I grew up in inner-city Chicago in the ‘90s. My cultural education was visiting Edward Hopper at the Art Institute and counting down the days till field trips to the Lyric Opera. Even coming from humble means, growing up in a big city fed my internal handrive of references: Prairie Style architecture, art deco, Mies van der Rohe, the Vienna Beef hotdog skyline poster featured in every Chicago hotdog shack in town. Chicago was my playground and my living textbook. Even as a scholarship kid on my way to a fancy liberal art school, I didn’t have a Lexus like my classmates. But I was much more cultivated than my contemporaries because of my urbane background.
As a mother and artist, actively pursuing a cultural education in Paris for both myself and my son is essential. I know it can be intimidating schlepping a kid to a museum, especially when they are more drawn to the vending machine than the Brancusi (it happens to me too!). But I wanted to share some insider tips on how to make it easier to take kids out and about in Paris, whether you live here or not, so you can limit the obstacles and simply enjoy a fabulous and possibly enrichening day out and about.
Public transportation in France is globally not stroller friendly. But I found that the RER suburban commuter trains (the Metro’s sister line which runs through Paris) usually have working elevators at all stops. The Centre Pompidou and the Jardin de Luxembourg are two kid-friendly favorites mostly because of the elevators at their cooresponding RER stops. If you are looking for the easiest route to get somewhere, look it up on the RATP website and click on the “Itineraries accessible for persons with reduced mobility” option. Paris also has a tight bus system fully equipped with enough room for a stroller or three. If you need to call a cab, Taxi G7 is known for always having car seats.
Do your research. Most museums, including the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and the Centre Pompidou, have terrific programming for kids including performances, special exhibitions, film projections, ateliers and dedicated spaces for little ones. These often fill up quickly so be sure to book ahead of time. With kids, I always arrive at the museum upon opening when attention spans are fresh and it is not yet overcrowded.
Cash is king. Yes, Paris is always 5-10 years behind on most everything. Card readers included. Whether you want to buy 2 tickets for a marionette show or 5-minutes of jumping on a Tuileries trampoline, most places only accept cash.
Adapt to Parisian time. Kids have crazy schedules! But Paris runs on its own specific timeline. You may not be able to get an omelette at 10am. Most carrousels and park activities open at around 10 or 11 or strictly in the afternoon after school. Most restaurants open at 7pm which can be late for jetlagged gremlins. Accept the fact that France is on its own schedule and do your best to work around it.
Adjust to their tastes. Even if you are planning a trip for your family, it’s not an obligation to only hit the obvious spots on your list. Does your kid love animals? There’s a charming zoo in the Jardin de Plantes or check out the Nature and Hunting Museum. Do you have a budding fashionista? Stroll the isles of Marché Saint-Pierre, the largest fabric store in the World at the feet of Sacre Coeur. Paris hosts hundreds of specialty museums dedicated to everything from Edith Piaf, the postal service and mineralogy. My friend Emma Jacobs wrote and illustrated a book dedicated just to these.
Need more recommendations? Upload a comment below. Looking for more Paris/kid recommendations? I previously wrote about instilling a love of art in young children. And I also shared some of my favorite places to wear out a tiny tot here.
Take care, dear reader. And don’t drink the watercolor water.