First time to Paris, family with a 4 year old daughter. Will be travelling in November 05, will be in Paris for 4 days. A few questions:
1. We will be stay at Grand Hotel L%26#39;Avenue at 14 Rue Rampon, Is the hotel a nice hotel with a good location.
2. What will the weather be like in November 05.
3. What should we do in Paris. And what should we miss.
4. Good budget places to eat close to hotel.
5. Travelling with Luft airlanes, what will be the best transport to hotel.
Thank you for helping
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Do yourself a HUGE favor and buy the Paris Travel book by Rick Steves. It will answer 3 or 4 questions. Browse @ a book store (don%26#39;t buy) or online for any unanswered questions.
RE: traveling w/a four year-old daughter. Having done so; I
have a few suggestions:
1) Buy a child size (TINY) back pack that she has picked out with you @ the store. Let her choose her favorite small stuffed animal %26amp; doll, a new coloring book, a few %26quot;Golden Books%26quot; for reading, and any special small toy she plays with ALOT.
2) Tell her that this is HER bag and she will be responsible
for carrying it (you%26#39;ll have it in the stroller anyway!).
3) In YOUR PURSE stash for use on plane: set of non-stain markers (for the coloring book) and a miniture tea pot, cup/saucer, (to serve her doll/animal on the plane!). Zip-lock baggies of healthy snacks, and a deck of %26quot;Go Fish%26quot; cards. A favorite blankie (if possible, or put in your luggage) helps for napping on the plane %26amp; sleeping in a %26quot;strange%26quot; bed (hotel).
4) In YOUR LUGGAGE stash:A special new toy, a new, frilly
nightie, and a jump rope (for outside to work off some %26quot;play energy%26quot;)a packet of simple puzzles(bring out 1 item @ a
a time for %26quot;new interest%26quot; as needed) and a small book of nursery rhymes. A STROLLER IS A MUST-her little legs can%26#39;t go as much or as far as yours.
Play w/her so she looks forward to vacations. Sing French songs and American songs. Read nursery rhymes at lunch waiting for your food. Play finger games (rock;paper; scissors etc.) on the Metro. We taught our daughter (and ourselves) sign language on one trip and taught her gin rummy on another! Be creative! Give her a disposable camera to take her own %26quot;pictures%26quot;. Encourage her to draw what SHE sees (even if it is a puppy she saw etc.). That is HER travel
%26quot;journal%26quot;!
We also allowed her to pick out small souvenirs at major sites (a small plastic Eiffel Tower/ a pocket calender etc.). As a 4y/o she won%26#39;t remember very much about Paris - she will have %26quot;warm fuzzies%26quot; about traveling with Mommy %26amp; Daddy!
Have Fun!!
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Great suggestions. I want to take my 4 year old on a trip now. I%26#39;ll save the tips for next time!
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Annndol....
Wow, I loved every one of your suggestions. Many of these things hold true for even older kids. We have traveled with our kids and have used many of the same ideas you have. Having two kids adds another issue--keeping them from getting on eachother%26#39;s nerves. Anyhow, I appreciated your sound advice.
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One more thing--Is your little one a picky eater? I made a difficult decision before we left. My 6 year old is hoplessly picky. I decided that rather than all of us suffer with a tired hungry, whinning girl begging me to take her to McDonalds the entire trip (which we do not allow, even in the states)--I brought with us one jar of her favorite brand of peanut butter. I know some people would say this is absurd or I am spoiling her...but, this was my trip too and I didn%26#39;t want her to ruin it. I figured if she wouldn%26#39;t eat anything else, I would buy some bread and she could live on bread, water, and peanut butter for 10 days. She is very strong willed, so refusing to eat, would not be beyond her--but she wouldn%26#39;t go down quietly :). The good news was that we bought lots of fruits at the %26#39;champion%26#39; market in our neighborhood and she at lots of bread, fruit, and french fries and yes, occasionally her old peanut butter friend. She was happy and I was happy. I think it worked out well and we did make her try bites of new foods, but it was great to have a back up that I knew she would eat.
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To CyberTraveler - re: more than one child on vacation.
Boy, do I hear you!! We ended up traveling on many vacations with a total of four children ranging in ages from two to seventeen at one point!! We found that using a %26quot;buddy%26quot; system worked really well. Each person was assigned to a different %26quot;buddy%26quot; each day. And we included ourselfs in it too. You were responsible for your buddy (especially helpful w/younger children) and were given special time away from the group to explore/shop/play in a park etc. each day. We chose to split up from 3:00p.m to 5:00 p.m.
