QuickLinks :Our apartment//Musee L’Orangerie//Arc de Triomphe//Eiffel Tower//Louvre// Opera Garnier//Galleries Lafayette//Versailles by Train//Montemarte//Sacre Coeur//Latin Quarter
Planning a trip to France can be a daunting task. “I want to do everything and see everything”, is the hardest thought to overcome. The important thing when planning is to make a list of important things you want to see. Since I have been there before, I made this trip about the kids, a first timers trip to the City of Lights.
We flew to Paris via Air France from JFK (NY) to CDG (Paris) on an overnight flight on Friday night. I had access to the Air France lounge because of my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. It was a great place to relax before our flight. Once onboard, we were seated in Premium Economy to try out the new class of seating. We had a reclining seat with leg rests, TV, and our own headphones connected to the seats. The food was good and you could select a meal option pre-boarding if needed (vegan,low salt, etc.) There was also a bottle of water available to each Premium Economy seat and an amenities kit. The seats were comfy but my kids headphones weren’t working well and the flight attendant did not have a solution for it. So guess what happens, as usual, a parent is without headphones as your kid enjoys the TV. Part of the job though. Luckily, the flight was peaceful and we arrived 10 minutes early to Paris. Baggage and customs were straightforward and I booked a private transfer via Viator, S.A.R.L. Comfort Cars. A driver was waiting for us with a sign and we headed to Paris very quickly after loading the car. The car ride was about 45 minutes to reach our apartment.
The best part of Paris was our hotel apartment. I always say that your hotels’ location can make or break your vacation. Plan accordingly and book what works for your schedule and what makes your life easier. We were lucky to book at the Residence Charles Floquet, one block from the Eiffel Tower. We booked a 2 bedroom superior apartment with Eiffel Tower views. This is not a typical hotel, more apartment-like, but they do offer a breakfast basket of pastries in the morning if you order the night before. We had a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and laundry at our disposal. Easier to pack light if you can wash everything. Tip: Bring laundry detergent if you have laundry available. Plan ahead.
Every night after sundown, the Eiffel Tower glittered for 5 minutes and continued until 11 pm. I saw it every night, I could stand on the balcony and watch as much as I wanted. The cheers from the park every night in front of the Tower was something I enjoyed. Something so simple and peaceful is making dreams come true. (Swipe to see slideshow)
April in Paris, I said it, was chilly. When we arrived it was about 40 degrees F, so a bit chilly. The kids did pack a packable jacket from Amazon, so that did save us from having to buy jackets in Paris. We did end up buying winter hats, but made sure it said Paris so now we had souvenirs. The rest of the week was similar weather, but slowly warmed up. We were there the first week of April so when we left the temperature was up to 55-60 degrees F, easier for us to walk around and enjoy.
The day we arrived, we looked for a place to eat close to the apartments and went to bed early to be ready for our next day of exploring.
Day 1
When I booked the trip, I didn’t see that the Paris Marathon was on the day after we arrived. Being a runner myself, I enjoyed watching the runners go past us and enjoying their journey through the streets of Paris. We took the metro to most sites within Paris, and it was easy with downloaded metro maps and reviewing everything before we left our apartment WiFi.
The first day we took the metro to Place de Concorde to Musee L’Orangerie, then walk to the Arc De Triomphe, then a metro to the Eiffel Tower. We had skip the line tickets for the Arc and Eiffel Tower and tickets to the museum that I purchased in advance as well. The positives with advanced tickets is quick entrance, less lines and things move smoother. The negatives are you are stuck to a specific timed schedule and you need to move to make sure you get to where you need on time. Tip: If you do arrive early for th Eiffel Tower, they won’t let you enter and put you in a waiting line for the time you did book. Always remember, security is higher so the lines for security are long as well. This is also before you show your timed tickets to anyone, so don’t show up at 4:30pm to security for 4:30pm tickets up the tower. Plan accordingly and give yourself enough buffer when you book timed tickets.
At the Musee L’Orangerie, we saw some great works of art and Claude Monet’s Waterlily Exhibit, my favorite painting. It was peaceful to see all the colors and brushstrokes that he made. Recommended if you are a fan of Monet. It is a smaller museum so we spent about an hour and half there and then walked towards the Arc de Triomphe for some lunch and our timed ticket at 1:30pm. We booked via Viator, and the tickets were delivered the day before. We entered the tunnel to reach the Arc and when we saw the line to buy tickets, I was grateful we already had them. Tip: If you want to see the Arc from the outside only, you can head there without any lines. We headed up to the Arc and looked around and then got in the security line. You do have to walk up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and it was a long walk up. We made it, but there were lots of people on the stairs huffing and puffing. Remember, when you are booking your tours that some physical activity may be needed. The views were great on top, especially seeing all the runners below us, the finish line was right by us. We took our pictures and learned about the history of the Arc and headed to the Eiffel Tower. We used the metro to head back and were back in about 10 minutes. We arrived at 2:30pm and our tickets to the tower were at 4pm so we ended up having some crepes and coffee at a cafe. Some down time for the kids to warm up and rest. We went to the security line around 3:30pm and we were lucky that we could walk right up to the front. When we were leaving later that week, the security line was to the street. We entered under the Eiffel Tower and we saw another line for tickets to go up, it was a longer line than security, so BUY YOUR TICKETS EARLY. The tickets for the Eiffel Tower go on sale 60 days (elevator) and 7 days (stairs) before the day you want to go. Be ready to buy them (set a reminder) and learn the website before that day. (Official Eiffel tower website).
