Paris (and Lyon) with a Six Year Old: for Doting Grandparents Only
May 19th, 2009, 06:59 PM
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Paris (and Lyon) with a Six Year Old: for Doting Grandparents Only
A little background: strictly speaking, the first time I was in Paris with my granddaughter, CH, she was in utero, and I was with her parents. Earlier, her mom had spent two years in France (her jr. year in college and then the year after she graduated), and I have had a love affair with France since I began studying French in high school. So with this combination of nature and nurture, this six year old child was ready to go to Paris on April 21 with her mom (my daughter,AS) and me.
Our flight from PIT through PHL to CDG was uneventful, and CH slept for a few hours before we landed early, about 7:30 or 1:30 a.m. “our time”. She bounded right up and was good to go, pulling her own suitcase, shyly mumbling “bonjour” to the passport people in response to their greeting, and intrigued by the steeply inclined people mover at Terminal 1. We were met by Shuttle-Inter, dropped our luggage off at our apartment (VRBO #58971), and headed down the street to Deux Magots for a pain au chocolat for CH and croissants and cafe cremes for AS and me. The first “Paris moment” took place when I stood up to take a picture of them, and a little sparrow took advantage of my empty place and hopped onto the tiny round table to eat our crumbs. Delight and laughs and the first of many photo ops.
After that we went back to the apartment for naps and then off to Notre Dame and Ile-St.-Louis, with stops at the souvenir shops along the quai. And also a trip into DPAM where a little pink trench coat was too cute to pass up--and reasonable as DPAM clothes are. AS and I are thinking: we’ve been here only a few hours, and we’re already buying her clothes. Also a stop at Monoprix on rue de Rennes for supplies for our apt.
That evening we went to dinner around 7:30 at Le Petit St. Benoit, where we saw other families with school age children. We ordered a plate of crudites, potage aux legumes for each, and we shared our main courses with CH; AS had a mild fish casserole and I had boeuf bourguignon and lots of great bread. Our huge soup spoons were of interest and documented by a photo. No dessert because we wanted to get crepes at the stand in front of Eglise St. Germain des Pres. CH loves Nutella, so that was her choice. (A few days later we saw a 5 kilo jar of Nutella for sale in Bon Marche--Nutella heaven!)
Not sure I'll do a day by day report, maybe just highlights after this.
Our flight from PIT through PHL to CDG was uneventful, and CH slept for a few hours before we landed early, about 7:30 or 1:30 a.m. “our time”. She bounded right up and was good to go, pulling her own suitcase, shyly mumbling “bonjour” to the passport people in response to their greeting, and intrigued by the steeply inclined people mover at Terminal 1. We were met by Shuttle-Inter, dropped our luggage off at our apartment (VRBO #58971), and headed down the street to Deux Magots for a pain au chocolat for CH and croissants and cafe cremes for AS and me. The first “Paris moment” took place when I stood up to take a picture of them, and a little sparrow took advantage of my empty place and hopped onto the tiny round table to eat our crumbs. Delight and laughs and the first of many photo ops.
After that we went back to the apartment for naps and then off to Notre Dame and Ile-St.-Louis, with stops at the souvenir shops along the quai. And also a trip into DPAM where a little pink trench coat was too cute to pass up--and reasonable as DPAM clothes are. AS and I are thinking: we’ve been here only a few hours, and we’re already buying her clothes. Also a stop at Monoprix on rue de Rennes for supplies for our apt.
That evening we went to dinner around 7:30 at Le Petit St. Benoit, where we saw other families with school age children. We ordered a plate of crudites, potage aux legumes for each, and we shared our main courses with CH; AS had a mild fish casserole and I had boeuf bourguignon and lots of great bread. Our huge soup spoons were of interest and documented by a photo. No dessert because we wanted to get crepes at the stand in front of Eglise St. Germain des Pres. CH loves Nutella, so that was her choice. (A few days later we saw a 5 kilo jar of Nutella for sale in Bon Marche--Nutella heaven!)
Not sure I'll do a day by day report, maybe just highlights after this.
May 20th, 2009, 12:42 AM
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Hi Sue, nice to read your comment, I can imagine you there ;-) I think sizes go to 12/14y at DPAM. I loved to buy my boys clothes or make presents a few years ago but I went there recently and I thought their collections were not as nice as before. But I didn't check the girl displays... good luck then and I'm looking forward to reading the next episode 
May 20th, 2009, 02:02 AM
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Grandmere - I think we've communicated before. I'm the one who booked the nonstop Delta PIT to CDG in September. I, too, have a grandaughter and cannot wait for the day I can take her to Paris! She is now 4. I was thinking I'd need to wait until she is about 8, but your message makes me rethink. Please keep us posted! What a wonderful experience for her -- and you!
May 20th, 2009, 09:01 AM
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It was a wonderful trip, and as you can probably tell from what I’ve already written, the real joy was seeing my granddaughter take such delight in what she was seeing and doing. It was especially fun to see her enjoy the little everyday aspects of being in Paris, such as the bird on table, the metro itself, dogs on trains, etc., as well as the “biggees”, such as the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.
