed out to the Jardin d'Acclimatation, an amusement park in the Bois de Boulogne on the edge of town. Built in 1860, this place has stood the test of time and then some.

From the minute we got on the little train that would take us from the entrance of the huge Bois into the amusement park, Martin was transfixed. The park had none of the glitz of the Tuileries carnival, none of the souped-up modernity of Disney, but from river ride to bumper car, it's an excellent place. After we left, we took a city bus into another part of the sprawling Bois. We ended up in front of a lovely lake with boats for rent, but we were out of time. We passed a man with bikes for rent, but we were out of money.

Ah, well. Two more for the to-do list.

Since moving with her family to France last year, Anne Glusker has been averaging a trip to Paris every three months.