That night, we had a nice dinner out at Bistro Linette. Simple Parisian bistro meals and great city vibe. The fish and chips were great, kids menu item, and simple chicken and burgers were available as well. Try it out but make reservations if going during a busy time in Paris, aka all the time. We were lucky to have to wait 10 minutes only for a table for 4. We walked back to the apartment and slept heavy that night.
Day 2
Today, we had a tour booked to the Louvre and tickets to the Opera (tour only). Before the tour we stopped at the Happy Caffe for some crepes on Rue de Rivoli. Angelina’s is on this road as well, but arrive early for seating, it was 9:00am with a line already.
We booked a tour from Viator (Kids and Family Skip the line Private Louvre Tour) for our day at the Louvre It was a 3 hour tour because I didn’t want to exhaust the kids with the size of the museum which you could spend 3 days exploring. It is massive. Focus on your interests or your kids’ interests, and they can tailor a perfect tour so everyone can enjoy. We saw the Egyptian wing, Greek wing, castle basement that once stood there, and of course, Mona Lisa. It wasn’t crowded until we reached Mona, we saw it and moved on. She is important, but not the most important thing in this great city. The kids really enjoyed writing their name out in hieroglyphics. They found this tour fun and educational. I would highly recommend it to families.
After we finished our tour, we headed to Lauderee in the mall attached to the Louvre. There is always time for macarons. We bought some for ourselves and rested for a bit before heading out. From there, we exited the Louvre and headed to the Opera Garnier. We had untimed tickets for today and needed to enter before 4:15pm. Tip: Always check for last ticket entry times. We did an audio tour and saw this beautiful opera house that I would recommend to everyone. Tip:The foyer almost resembled the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, so if you can’t make it out there, this may be a good substitution. The kids enjoyed their audio tour, geared to children and there were plenty of places to sit and relax. It was an easy 45 minute tour.
Right behind the Opera is the Galleries Lafayette. The mall of Paris which does not look like a mall at all. We headed to eat a bit on the top floor and then headed to the roof to see the view of Paris. They did have a great souvenir store on the top floor, so if you are in the area, a great place for gifts. The rest of the mall is high end fashion designers if you are shopping for that as well.
After this busy day, everyone was too tired, so we used the G7 Taxi app that I downloaded on my phone before flying to Paris. It is similar to Uber and used more in Paris. We did have to tell the driver where we were heading after pick up, but could easily track the cars location before pick up. Positives and negatives to it, but we used it mostly when we were far away from the apartment, Montmarte and here. Easy to say head to the Eiffel Tower, another benefit of our apartment.
For dinner we ended up using Uber Eats for a quick meal since my youngest fell asleep and we didn’t want to wake her. Easy to put address, easy to track, and I sent my husband to the lobby for pick up and done. I also had some water and groceries delivered for our next few days. Tons of places deliver, so you should find something for all palates.
Day 3
Today was the day we ventured out of the city. We took a Viator tour, Skip the Line Versailles Palace Family 5 hour discovery tour. We met in front of the Champ de Mars RER metro station (stations that travel out of the Paris city limits). We were a 10 minute walk from this metro station so was an easy decision to book this tour. We met our tour guide, Marina, at the station, and she bought the train tickets and showed us which train to take. On the train, we spoke about the Palace and its history for about 45 minutes and she kept it interesting. The kids also received an activity book from the tour company, Meet the Locals that they could answer questions and color in when we got back home. It was an easy train ride and the last stop was Versailles. (Swipe to see slideshow)
We walked about 10 minutes to the Palace and started our tour with the gardens. We were happy about having skip the line tickets because the lines were already big at 10:30am. We toured the gardens and even learned some new things I didn’t know. We saw the musical fountains and numerous statutes that the king built. Learning about why and how they did all that work.