It was kind of a fine line in knowing how much to prepare her for the trip; we wanted her to be excited and knowledgeable about what she’d be seeing but did not want to give her the impression that this would be like, eg, a trip to Disney (which she’s not done). We must have struck a good balance because she was a very happy little girl.
Over the months leading up to the trip I had bought some kids’ story books about Paris, and we together chose pictures of places and things she wanted to see, and I photocopied the pages. For any interested parents or grandparents, I recommend:
This is Paris
La La Rose
Adele and Simon
Eloise in Paris
Madeline
A Spree in Paree
Everybody Bonjours
Some of these are better for a younger age, but the pictures are great.
So, on to the second day, Thursday:
Off to a late start, and this would have been ok except that we had made plans to meet CocofromDijon and her cute 13 yr old son at the Jardin d’Acclimatation. Some mix up with cell phones not working, and Coco was very gracious about our being late, but we only got to spend a few minutes with them because they had lots to do in Paris that day, also.
The Jardin in the Bois du Boulogne was beautiful, and the walk through Neuilly from the Sablons metro station gave a glimpse of a more suburban Paris than we are accustomed to seeing. CH especially liked the trampoline at the Jardin, where she got to bounce for a half hour, and there were rides, etc. We did not get to see all of the Jardin b/c we had lots on our agenda that day. In retrospect, unless you’re not rushed for time (and who isn’t on a trip to Paris) I would skip that park and spend more time at the smaller ones which are closer to the center.
On the way back to the metro station, we stopped by a busy little upscale take out place and bought some lovely mini quiches and pizzas to eat somewhere along the way, which happened to be at a park bench at Etoile. Next stop was the Tuileries, and we hoped to go into the Louvre. By this time it was getting really warm out, and after some time in the Tuileries playground and a half hour of sailboat rental, it seemed that just being outside the Louvre was enough for this trip. (Here, an older child might really appreciate a Louvre visit, but for us to go in just to say she’d been there didn’t seem to make sense) Everyone was hot and thirsty, so we went to Angelina, and had some fancy ice creams with lots of chantilly. Not the right weather for the famous chocolat chaud, but we did see lots of tables with the little pots of steaming chocolate.
Since we were in that part of town, AS wanted to go to BHV to find some ceramic house numerals so we hopped back on the metro to ride to Hotel de Ville. Before we got there, the metro stopped, and an announcement was made that there was some difficulty ahead on the tracks, so we got off and walked the rest of the way. I’d never been in BHV before and again, wished we’d had more time to spend there. As it was, it was around 7 before we left there to take the metro back to Sulpice. We stopped at Monoprix to get some yogurt, cheese, and bread for dinner b/c no one was really hungry after the Angelina stop. But not too full later that night to go to Amorino in rue de Buci for the second ice cream of the day. Yes, even with the best of intentions, bedtimes were forgotten.
It was kind of a fine line in knowing how much to prepare her for the trip; we wanted her to be excited and knowledgeable about what she’d be seeing but did not want to give her the impression that this would be like, eg, a trip to Disney (which she’s not done). We must have struck a good balance because she was a very happy little girl.
Over the months leading up to the trip I had bought some kids’ story books about Paris, and we together chose pictures of places and things she wanted to see, and I photocopied the pages. For any interested parents or grandparents, I recommend:
This is Paris
La La Rose
Adele and Simon
Eloise in Paris
Madeline
A Spree in Paree
Everybody Bonjours
Some of these are better for a younger age, but the pictures are great.
So, on to the second day, Thursday:
Off to a late start, and this would have been ok except that we had made plans to meet CocofromDijon and her cute 13 yr old son at the Jardin d’Acclimatation. Some mix up with cell phones not working, and Coco was very gracious about our being late, but we only got to spend a few minutes with them because they had lots to do in Paris that day, also.
The Jardin in the Bois du Boulogne was beautiful, and the walk through Neuilly from the Sablons metro station gave a glimpse of a more suburban Paris than we are accustomed to seeing. CH especially liked the trampoline at the Jardin, where she got to bounce for a half hour, and there were rides, etc. We did not get to see all of the Jardin b/c we had lots on our agenda that day. In retrospect, unless you’re not rushed for time (and who isn’t on a trip to Paris) I would skip that park and spend more time at the smaller ones which are closer to the center.
On the way back to the metro station, we stopped by a busy little upscale take out place and bought some lovely mini quiches and pizzas to eat somewhere along the way, which happened to be at a park bench at Etoile. Next stop was the Tuileries, and we hoped to go into the Louvre. By this time it was getting really warm out, and after some time in the Tuileries playground and a half hour of sailboat rental, it seemed that just being outside the Louvre was enough for this trip. (Here, an older child might really appreciate a Louvre visit, but for us to go in just to say she’d been there didn’t seem to make sense) Everyone was hot and thirsty, so we went to Angelina, and had some fancy ice creams with lots of chantilly. Not the right weather for the famous chocolat chaud, but we did see lots of tables with the little pots of steaming chocolate.
