Paris, France with kids, on y va! With Emily studying abroad in Paris during college, and myself (Tony) studying abroad not so far from Paris, in Geneva, Switzerland (French speaking part of Switzerland), Paris was a fun destination for Henry and Andrew’s first trip abroad since our family’s pre-pandemic 2019-2020 New Year’s trip to Japan. Let me say, the ages of 6 and 4 have so far been the best ages to travel with kids, from the airport and flight, to the overall whirlwind journey of traveling with our youngins overseas. Henry and Andrew were more resilient and independent, could comprehend more, and were able to walk miles at a time, of course with quick breaks, snacks, and brief falling to the ground meltdowns along the way. Also, the new Amazon Fire tablets Santa gave them for Christmas made the 11 hour direct flight from SFO to Charles de Gaulle more enjoyable for all parties. One couple even said our kids were great after the flight – I wasn’t sure if they were being sarcastic or serious, but we took that as a win regardless of the intention of their “compliment”. Now, to Paris, and the fun range of adventures we experienced during our five-day stay!

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After our 45-minute taxi ride to our Airbnb flat, which was located in a fantastic location just 10 minutes walking to the Eiffel Tower and just a couple of minutes from bakeries, restaurants, and shops, we immediately got situated at “Tour Eiffel, bords de Seine et Invalides” (the name of our Airbnb). This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom flat, with a nice deck and open living room and kitchen plan, was perfect for a family of 4 – we highly recommend it. Since our family likes to maximize our stay and be outside as much as we can, we wasted no time, and immediately had lunch one-minute walking from our Airbnb at Le Centenaire – croque monsieur and croque madame’s were the highlight, and of course, the kids’ first time eating “French” fries in France.

A jet lag siesta was key for us making it out that night, and after two hours of rock solid sleep, we enjoyed our first official urban hike of the trip, which became the headline activity theme of our journey. Our one hour walk included the lit up Eiffel Tower, a toy store, fruit market, grocery store (Franprix), and Boulangerie (bakery) for baguettes, croissants, and more. Thanks to the nice open plan kitchen our Airbnb offered, pasta and a Charcuterie board at home for dinner was the perfect solution to easing in on our first night.

Day 1: Angelina’s + Sacre Coeur – Montmartre + Christmas Market

“Hot, hot, hot, hot chocolate!” Emily and Tony – “Henry and Andrew, would you like hot chocolate for breakfast?” Henry and Andrew – “YES, OH MY GOD!” The famous Angelina was our first destination of the day, and their world famous hot chocolate, including mochas and pastries, lived up to expectations – delicious and plenty of sugar to get our family to walk up 242 steps to the top of the Sacre Coeur church in Paris’s Montmartre area thereafter. Sacre Coeur was a 15-minute taxi ride through scenic Parisian streets from Angelina and was well worth the short journey. The 360 degree bird eye views of Paris, the Basilica’s Romano-Byzantine architectural design, and the castle-style twirling cement steps that lead to the top of the church was awesome. We earned our view at the top, got a workout doing it, and the kids were champs for making it to the top and enjoying it – partly thanks to Angelina’s sugar!

The adrenaline rush from our Sacre Coeur mission led us directly on a one-hour, mostly downhill urban hike through the beautiful Montmartre neighborhood and to the Seine (main river that runs through Paris) – yes, we made it to the Seine from the Sacre Coeur. Paninis were screaming our names after, and Boulangerie Patisserie Elise delivered.

After another long, rock solid siesta – by the way, siestas are the absolute best – we headed to Paris’s largest Christmas Market, “The Magic of Christmas: La Magie de Noël at Tuileries Garden”, which was right across the street from Angelinas. This was not your ordinary Christmas Market, it was a full on amusement park with over 20 rides and dozens of Christmasy huts serving all types of delicious food from sausages to Raclette and drinks from Vin Chaud (spiced, hot wine) to cold beer – yum and a ton of fun!

Day 2: Versailles + Champs Elysee for New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year’s Eve and Bonjour Versailles! Versailles was a 45-minute taxi ride from our Airbnb and is a staple destination for any Paris travel itinerary. The huge, magnificent palace welcomed us on our one-hour tour. The architectural design throughout each of the many, I mean many rooms and areas of the palace, was magnificent. For perspective, one fireplace, in one room was one quarter of our living room – we do live in San Francisco though. The kids were amazed by how many kings and queens and rooms the palace once hosted, and equally enjoyed all of the paintings of France’s former kings and queens. Although the kids enjoyed our palace tour, their favorite part was buying a small soccer ball from the gift shop and playing soccer in the amazing garden out back, which is the size of a small town. Quick note – soccer is not allowed in the garden – a guard asked us to stop. Our day trip journey to Versailles ended with a walk through the cute and quaint town, or village, of Versailles, crepes for lunch at a delicious Creperie in the heart of the downtown village of Versailles, and farmer’s market.

“Oh Champs Elysee, da da da da da, oh Champs Elysee!” New Year’s Eve night was here, and after once again, another siesta, we had the motivational magic to make it outside of our Airbnb at 9pm. We walked 15-minutes to the Champs Elysee (Paris’s Times Square or Market Street of San Francisco) to celebrate New Year’s Eve at one of Paris’s top destinations! The security was tight with armed police officers surrounding all entrances to Champs Elysee. Crowds were swarming, but it was breathable enough to freely walk toward and stare up at the Arc de Triomph. With the street closed down to walking traffic only (no cars), it was one of the most exciting and memorable New Year’s Eves we have ever experienced, especially with a 6 and 4 year old! Although the turning of midnight to launch 2022 was underwhelming – no fireworks as we originally thought – it was still an exciting and eventful New Year’s Eve in Paris on the Champs Elysee! Because there were no countdowns, fireworks, light show (as some blogs suggested), we definitely recommend ringing in the New Year by the Eiffel Tower over the Arc de Triomph, if you are visiting in the future!

