Travel Guide to Paris with a Toddler
Paris… the city of lights. I love this city with every fiber of my bones. But it was not love at first sight for me believe it or not. Paris was like a fine wine for me, it got better with age. Or rather, better when you go with a native French speaker. Aymeric and I have obviously traveled back to France many times together prior to having LBB, to not only visit family and friends but enjoy all that France has to offer. So it only felt natural to introduce her to this amazing place early and often. I went into this trip with very little expectations. I didn’t plan an extensive itinerary with lengthy site seeing stops, or have too long of a running list of restaurants and shops to patron. I just wanted to stroll the streets and enjoy watching LBB experience everything for the first time.
Since this was the first trip back to Europe for us post pandemic, we did have a hefty list of family and friends to visit. It was the first time LBB was going to meet her grandpa, great grandma, and cousins. It was also the first time we were going to see everyone without the confines of a zoom call. Our loose plan was to hit the ground running and drive out to the Burgundy region to see some dear family friends. It was about a three and a half hour drive from the airport, after a 10 hour overnight flight. We knew it was risky with a toddler, but after hours of agonizing where we could split the drive, and or stay somewhere closer to the airport, it ended up sounding like just as much of an effort to split it up than just deadheading it to our final destination. We stayed in the most amazing bed and breakfast that we had stayed at previously in Autun. Moulin Renaudiots. It’s nestled in a little valley along a small creek just outside of the main town of Autun. It’s about 6 bedrooms and has a main living room, dining room that is set up to accommodate the breakfast and occasional dinner upon request. I couldn’t wait for LBB to run around the tree lined gravel walkway to the rose gardens while listening to the leaves blow gently in the wind with the backdrop of a babbling brook. Dreamy I tell you, dreamy. Plus the decor in this place just oozes French countryside sophistication. I would highly recommend staying here if you are traveling south for any reason. The breakfast is delicious. I think this was some of the best bread we ate the whole trip. We stayed in the Saint Pierre room and it was perfect for our family of 3.
After our stop in Autun, we headed to Vichy to see Aymeric’s Grandmother, and LBB’s Great Grandma. This was another milestone I couldn’t pass up. There aren’t that many chances in life to get 4 generations in one room, so we knew we had to make a stop considering that she is 98 years old. Even with her age, she is still spry and sharp as a nail. She even cooked us lunch! I’m baffled, the French know how to live! Vichy is a very unique city. It is home to the famous thermal baths, and it was once the German occupied capital of France during WWII. If this city’s name is still stuck in your head as “I’ve heard this somewhere?”, yes, it is associated with the Vichy line of cosmetics due to the healing properties from the thermal waters. So it has quite a checkered history. We didn’t have time to do too much site seeing here but we did end up going to one park while we drove in just to get some wiggles out. This city is also settled along side the Allier River, and has a lovely promonode to walk along the water, with a mini golf park and restaurants. My husband has fond memories of visiting family here and playing mini golf as a child. What a rough life. ;)
The view outside our bedroom window of our Airbnb.
So, the piece de resistance… Paris. Once we completed these two pitstops, we headed to the City of Lights. With a quick stop at Aymeric’s Dad’s just outside of Paris of course. We finally had made it to the Airbnb in La Marais! We really lucked out with this spot. It was 5 star. We paid a pretty penny per night, but it had everything we were looking for, great location, 2 bedroom, kitchen and laundry. You can’t ask for much more. Especially with a toddler, having a bit more space to roam inside was quite helpful, and made the trip much more enjoyable. Since we still had so many friends and family to tackle, I had loosely found a few parks in the area that would be good stops nearby to some landmarks that were convenient to get to during our stay. Like I said earlier, I didn’t have any expectations for this trip. I wanted to go with the flow, but always be prepared with a park just in case we needed a spot to quit the stroller and run. So, here are my park recommendations while in Paris.
Favorite place for LBB to post up and watch the world go by from our Airbnb.
View from the Nelson Mandela Park.
Nelson Mandela Park: This spot is awesome. It’s just outside of Châtelet Les Halles (epic indoor shopping mall with loads of stores to stock up on all things French apparel & pharmacy). It’s also very close to Rue Montorgueil, a pedestrian promenade with the oldest patisserie in Paris, Stohrer. It also has other delicious stops for profiterole, and or an outdoor cafe to grab a drink or snack. Plus it has a few great shops to jump into if you have time. Jacadi Paris Kids store is here, and I can’t recommend enough their clothes. So. Chic. Plus they have amazing hair bows for little girls if you’re into that kind of thing.