Since we were in that part of town, AS wanted to go to BHV to find some ceramic house numerals so we hopped back on the metro to ride to Hotel de Ville. Before we got there, the metro stopped, and an announcement was made that there was some difficulty ahead on the tracks, so we got off and walked the rest of the way. I’d never been in BHV before and again, wished we’d had more time to spend there. As it was, it was around 7 before we left there to take the metro back to Sulpice. We stopped at Monoprix to get some yogurt, cheese, and bread for dinner b/c no one was really hungry after the Angelina stop. But not too full later that night to go to Amorino in rue de Buci for the second ice cream of the day. Yes, even with the best of intentions, bedtimes were forgotten.
May 20th, 2009, 09:17 AM
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Sue,
You were so well prepared for this trip with all your pre-planning.
Now your granddaughter can't wait for her return trip next year!!
We weere sorry that you were not able to join us the night we all wined and dined together at Cafe Constant..but..we understood!!
a bientot...
Joan
You were so well prepared for this trip with all your pre-planning.
Now your granddaughter can't wait for her return trip next year!!
We weere sorry that you were not able to join us the night we all wined and dined together at Cafe Constant..but..we understood!!
a bientot...
Joan
May 20th, 2009, 11:40 AM
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Your comments are all very kind, and I'd like to respond to each one.
Those of you who are planning trips with little ones soon or in the future, you will have such a wonderful time. I think 6 is a good minimum age for such a trip; they're old enough to have some understanding and even "rudimentary appreciation" for a different culture, and on a practical level, big enough to pull own luggage, put tix in metro, and run a few paces ahead of the adults on the sidewalks w/o undue concern for safety. CH was probably never more than 3-4 yards ahead of us(except in the parks) but we didn't feel that we needed to hold her hand constantly as we might have a younger child. Oh, and I forgot a big one for her--using the code to get into the street side door to the courtyard to the apartment and then opening the inner door by sliding a key across a sensor! Never got tired of that drill, and she memorized the code long before I did.
Those of you who are planning trips with little ones soon or in the future, you will have such a wonderful time. I think 6 is a good minimum age for such a trip; they're old enough to have some understanding and even "rudimentary appreciation" for a different culture, and on a practical level, big enough to pull own luggage, put tix in metro, and run a few paces ahead of the adults on the sidewalks w/o undue concern for safety. CH was probably never more than 3-4 yards ahead of us(except in the parks) but we didn't feel that we needed to hold her hand constantly as we might have a younger child. Oh, and I forgot a big one for her--using the code to get into the street side door to the courtyard to the apartment and then opening the inner door by sliding a key across a sensor! Never got tired of that drill, and she memorized the code long before I did.
May 20th, 2009, 02:34 PM
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This trip report reminds me of the inaugural trip I took to NYC with my mom and grandma when I was five years old. I remember it vividly from start to finish, and I'm just a little shy of 30 now. In fact, when I was there last month I called my mom to ask her if we'd visited the restaurant I was sitting at in Little Italy...it just seemed familiar. Sure enough...
My mom and grandma always talked about how I had the subway figured out in roughly two descents underground, and nobody could figure out how that was possible. Kids are SO much smarter than we give them credit for, and I think this is a trip that your granddaughter is going to remember for a long, long time. Well-done Grandmere!
My mom and grandma always talked about how I had the subway figured out in roughly two descents underground, and nobody could figure out how that was possible. Kids are SO much smarter than we give them credit for, and I think this is a trip that your granddaughter is going to remember for a long, long time. Well-done Grandmere!
May 20th, 2009, 03:23 PM
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Kyliebaby3, how good that you have those memories of your trip and how you quickly conquered the subway. Your mom and grandma must have had a lot of fun, too, watching you navigate NYC. Maybe CH will remember her trip for years, too. Thank you for sharing this.
May 20th, 2009, 04:19 PM
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Thanks for writing the report. I'm enjoying reading it. Sounds like you had a great time. Thank you also for the list of books! Our two year old loves (and me too) Spree in Paris. I think you actually may have recommended it to me. I am sure she doesn't connect it with our trip to Paris yet but a fun book anyway.
May 20th, 2009, 04:57 PM
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Lovely, just lovely grandmere! I can hardly wait to take my new grandson to Paris, or anywhere for that matter!
How fun it must have been to watch her play with the sailboats at the Tuilleries. I have often watch the kiddos and thought what fun it must be.
My DH and I will be traveling thru Germany this summer, and I'm sure I'll be looking out for some little toys or maybe even leiderhosen. Oh, wouldn't that be cute!
Great report!
How fun it must have been to watch her play with the sailboats at the Tuilleries. I have often watch the kiddos and thought what fun it must be.
My DH and I will be traveling thru Germany this summer, and I'm sure I'll be looking out for some little toys or maybe even leiderhosen. Oh, wouldn't that be cute!
Great report!
