With its vibrant street
atmosphere, buskers and
lively pavement cafés,
Paris holds an immediate
appeal for many
children
. The most popular
tourist attractions such
as the Eiffel Tower and
boat trips on the Seine
are also sure to delight
the young. Don't
necessarily rule out
museums - some, such as
the Musée des Arts et Métiers,
Pompidou Centre and Parc
de la Villette, have
interactive displays and
hands-on activities,
designed to appeal to
all ages. When your
children get fed up of
trawling the streets you
can recharge batteries
in one of the city's
many parks and gardens.
And if you really want
to give the kiddies a
treat, Disneyland Paris
is just outside the
city, and there's also
the home-grown theme
park to the north, Parc
Astérix.
The French are
extremely welcoming to
children on the whole.
Many restaurants
and cafés offer a
special menu enfant
or are willing to cook
simpler food on request.
Hotels tack on
only a small supplement
to the regular room rate
for an additional bed or
cot.
Parks and gardens
Children are well
catered for by the parks
and gardens within
the city. There's even
a park designed
especially for kids,
the Jardin
d'Acclimatation ,
in the Bois de
Boulogne, with an
impressive array of
activities and
attractions. On the
other side of the city
in the Bois de
Vincennes, the Parc
Floral also offers
a host of treats, and
the high-tech Parc
de la Villette ,
in the northeast of
the city, will keep
children entertained
for hours. Most of the
city's other parks
have some activities
for children, usually
an enclosed playground
with swings, climbing
frames and often a
sandpit. Many also
have guignol
(puppet) shows, the
French equivalent of
Punch and Judy.
Funfairs
Three big
funfairs
(
fête foraines
) take place in Paris
each year. The season
kicks off in late
March with the Fête
du Trône in the Bois
de Vincennes (running
until late May),
followed by the
funfair in the
Tuileries gardens in
mid-June to late
August, with more than
forty rides including
a giant ferris wheel,
and ending up with the
Fête à Neu Neu, held
nearthe Bois de
Boulogne from early
September to the
beginning of October.
Look up "Fêtes
Populaires" under
"Agendas" in
Pariscope for
details if you're in
town at these times.
Out of season, rue
de Rivoli around
St-Paul métro stop
occasionally hosts a
mini-fairground, and
there's usually a
merry-go-round at the
Forum des Halles and
beneath Tour
St-Jacques at Châtelet.
Merry-go-rounds for
smaller children are
to be found on place
de la République, at
the Rond-Point des
Champs-Élysées by
avenue Matignon, at
place de la Nation,
and at the base of the
Montmartre funicular
in place St-Pierre.
The going rate for a
ride is ?1.53.
Circuses
Circuses ( cirques
) are taken seriously
in France and come
under the heading of
culture as performance
art (and there are no
qualms about
performing animals).
As circuses tend to
travel, you'll find
details of the
seasonal ones under
"Cirques" in
the "Jeunes"
section of L'Officiel
des Spectacles and
under the same heading
in the "Enfants"
section of Pariscope
. The Cirque Diana
Moreno Bormann, Grands
Sablons, at the Jardin
d'Acclimatation,
16e\up6 (tel
01.45.00.23.01; Mº
Sablons) is a
perennial favorite;
admission prices start
at ?10.67.
Museums
One of the city's best
treats for children of
every age from three
upwards is the
Cité
des Sciences in
the Parc de la
Villette. A number of
other museums may also
appeal to children,
for example the under-touristed
Musée des Arts
Africains et Océaniens
, with its masks,
tropical fish and live
crocodiles; the
Grande
Galerie de l'Évolution
offers a children's
discovery room on the
first floor with
child-level
microscopes, glass
cases with live
caterpillars and moths
and a burrow of
Mongolian rodents.
Doll-lovers should
enjoy the
Musée de
la Poupée . The
Pompidou
Centre has a
children's
espace
, consisting of a room
filled with hands-on
exhibits. Paris has
two excellent
planetariums
, in the Palais de la
Découverte and the
Cité des Sciences.
For a more earthy
experience, you could
visit les égouts
- the sewers - at
place de la Résistance,
in the 7e. Dank, damp,
dripping,
claustrophobic and
filled with echoes,
this is just the sort
of place pre-teens
love. Another
underground experience
popular with
youngsters is the catacombs
at 1 place
Denfert-Rochereau,
14e.
Shops
The fact that Paris is
filled with beautiful,
enticing, delicious
and expensive things
all artfully displayed
is not lost on most
modern youngsters.
Toys, gadgets and
clothing are all
bright, colourful and
very appealing, while
the sheer amount of
ice cream, chocolate,
candy, and sweets of
all shapes and sizes
is almost
overwhelming.
Theme parks
Disneyland Paris
has put all Paris's
other theme parks
in the shade and is
one of the country's
top visitor
attractions. The
enchanted kingdom
certainly works its
magic on most
children, though if
you're prepared to
make the effort to get
there, Parc Astérix
theme park, north of
Paris, is better
mind-fodder and
cheaper than Disney.
