France Family Trip Reports

As a single mom of 3 kids I was lucky to be able to visit a different country for a few days with each of my kids as the others visited with their Dad in London. My youngest daughter and I decided on Paris, France. We took the Eurostar from London into Paris. The ride was uneventful, although there was a transit strike on when we arrived. We had to wait about an hour for a taxi to our hotel. We stayed at a budget hotel near the Louvre. It was early evening when we arrived so we went for a quick walk around the hotel and found a restaurant for dinner. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the local bakery and began our nightly tradition of picking a delicious cake or pastry to eat at the hotel.

We woke up early and enjoyed the breakfast that was included in the hotel rate. We headed to the Louvre and waited in line for it to open. Once inside we headed straight to the Mona Lisa. My daughter was quite excited as she had seen many pictures of the famous painting.

We took some photos and marveled at being able to see one of the most famous paintings in the world. Next we headed off to find the Venus De Milo. We enjoyed the art we saw along the way. After finding the statue we headed to the Egyptian section. As we had recently traveled to Egypt we had a great time seeing more of those amazing artifacts. We wandered around some more until we had our fill of art for the day.

We then went to catch the Batobus (this was a great way to explore Paris especially with the metro strike!) and headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral. We headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. We had French Onion Soup (delicious!), quiche and salad. After we headed to the Cathedral. We went inside first and heard the amazing choir singing and we enjoyed looking at the beautiful stain glass windows.

After we went outside and joined the queue to climb the stairs to the bell tower. We had watched the Disney Humpback of Notre Dame before we traveled so my daughter was quite excited to see the gargoyles. The stairs were exhausting but we made it up to see the views of Paris and the bells. After we made it back down we enjoyed a tasty chocolate crepe from the street vendor.

In the evening we headed to the Arc De Triomphe but we just admired it from afar as we were getting tired from all the walking. We headed back through the Jardin de Tuilleries and stopped at the carousel. It was all lit up in the dark and my daughter and I were the only ones on the ride. It was magical! After that we headed back to the hotel to enjoy our cakes. I had packed some water paints and paper so my daughter created her own masterpieces after being inspired by the art at the Louvre.

The next day we took the Batobus to the Musee D'Orsay. It was quite chilly and we were very happy when the kind staff pulled us out of the long line up and allowed us to enter immediately. We wandered around the museum and picked out our favorite paintings in the various rooms. It was very cool to be able to see Monet paintings up close! After that we headed to the Eiffel Tower again by Batobus. We took the elevators up and saw the amazing views of Paris. My daughter had fun checking out the souvenir shops and we bought a souvenir Eiffel Tower decoration for our Christmas tree.

After the Eiffel Tower we headed to Tuilleries Park and played on the playground and wandered around the park. We stopped for a late lunch at the open air cafe. We enjoyed the delicious croques monsieurs for lunch. After lunch we wandered around the streets and did a little shopping. Then back to the hotel for some more painting and cake eating!

The next day we headed to Paris Disneyland. We took the metro which was running on very limited capacity due to the strike. We lucked out and did not have to wait long. It was raining slightly and do to the strike we encountered very little line ups for the rides. We had a great day enjoying all the rides and shows that were available. My daughter picked out a little mini mouse doll as her souvenir. At the end of the day we headed back to the hotel for more cake and art!

The next day we got up early as we knew getting a taxi back to the Eurostar station would be tricky due to the strike. We tried to get the hotel to call one but they were not able to find one. We went out to one of the taxi stands and were able to catch a ride after a few minutes. We enjoyed our final views of the amazing architecture of Paris.

we had a great time together in Paris. I would love to return with my other kids and explore this city as I know there is so much more to see and do there. I would prefer to return in a warmer month where we could enjoy the parks a little more. November was just a bit too cold for my liking (coming from Canada-I want sun and warmth on my trips!).

Check out these 25 fun things to do in Paris with kids.

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