Jardin des Tuileries Playground: This location can not be beat. It’s right off of the Champs-Élysées, and of course leading up to the Louvre. It was very close to our Airbnb so it was an easy walk and worthwhile stop. It has a trampoline park which you can pay a few euros for 10 minutes to bounce. It was a hit with LBB. Then we shifted to the carousel. This city has some amazing carousels, if your child is into them, you can’t find anything better than this. Just do yourself a favor and buy a few rides at a time, since you know your little will want to go more than once. LBB was so cute, the operator let her go on a turn for free. HOLLA! Once you’ve finished up a bounce sesh and a few turns on the carousel, you make your way to the play structure portion of the park. They have seesaws, a turning disk, and a large climbing structure that ends in a slide. Needless to say, it’s a win. I would highly recommend this location as a stop. We grabbed some baguette sandwiches and wondering our way through the Tuileries for the morning while sipping on tea and coffee and munching on treats. #lifegoals We loved it so much we came back on the day we left just to get one last run in the park before takeoff!
Palais Royal: So many famous photos have been taken here. It’s a lovely spot to pop in and jump around the famous black and white columns. We were actually there in the morning before the crowds of tourists gathered, and there was a photo shoot going on for a magazine, you never know what you’ll encounter when you’re in Paris!
Le Jardin du Luxembourg Park: This was a hidden gem. Nestled on the left bank, it was a bit of a walk from our Airbnb, but a fun one since we got to stroll the city streets before we ended up at the park. We actually stopped at a few filming locations for the show Emily in Paris on our way. I’m a sucker for the film industry and all things behind the scenes/making of, and we both had a blast taking a few photos near the famous apartment building. We also did a pitstop at the bakery where Emily frequents in the show and of course grabbed a few baguette sandwiches to keep on hand when hunger strikes. Once we made it to the garden park, it was a paid park location. Don’t be stressed by this, it just means you fork out a few coins to play around in a well maintained play structure that usually isn’t too busy. It was a great location. Loads of things to climb, swing or dig in. Right next to this playground there is a carousel that is from 1895. It has the original horses and has a jousting rings for the kids to try and joust while riding. There was actually a walking tour that went by while LBB was taking her 3rd turn around to show the original carousel charm. It really is a lovely location, Albeit far from all major tourist attractions.
Place des Vosges: Our trip wouldn’t be the same without a few quick stops in our Airbnb’s neighborhood to a park. This spot is a 17th century square lined with the original 17th century homes and tree lined street. It’s another dreamy moment. There is a sand pit to dig in, and a few other climbing structures but nothing too substantial. Primarily, this was a great spot to meet up with friends and let LBB free roam with abandon. I was mesmerized by the French moms pulling up with their Babyzen yoyo’s and sand toys. Their littles quietly jumped out and started to play around in the sand. So darling.
Square Charles-Victor Langlois: Another great playground in La Marais for a pitstop and play for after a day of shopping. It was absolutely SLAMMED with littles when we went after nap at around 4pm. I think everyone was out of school and heading for a place to play before dinner. It included ping pong tables, play structures, sand pit, rocking horses, seesaws and a turning structure. It’s smack-dab in between two apartment buildings so it’s a fun city park that feels like it’s only filled with locals. Fun fact, on our way here we spotted Bruno Gouery, the actor who plays Luc in Emily in Paris, we were both in so much shock that we just walked right past him that we were too slow to snap a picture. He was strolling home with his son and dry cleaning.
Palais Royal.
Carosel in Jardin du Luxembourg.
Emily’s Apartment in Emily in Paris.
Place des Vosges Sand Pit.
There are obviously many other parks to stop by on a trip to Paris, but these were the ones that were convenient for us and our needs. I would still recommend doing a loose plan of some parks prior to your trip so you always have something in your back pocket when you’re in a pinch.
Ok so now that you’ve had your wiggles out at a park, how do you get to majority of these places? We did most all options… we took an Uber sans car seat for one quick ride that took us to Aymeric’s cousins that was a bit outside of the city. I wasn’t thrilled with this concept but we just held LBB in the backseat and it worked out. The French are much more low key about carseat laws. I feel like this would never fly if you were in the US. We also took the Metro and street cars, as well as the good old feet. All options worked great, but just be aware of the workout you’ll get in the Metro. The yoyo is small enough that you can easily pick it up and carry it up and down stairs. Aymeric was a superman for this portion of the trip. We have photos to prove it. If this makes you nervous don’t fret. People are so nice and accommodating. So many people were willing to help when carrying the stroller down stairs. And again, it is such a small part of the total trip, it shouldn’t hinder you from experiencing big cities. I just consider it life exposure that will become core memories in the future.
