Amy Finley's Paris Guide for Parents

Once upon a time, my husband and I were without children in Paris, staying out late and drinking red wine at long, leisurely lunches. Now, when we go, we’ve got Indiana and Scarlett in tow, and while the lunches still include a carafe of vin rouge, they’re seldom as relaxed as they once were! But Paris is a great place to be with kids. The French love children, and playgrounds are everywhere around the city. Sidewalk café tables seem tailor-made for rambunctious – and often loud – little ones, and I’m not above offering a visit to the "super playground" at the Jardin du Luxembourg as a bribe to encourage good mealtime behavior! Here are some of my best tips for making Paris an idyll for families...

• For a stay of a week or longer, rent an apartment. A quick search on the web turns up loads of companies that specialize in vacation rentals. We do this whenever we’re going over to visit family: It’s cheaper, more convenient (you’ll have a kitchen and separate sleeping areas), and a great way to feel like you’ve run away to live in Paris. My favorite arrondissements (the French term for neighborhoods) are the 3rd and 4th (known as the Marais), the 5th (which includes the Jardin du Plantes, home to the paleontology museum and a small zoo founded in 1795 with animals from the menagerie kept at Versailles), the 6th (and the incomparable Jardin du Luxembourg), the 9th (a hilly neighborhood tucked behind the Opera Garnier and the department stores of Boulevard Haussman), and the 18th (Montmartre).

• Start the day with a good breakfast. Among my favorite memories of culinary school in Paris was my morning walk to the metro from my ridiculously small apartment on Ile-St.-Louis. I’d walk down the rue St. Louis en l’Ile and stop at our local boulangerie for a flaky, buttery croissant and eat it as I crossed the bridge toward the backside of Notre Dame cathedral. When we’re in Paris my husband and I fight over the morning walk to fetch breakfast pastries for ourselves and the brood. He favors a croissant d’almond (a day-old croissant, split and spread with sugary almond cream then baked again) and says the best come from the Bonbonnerie on the rue du Buci in the 6th). The kids love pain au chocolat (a chocolate-filled croissant), and it’s vacation, so what the heck. I’ll get a plain but perfect croissant au beurre (by government regulation, the properly crescent-shaped croissant is the one made only with butter...the other contains margarine) or a brioche (the butter and egg enriched roll that sports a topknot). If it’s my turn to fetch breakfast, I’ll stop in at the café and order an express – short-hand for a shot of espresso, which is also what you’ll get if you ever ask for just a café – and drink it standing up at the bar.

• Hit the playground. Every Paris neighborhood has a handful of squares and playgrounds and they are the heart of the arrondissement for kids, parents, and the ubiquitous nannies. It’s a joy to watch little French girls, turned out in beautiful dresses and with bows in their hair, rough housing with the rambunctious boys without a care for whether they’re mussing their finery. When we’re out for the day, we stop every few hours for the kids to get some decompression time. Slides, sandboxes, and climbing structures are the norm, but swings are virtually non-existent.

• Know your gardens. My kids will behave for an hour in the crazy and overcrowded basement hardware department of the BHV – a has-everything department store on the rue du Rivoli across from the Hotel de Ville – if I promise them a visit to what we call the Super Playground afterwards. The Jardin du Luxembourg in the 6th is my all-time favorite garden, and this colossal playground there (about ?3 per child) is a zany kid’s wonderland, complete with a rope climbing structure of the Eiffel Tower that looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen, but that my kids have never actually managed to fall off. Near the playground is a snackbar where you can get a café for yourself and a crepe or barbe a papa (cotton candy) for the kids, and a theater showing wonderful puppet shows (in French). Don’t miss taking a ride on the ponies or renting a wooden boat to sail on the vast fountain at the center of the park, but don’t forget that walking on the grass in Paris parks is strictly interdit (forbidden!). Rather, grab a seat on a green-painted park bench under the chestnut trees, or pull up an iron chair by fountain and while away the time with a book.

• ...And those other gardens, too. The Tuileries has a double-decker merry-go-round and trampolines on the Rivoli side closest to the Place de la Concorde, and long alleys for kicking a soccer ball. The small-scale of the zoo at the Jardin du Plantes is perfect for little kids, and the Natural History Museum has the Grand Galerie de l’Evolution, with stuffed animals (the taxidermied kind) parading in lifelike assemblages that will knock kids’ socks off. The merry-go-round in this botanical garden features animals that have all gone the way of the dodo.

• Eat and eat and eat. Bistro fare is perfect for kids, as steak frites (steak and French fries) and omelettes – good, easy, and familiar kid food – are ubiquitous on the menu. Kids who like their meat well-cooked will want it done "au point," and ketchup is rarely served, though always available if you ask for it. (It’s a pivotal ingredient in any good steak tartare.) You’ll also find generically-Asian restaurants (serving a mishmash of Chinese, Thai, and sometimes Vietnamese dishes) all over Paris, where you can get quick meals for "emporter" (to go) or to eat "sur place" (at a table). These are sold by the portion and can be heated if you ask them to do so. Crepes are fabulous kid street food when you’re on the go. In addition to the range of sweet crepes, there are fromage (cheese), jambon fromage (ham and cheese), and oeuf fromage (egg and cheese) that make a tasty lunch or dinner. And then there’s always the harried-parent’s stand-by; the traiteur. These feature a daily menu of main and side dishes and usually an array of beautiful salads and other tidbits. This is a great way to sample traditional French dishes that are becoming harder to find at the bistros, and the food is prepared for take-away, to be enjoyed on your own turf, at your leisure. The best traiteurs are found on market streets like the rue Montorgeuil (my favorite), rue Mouffetard (you can show them where Hemingway once kept a studio for writing), or rue Cler. In a pinch, grab a baguette and expose your little ones to the pungent joys of a real fromagerie!

Some other assorted highlights of Paris with children have to include:

• Eating an organic English-style Saturday or Sunday brunch at Rose Bakery on rue des Martyrs in the 9th (I used to work there).
  
• In the summer, taking the Bat-o-Bus for a tour around the Seine (it’s not narrated, but you get on-and-off privileges throughout the whole day).
  
• Going for a twilight walk around the quais of Ile-St.-Louis after getting an ice cream treat at Bertillon (for traditionalists) or Amorino (for gelato fans).
  
• Checking out the amazing collection of the Musee de la Mode et du Costume...Especially good for older kids with an eye for fashion or costuming.
  
• Paddling a canoe on the waterways of the Bois du Boulogne on the western outskirts of the city.
  
• Getting creeped out by the thousands of skulls in eternal repose in the catacombs.
  
• Catching your breath at the beauty of it all while watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle every hour on the hour after nightfall.