Day 3: Eiffel Tower + Champs Elysee in Daylight for New Year’s Day

Bonne Annee (Happy New Year)! 2022 was introduced with a fresh and invigorating over 4 mile urban hiking adventure through Paris. Starting from our Airbnb, we walked by the Eiffel Tower – since we were up until around 1am the night before, we did not make it in time for our ambitious reservation to go up the Eiffel Tower – by the time we arrived (nearly 1 hour past our reservation at 10:30am), the line was huge and not worth the wait with kids. However, just walking by the Eiffel Tower and through its surrounding park was a thrill and impressive. We then walked along the Seine, which was beautiful. Although the lingering scents from the previous night’s fun along the river were not too pleasant, it wasn’t bad enough to deter us from the beauty that the Seine river walkway provided. With our energy still existent and enjoyment still at a high – exercise by walking through a unmatchably beautiful city, can’t beat it – we decided to keep on trucking by foot back to the Champs Elysee in the daylight. It was quite the sight to be back in the daylight after our nighttime New Year’s Eve excitement, and after ending our 4 mile urban hiking journey at the Arc de Triomph, Rocky Balboa Paris style, we rewarded ourselves with a local, Parisian lunch, at McDonald’s (Le McDo)!

That night, we decided to get a bit more cultural with a cozy and delicious fondue and Raclette dinner at Les Fondus de la Raclette. Of course, after fondue and Raclette, there is no way we had further plans that night other than a movie and bed.

Day 4: Professional Photo Time + Disneyland Paris

Professional photographer time! Not sure if you’re aware, but Emily is a professional photographer (Emily Jenks Photography) and goes the extra mile to schedule a family photo shoot for our family at each destination we travel to. We were fortunate to have our family photos taken around the Eiffel Tower and the Seine, and after returning home and printing and hanging the framed photos on our dining room wall, I clearly understand why it is so important to have family photo sessions. Not only was our Paris photographer welcoming, friendly, and fun to work with, but our everlasting memory of this trip lives with us everyday. The kids even enjoyed the experience and didn’t want to leave – not exaggerating, they loved being famous for an hour! We highly recommend Meiry, the owner of Flanerie Photo!

Since the kids (and I!) were such good sports during the photo shoot, we surprised the kids with a trip to Disneyland Paris. Disneyland Tokyo was our last Disneyland experience in January 2020, and it was great to be back in the Magic Kingdom. We decided to take a 45-minute taxi from the center of Paris to Disneyland Paris, where we reserved a 1-night stay at the Newport Bay Club. The hotel had the resemblance of the Northeast US’s coastal, harbor life, it was beautiful and clean with a refreshing Disney feel, and was only a 10-15 minute walk to the park by the nice man-made harbor and water and redwood trees that lined the forestry pathway. Disneyland Paris was just like any other Disneyland, classic Disney with a nice touch of French culture to bring you into a new element of Disney. We started with a bang by coasting quickly on the Thunder Railroad, seafaring for sunken treasure on the Pirate’s of the Caribbean, mazing through the Alice in Wonderland hedges, and ending the day with spinning in circle on the Teacups. After a couple hour break (nap! and TV for the kids) in the hotel room, we braved our way back out for more fun on Peter Pan’s flying ship and fireworks – I had to pick up Henry, at a weight of over 70 pounds, which was a workout for me, but maybe one of the last times I could pick him up to watch fireworks – a bit sentimental about that.

Day 5: Disneyland Paris + Walt Disney Studios + Back to Paris

Henry and Andrew’s Paris voyage reached its final day, and to start it strong, we went back to their favorite place on Earth, yes, Disneyland! We had a blast on Star Tours and saying goodbye to the Dragon sleeping and waking up with fury under the main Disneyland Castle, before closing out our Disney adventure at Walt Disney Studios, just on the other side of the main Disneyland gate (a 5 minute walk). Walt Disney Studios was also a blast, and after watching the Paris-based Disney film, Ratatouille on New Year’s Eve, we had so much fun on the 3D car Ratatouille ride – probably our favorite ride there. Since the Ratatouille restaurant had a 2 week wait (we decided that was just a bit long!), we enjoyed more crepes at the Christmas village food and drink huts strategically placed right outside the ride. We ended our Disney journey with Cars, which was symbolic to the taxi ride we reserved to take us “home” to our Paris Airbnb for our final night in Paris.

A traditional around-the-corner-from-home French cafe restaurant, La Tour Maubourg, closed out our final meal in Paris, which was very good. The server had a great personality, we ordered what felt like everything on the menu (I had to end the trip with Steak Frites), and it was tasty. We walked as slow as we could around the corner to our Airbnb since we knew it was our last journey by foot before we re-entered the world of overseas flight travel the next day. We packed to ease the next morning’s travel and had no problem crashing peacefully in our beds – Bonuit!

Au Revoir Paris

The flight home from Charles de Gaulle to SFO was straightforward and rewarding knowing we had an amazing, overseas journey to Paris with Henry and Andrew. Merci Beaucoup Paris for your wonderful hospitality and beauty as a city – can’t wait to see you again!

Are you interested in other family getaways with kids and toddlers? Read more here:

• Tenaya Lodge in Yosemite – Perfect Fall Getaway
• 30+ Weekend Getaways from San Francisco with Kids
• How to Pack for a Family of 4 in 1 Bag & Save Money

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