Paris Metro Gym Membership.
Now one of the most important parts of a trip to France, Food… How to deal with restaurants and get your nourishment on the run? This might have been one of my favorite memories of the trip. For breakfast we would find a patisserie nearby our Airbnb and grab a few croissants, pain au chocolat and gourmandise (my personal favorite French pastry that you really can’t find at home), and head to our next destination. LBB would literally lean out of the stroller mouth wide open like a baby bird and scream for “painnnnnn”. Just so that you wouldn’t forget to save her a bite of treats. It was priceless. Afternoon baguette, pastries, you name it, she wanted it. I’m such a foodie at heart that the idea of my child eating French pastries in her stroller while pounding the pavement in Paris spoke to my soul. I couldn’t get enough of it. All things considered though, out side of our bakery, fromagerie, and or patisserie stops, we didn’t spend a whole lot of time seated at a restaurant. I think that was one component of the trip that I was a bit nervous about. Having LBB at a French restaurant was a bit intimidating to me. Usually most French meals are a minimum of 2 hours, which felt like a jail sentence with a toddler. Majority of restaurants can accommodate children of course, and have high chairs etc. But still… If LBB decided to stick her toe out of line and act her age… I couldn’t handle the shame of walking her through the restaurant to a quiet spot to settle down. So, with that said, what did we do? I always make sure that we have a place to stay with a kitchen. I just enjoy traveling that way. I think it makes all vacations more manageable. You don’t have to eat every meal out, and you can go to a local grocery store and pick up all your basics for an easy meal in. One of my all time favorites to frequent when we’re back in France is Picard. Consider it like the French version of the frozen section of Trader Joes… But just French. It’s maj. They have tiny frozen croque monsieur that I can’t even explain how delish they are. I can’t help but gobble down at least half the package in one sitting. This grocery store is the famed for being the best kept secret of every dinner party or aperitif dinatoire of Paris. You’ll always find something fabulous to enjoy, and it doesn’t require the 2 hour time commitment of a restaurant. Once you stock up at Picard, please do yourself a favor and go into the specialty food shops. It’s just pure joy of the senses. Fromageries, stink to high heaven, but oh boy can you walk out with some cheeses you’ll dream about for life. We also like to get some fresh Foie Gras and stop by some of the fresh fruit/veggie markets on the street. You can’t go wrong really. One thing that we stumbled upon this trip was Mache, also called ‘lambs lettuce’ a non-lettuce salad green that you eat for an appetizer salad just plain with dressing. I couldn’t get enough of it. Plus a box is like 2 euros max, so you’ll feel like a local on a budget. If you really can’t imagine going to France without a restaurant experience, try and secure a sitter or friend to watch your little. We are very lucky in this category and had grandpa step in to play monitor duty for an evening out. It was lovely. We love the restaurant Les Deux Magots and have made it a tradition to get champagne and a mi-cuit in honor of our favorite movie The Intouchables. There’s a scene in the movie when Driss and Philippe go here while high and indulge in this famous dessert. Dres looks deadpan at the waiter and says “but it’s not cooked?” which of course that’s the best part, par baked chocolate cake is delish. Plus champs in Paris. It’s a slam dunk. If the waits at Le Deux are too long, you can also go to Cafe Flore another famous French restaurant right across the street that has been frequented by the famous French writers of old. If you want an amazing breakfast, head here for an omelette and sit outside. Epic people watching experience. Aymeric and I always like to watch everyone stroll by and guess what country they are from. Most of the time you can pick up a quick conversation while groups pass by so you can get your answers quickly. Usually the American’s are the easiest to spot. LBB enjoyed just watching all the goings on of the street, watching traffic buzz past, and pedestrians stroll along the sidewalk. I think it was more captivating than any screen could be really.
Les Deux Magots Dessert & Champagne Tradition.
Aperitif Dinatoire compliments of yours truly. That green bowl is mache!
Fromagerie.
In short, Paris with a toddler is wonderful. With a tiny bit of extra planning you can have yourself a great time traveling to one of the worlds most amazing tourist destinations. I hope you can find it in yourself to take a trip with your family. It will be worth every last tantrum, I promise!
