About Me
I'm Debbie, mother of three delicious kids,
and I write about traveling with little kids. That's
my 6-month old son in Paris on Halloween.
More About Me
For families considering a first trip to Europe with kids, Paris is my top recommendation. There are parks and kids activities all over the city (including near the major tourist destinations). Flat streets make it easy to walk with a stroller or a tired child, and there is great public transportation. Before you go, check out our Favorite Books and Resources for Paris.
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General tips and advice
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There's nothing more soothing than an elevator ride. Especially a nice, long ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
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One of my favorite tricks for eating in a nicer restaurant with kids in tow is to find someplace with outdoor dining. The kids still need to behave appropriately, but the ambient noise does a better job of covering their voices. Here we are in Georges, on top of Pompidou ...
Local Markets are always among my favorite places to visit when we travel. Still, the fresh fowl displays are usually a bit gruesome for me. Wouldn't you know, though, that in a Parisian market those birds would look as fashionable as a new pair of shoes?
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I just love this picture of Everest's first trip to a playground. We're in Paris, and at 6 months old, he's way too young to do much, but he loves watching the bigger kids play, and it's fun for us to chat with local parents.
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Do you ever think about what it must feel like to look up at every attraction from underneath? The Eiffel tower is, of course, big enough that both kids and adults get to have that perspective.
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Everest was too young to appreciate the view when we visited the Eiffel tower. These days though, the kids reliably love watching transportation move along a street when we're up high - so when I look a this picture, I imagine how much they would enjoy watching the boats chug ...
Finding time alone with your spouse can be tough on a trip with kids. One of our favorite tricks is to go for a bedtime walk and put the kids to sleep in a stroller or sling. Then we're free to talk, stop in for a drink, or just ...
D has been obsessed with the Eiffel tower lately. It's not hard, images of it appear everywhere... on the side of the DHL trucks that circle our city, in her story books, and on posters in local businesses. But what does she really think, I wondered? Does all that ...
The images in my Photo Friday post were from the Institut du Monde Arabe on the Left Bank in Paris. The windows don't just look like camera lenses, they open and close depending upon the amount of sun streaming through, which makes this a very interesting building to sit ...
Does this look like the kind of meal you normally eat in a family restaurant? One of our favorite ways to make jet lag with an infant work for us is to take advantage of the extra long naps on the first few days by eating a multi-course meal.
One ...
The Musée d'Orsay (Orsay Museum) in Paris is surprisingly (and perhaps unwittingly) baby and kid friendly. E especially loved the stage set models from the Opéra Garnier tucked away on the bottom floor. Finally, something smaller than himself!
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When I think of food in Paris, my mind goes to markets filled with fresh fruit or bakeries packed with pastry that is as beautiful as it is delicious. The reality, though, is that most people don't eat the best of Paris every day. Freezer shops, like this one ...
I think E enjoyed visiting the Arc de Triomphe in Paris even more then we did. The historical significance of the monument was lost on him, but the birds and the traffic spinning by made him wish he could walk right off my lap.
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I confess, I have an addiction to international toy stores. There is something rewarding about finding a toy with foreign flair, a toy that no other child will have, and bringing it home for my kids. Before we head out of the country I find out where the best toy ...
The push boats at the Luxembourg Gardens are one of the iconic pictures of Paris. It's relaxing to sit on the park benches and watch as children push their boats around the pond (as we did). Still, I dream of returning with D and E now that they are ...
Normally the idea of shopping with the kids exhausts me. In Paris, though, the shop windows are so engaging that no additional entertainment is needed. Six-month old E loved being up at eye level in the sling as we wandered the streets of Paris.
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When we took the baby E to Paris in 2005, I was bummed that we would ...
When we first visited the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris it felt like every storybook image of children in parks was brought into reality. That's certainly because so many of the park's features, like this carousel, have shown up in classic photos, storybooks and movies. As the children ride ...
When we were in Paris, we visited the Louvre Museum over several days time, mostly with E asleep in his stroller. That seemed like the perfect way to take it all in, and didn't leave us struggling with how to entertain a 6 month old in a huge museum ...
Doesn't this look delicious? When we headed to Paris with 6 month old E, we were ecstatic to be spending a month in Paris, but bummed that we would be missing out on all the high end restaurants. In the end, we did squeeze in a trip to Robuchon ...
This is a picture from E's first international trip. When he was six months old, we spent one month (my huband's paternity leave) in Paris. Being out of our home and our day-to-day routines made it easier for us to connect as a family since we weren't ...
Gudrun, an engineer at kango.com wrote in to ask about dining out in Paris with kids:
You have a nice list of restaurants in Paris, including a couple non-chain, classic French restaurants. I would love to take my kids to a French bistro, but I worry a little about ...
Our very first international trip with baby E was a one month "sabbatical" in Paris. I just couldn't bear to let E's first Halloween slip by without dressing him up, and brought this bumble bee costume from home. It turns out that the French are traditionalists when it ...
The city of Paris has just rolled out free bike rentals in an effort to reduce pollution. Over 20,000 bikes should be available by the end of the year, and there will be 1,450 rental stations. There is a fee to join the network, but short term memberships ...
We visited the Louvre again. This time, we headed for the big pieces, including the Mona Lisa. We're definately finding that we need to visit the museums more than once as it's hard to get a long, uninterrupted stretch of time to see the artwork. Luckily, people with ...
We couldn't bear E missing his first Halloween, so we got him a super cute bee costume and brought it with us. And of course we had to take his picture at the quinticential Paris landmark -- the Eiffel Tower.
It was fun being in Paris for the holiday. Halloween ...
A couple days ago, we moved from the Marais (near the Hotel de Ville in arrondissement #4) to Saint Germaine de Pres (in #6). We love the Marais, but we'd basically seen everything we wanted to see after 2 weeks. Furthermore, we realized that while three people, lots of ...
We've been lazy tourists these past several days. We've spent most of our time exploring the city on foot and taking in simple pleasures... ogling pasteries, marveling at the architecture, churches, and fountains, relaxing at cafes, window shopping, taking E to a park every day, and warming our ...
Tuesday was the start of our 2nd week here. We tried to go to the Orsay Museum (they have a wonderful collection of impressionist art), but the huge crowds sent us to the nearby Rodin Museum. The museum is in a large mansion, which the government lent Rodin in exchange ...
On Monday, we took a train to the Eiffel Tower since it's across town. E was super alert and super curious on the train. It was all so strange for him and he was trying to work out what was going on. So adorable...
The Eiffel Tower... what can ...
On Satuday afternoon, we set out for Jardin (gardens) du Luxenbourg (in Arr #6). We'd read good things, but would have probably skipped it if it wasn't for E -- we really wanted to take him to their marionette puppet show. As luck would have it, E fell asleep ...
We spent Friday and Saturday strolling around town. We explored the Marais some more, walked around Ile St-Louis, then took the subway to the Arc de Triomphe and walked the length of the Champes-Elysees and ended up snacking at the fancy food shops in the Opera quarter. E is becoming ...
Our apartment is kitty corner to the elaborate Hotel de Ville, which isn't a hotel but the city council building. It seems ironic that the square in front was once the site of executions (like Henry IV's assissin who was ripped apart by 4 horses). These days, it ...
We just arrived. It's dark already, so we cooked a simple dinner and are going to bed.
The first leg of the flight, from Seattle to London (9 hours), was a breeze. E slept the entire flight (we count ourselves very lucky that he sleeps on flights) and both ...
It's hard to believe, but we'll be in Paris next Monday! We rented a tiny apartment in the Marais. Here's how Read the rest of this entry »