In the case of say, the 2 y/o partnered w/the 17 y/o; it made sense to take the baby to a park, while there the 17 y/o played on the swings, etc. w/her, and later when she was ready for a nap, he put her in the stroller to sleep while he shopped for %26quot;stylin%26#39;%26quot; clothes! As we rotated, each child got to experience special time with another and with Mom or Dad. Many memories were built this way and our dinner conversations each night were sprightly and bubbling over with enthusasim to share each others adventures. It also afforded us (as parents) to have a couple of hours to ourselves on our %26quot;buddy%26quot; days together!! If you have %26quot;t%26#39;ween%26quot; kids, you can rotate them as %26quot;couples%26quot; from one adult to another. Our children are all grown now w/families of their own and they still talk about our trips!! We were so lucky to have them all!!
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We will be traveling with our 4 year old daughter to Paris and Italy in July....So thank you for the many suggestions mentioned here!!!
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Thanks guys sounds like great advise.
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Yes, you must just go buy a travel guide to Paris. Rick Steves is a great choice. It will answer all the questions about weather, what do do. Ask at your hotel about places to eat nearby.
It has been many years since I pushed children around the world, but these things I remember:
1. Never leave the hotel without cans of soda/juice, a good roll of tissue paper and a box of cookies.
2. Travel with things like peanut butter and jelly (or buy there). Then all you need is a loaf of bread or crackers.
3. See if you can take your car seat on board. It keeps them safe and they are used to it and so quite at ease.
4. Give children their own carry-on and place them in charge of it and one other. My kids took this duty very seriously and leaped in to aisle to get their luggage together and line up to get off.
5. Occasionally hire a babysitter to take them to the park, etc. so you can have an aft. or evening without kids.
6. Book seats on the plane where there is some room on the floor to play. Order the kids meals on planes.
7. At cafes, one adult goes in and orders while the other adult and child kill time doing something outside. Then show up just as the meal as served.
8. Use a stroller as long as you can. They can still get their nap as you stroll the streets of Paris.
9. And the old standard - Never pass by a clean bathroom without using it.
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;1. We will be stay at Grand Hotel L%26#39;Avenue at 14 Rue Rampon, Is the hotel a nice hotel with a good location%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
This will be a very basic, budget Parisian 2-star hotel with few amenities. It will also have relatively convenient Metro connections through the large REPUBLIQUE Metro Station (5 Metro lignes) For a few past guest reviews, check--
tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187147-d295185…
%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;2. What will the weather be like in November 05%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
It will be Fall in the northern hemishpere--beyonfd that, for any more detailed weather predictions, check with--
http://www.indra.com/8ball/front.html
%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;3. What should we do in Paris. And what should we miss%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
There are any number of good Paris travel guides, so before you ask this question, you should take the time and make the effort to do a little personal research and discover what Paris has to offer that attracts your own personal interests and attentions. But I%26#39;m told that there is a tall, pointy, cast iron construction located along the bank of the river that seems popular with tourists.
%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;5. Travelling with Luft airlanes, what will be the best transport to hotel%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
Depending upon your personal preferences, priorities, special needs and BUDGET, you have several airport transfer options. Traveling with luggage and a small child, you may decide that simply taking a TAXI PARISIEN from outside of the doors at your CDG #1 arrival terminal building (all Lufthansa overseas flights will arrive at CDG #1) directly to your hotel (approc 40-50 Euro) Another option might be to take the free ADP GREEN shuttle bus from the main CDG#1 terminal exit to the RER station and then the RER B-3 train into Paris to the GARE du NORD station, then switch trains to the #5 Metro ligne (in the direction of Place d%26#39;Italia) to either REPUBLIQUE or OBERKAMPF and then walk the few blocks to your hotel (8 Euro per adult, 4 Euro per child)
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Things my children have enjoyed in Paris (my daughter would have been about the age of yours when she first started going) was just the walking around and seeing different things like %26#39;trees in the sky%26#39; - huge tree like plants on tiny %26#39;balcons%26#39;!
There is a carousel at the bottom of the Sacre Couer in Montmarte and a funicular up to the top that she may enjoy - large churches themselves not always being that interesting to the very small :o)
The Science Park
www.cite-sciences.fr/english/indexFLASH.htm
has science sessions for 3 -5 yr olds and you can pre-book online (the queues there were very long!) which she may also like. It costs 4.50 euros. The link below is in French as I couldn%26#39;t find info for the Cite des Enfants in English.
cite-sciences.fr/francais/…global_fs_enf.htm
We found it was best to do this with younger kids and avoid the main exhibs (and entrance fees) until your child/ren are older.
I%26#39;ve found teaching the kids to say at least Hello (Bonjour or Bonsoir in the evening) and thank you (Merci) goes a long way in any country where they may not speak the language well to foster happy relations with waiters and shop keepers etc.
Always buy water and drinks (and snack if possible) at a local supermarche as it will much cheaper - certainly for drinks - than places near main attractions.
Lots of little local parks you will see dotted around have some sort of children%26#39;s play area to take some time out and loose some energy.
Have a great trip!
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