We arrived in Paris and had our first issue with the roof box, needing to remove it before parking in the underground garage requiring 8 carefully packed bags to be thrown into any space left in the car. Turns out carefully packing a small bag just for Paris didn’t quite work to plan.

We were staying outside the city by choice to allow us to get in and out quickly. We opted to stay local and tackle Paris in one go rather than tire them out over two days.

We got the bikes out and headed for Chateau de Sceaux letting the kids loose after the obligatory afternoon ice cream stop.

As the kids raced around the lake and we pushed them up the hill to the main house and playground we got a chance to see the green spaces of outer Paris and relax in the sun away from the city.

Paris in a day

We were up early to make the most of our day. We boarded the commuter train and headed straight for the Eiffel Tower where we queued ticketless for 40 minutes. I grabbed some pastries from the a bakery off the tourist track which provided a sample of that unique Paris customer service!

We took the lift to the middle floor and took the kids on a birdseye tour of Paris. After a trip to Paris’ most expensive gift shop on the second floor, we split up and whilst our fearless youngest ascended to the top for more views, our eldest made the descent by stairs.

The middle floor provides a better viewing experience. There was also surprisingly less wind at the top which I was relieved about as I queued for the lift wearing my standard all weather t shirt and shorts combo.

The kids loved the experience of visiting the tower and we didn’t find the queues were too bad but I had used ChatGPT to recommend an entrance that probably saved us an hour. The bakery stop probably saved us from two hangry and bored children.

Next we headed for a round trip by boat along the Seine with bateaux mouches. A great way to see some of the main sites of the city fairly speedily but not quite the romantic river cruise of yesteryear with the two kids in tow!

We headed for Ile de la cite to have an ice cream on the banks of the river before we visited Notre Dame after its renovation. We stayed up late a few nights previously to book one of the free timed slots but this seemed unnecessary with similar queues for those with and without tickets.

There remains significant external repairs but internally it has been completed with the stonework cleaner than ever before. We successfully shepherded the kids around without too much noise and avoided interrupting the ongoing service.

Finally we headed to Sacre-Coeur where the kids happily climbed the steps of monmatre and spent a good 30 minutes looking through the padlocks chained to the top to find their own names. Failing, we purchased two to add to the collection at vast expense!

A little more renowned Parisian customer service over dinner, then back to the hotel as an early start to La Rochelle the next morning.

Overall, our thoughts about Paris with kids…? Need to have a plan and keep it to a few stops as the kids quickly loose enthusiasm for general ‘site seeing’. Eiffel Tower was definitely the highlight for the kids and worth the time investment. If you’re staying more than one day would be worth staying closer into the city to allow for a rest break but for one day of exploring, the out of town location did the job and reduced the stress of driving in Paris! Now just to get that roof box back onto the car…