We then headed into the palace which was a separate entrance for guided tours, so it was quick to enter inside and through security. We stopped at the bathrooms and continued the tour. Once inside, she showed us small details that you normally miss and I saw other people trying to listen to our guide as well. Most people had audio guides, which is fine, but it can’t give you details or answer any questions. We went room by room and it continued to get more and more crowded. Finally, to the Hall of Mirrors for a family picture, which our tour guide offered to take, another benefit of a tour guide. As we finished the tour, we spoke about the tour and the kids asked some questions and we separated at the gift shop. We already had tickets for the return train trip she bought in Paris, so we just needed to find the correct train, which she did point out earlier in the day. We walked around Versailles and had a nice lunch and bought some pastries for the train ride home. When arriving at the train station, we did see a train already there and asked a young women working there and she said that it was our train. Easy enough to ask. We headed back to Paris and enjoyed the views as we went.
Because it was our big day outside the city, I wanted dinner to be close to the house so that we didn’t have to walk too far. I reserved a table 2 nights before at a restaurant named, Francette. It was on a barge in the Seine river with views of the Eiffel Tower. We saw multiple people being turned away because they didn’t have a reservation. Make a reservation before you leave home. We were in the Penthouse area and it had a glass roof to see the beautiful Tower. Food was great and seating was comfortable. Was a great end to a great day.
Day 4
Before we left home, I booked a 30 minute photo session on Flytographer. You can pick your photographer and discuss location, time of day, etc. with them. Today was the day for our photo session, so we dressed up and headed to the Trocadero to have the Eiffel Tower behind us in our photos. She was great with the kids and made it fun for all of us. Once we finished, she said she would send the photos in one week to my email. Done. The photos came out great and I will book again on another vacation.
After the photo shoot we grabbed some food, sandwiches, and headed back to the apartment to change and get ready for the next tour.
Around 2:30 pm we were headed to Montmarte for our Montmarte Hill French Afternoon tea tasting tour with crepes and macarons, which I booked on Viator. The tour company was Original Food Tours Paris. I don’t want to give away all the spots visited, but we tried all of Paris’ delicious desserts, some I didn’t even know existed. My favorite being a Merveilleux, hands down the best dessert ever. Very sweet, but light and airy. We did stop at Carette, a popular stop for crepes and this is where we did have crepes, a wait but worth it. We ate dessert while getting a history lesson of the area that ultimately ended at the Sacre-Coeur Church. Once the tour was done, the kids were tired so we headed back home to rest before dinner.
For dinner we walked to Via Del Campo, a Italian restaurant which was delicious. If you are looking for pasta with black truffles, look no further. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the truffles were fresh and delicious. The kids had eggplant parmigiana and buttered noddles so they were accommodating to everyone. If you are going to use the calories, use them here. Yum!
Day 5
Today was our final full day in Paris before we flew away. I wanted to do something small, since I knew it would start taking a toll on everyone. I ended up booking another Viator tour by Raphael Tours, the Kid Friendly Private Medieval Paris Tour with Latin Quarter and Pantheon. Did you know that Paris had a Roman arena where people and animals fought? I didn’t, but this tour showed me a part of Paris that many overlook. We met by the Shakespeare and Co bookstore, a famous bookstore in Paris with views of Notre Dame across the river. We walked through the streets to see the Sorbonne, Arenes De Lutece, Pantheon, and Saint Severin Church. Unfortunately, Paris was on strike during our visit, so some buildings were closed to the public. We just rolled with it, can’t control everything and we enjoyed our day already. We walked towards the Luxembourg Gardens with our guide, she left us there after taking some pictures for us. The gardens were great and it had a carousel and a playground for the kids. I would highly recommend it for families, the kids didn’t want to leave. We walked back to the main area where we started, had lunch, and took the metro home.
For dinner we ate at Le Bosquet Cafe. The food was good, similar to American fare, so there were a lot of tourist there. We had trouble getting reservations for more popular spots, so try to book before you leave home, easier to cancel a reservation then get one. Tip: Book restaurant reservations from home the week before. Keep them close to your dinner time location, wherever that may be.
Day 6
Today we had a 8:30 am pickup for a taxi ride to the airport. The ride went smooth and we checked into our flight on Air France. While checking in, I was informed that they changed planes and I was no longer in Premium Economy. I did complain but honestly, what the hell are they going to do, and I’m getting on this flight, I need to get home. So I googled what to do and found on the Air France website a return tab area. When I got home, I put in the ticket numbers for ALL tickets, not just the booking code. And received the difference on my credit card that I used to book. Tip:The important thing is to keep you tickets and put the information for all of them in the return area. It did ask about downgrading and I was all set. I received the difference in price about 4 weeks from when I got back. Besides that problem, we made it through another vacation with full bellies and great memories. Happy journeys!!!!
Don’t want to plan all of it yourself? Take a look at TourRadar Bonjour Paris: A City Break Getaway. Similar schedule, budget friendly and less days.
