A Mother Daughter trip to Paris: it has been a trip high on my travel agenda, and decided this year it wast time to make it happen!
Paris just conjures up so many things that excite girls of all ages. It is truly the city that has it all: museums, shopping, food, people watching. The city, just like the people who live in it, is chic, effortless, and brims with visual delights.
I was trying to plan something special and memorable for my daughter’s sixth birthday and landed on taking her to Paris for a Mother Daughter trip.
We stayed in Paris for three nights, walked all over the city, and squeezed in a little sight seeing, shopping, and museum hopping into our very quick trip.
Here is what we did during our stay with notes.
Stay: Hotel Henriette. The price was so reasonable, the accommodations were ‘Parisian chic’ with flea market touches like the paintings and desks, and the sheets were fresh and crisp. Our bathroom was newly re-done and stocked with Nuxe products. And the breakfast buffet on the terrace made for the perfect start to our days in Paris. The only con was this was not in the center of the city- it was a 15 minute Uber ride. I always prefer to stay in a more residential part of a city, but this might be a negative aspect of the property for some travelers.
Airport Transfer: I usually do not book these, but decided since I was traveling solo with a six year old, this might be the way to go. The driver was pleasant, spoke English, and was familiar with our hotel so we had no problems getting back and forth to the airport. It made getting to and from the airport very easy and I would do it again.
Thursday
We flew into Paris and were situated in our hotel by 1pm. We had a late lunch at Le Parroquet.
We then walked down to the Seine and perused the booksellers along Rive Droite.
For an afternoon treat, we visited Le Berthiollon, a very famous ice cream shop on the Ile St-Louis.
Then we stopped by Le Notre Dame (it is still under construction due to the fire, so no one can go inside.) We traversed over the bridges crossing from one side of the Seine and continued to gather a lay of the land: I pointed out where The Louvre and Musee d’Orsay were and then we walked towards the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower had opened the day before and crowds to go up were massive (they always are!) so we walked around the base and went on the carrousel.
At 8pm we hopped aboard a Dinner Boat Cruise, which was really the perfect way to see the Seine. The food was actually pretty decent (it was three courses and included all wine,) and it was a treat to sit, relax, and see Paris by water. We arrived back at 11pm, and the Eiffel Tower was sparkling with twinkling lights for its nightly light show.
Friday
8-9am: We woke up early for an 8am photoshoot near the Eiffel Tower with a photographer I found on the Air-B-N-B Experiences section and had a fun photoshoot.
10am-Noon: I hired a Tour Guide to show us around the Louvre from Meet the Locals. Our guide was amazing- she came with a booklet, a pencil, and answered all of our questions.
(It goes without saying, but my daughter was tired because we were up till midnight the night before…. I do think museums are better to do with children first thing in the morning, but I maybe would have planned both the photoshoot and museum tour for Saturday instead of Friday in retrospect.)
Noon-1.30pm: This might be totally lackluster, but we lunched at Pret a Manger. I have found that traveling with kids, mine can only really handle one two hour meal a day. So while we were in Paris we did quick pick up lunches. I usually bring a coloring book or sticker book and rest for a little bit after lunch.
Afternoon: We played in Le Jardin de Tuleries all afternoon. She enjoyed the little wooden boats that you can rent for thirty minutes for five euros, and it was worth every penny for her to do it.
We took it easy and walked the gardens, then walked across the Seine to Sennelier and Universelle Buly- two shops I had wanted to visit.
Evening: We then slowly walked and made our way to Le Petite Josselin for a dinner of crepes and salad. Early to bed!
Saturday
9:30-11:30: We visited the Musee d’Orsay. I did not go the Tour Guide route on Saturday. Instead, I gave Liv the information pamphlet and a pencil and she circled the paintings we saw in the museum.
Noon-1:30pm: We lunched at Paul which was another quick spot.
The rest of the afternoon we walked around, shopped (I wanted to go to E.Dehillerian to get copper pots and she wanted to go to Marin Montagut to pick out a special birthday gift.)
Late in the afternoon, we went to Le Jardin Luxembourg and Liv sailed sailboats again.
For dinner, we went to Le Simone, near Hotel Henriette. We split a tasting menu and it was incredible.
Sunday
We woke up early and dashed down to L’Orangerie to see Monet’s Waterlily room.
This was probably not my best plan, as Le Tour de France was ending that day in Paris and the streets were a mess, but it was special. The Orangerie is a small and very manageable museum if you get easily overwhelmed.
We then hopped into our airport transfer, and headed back to Madrid in the early afternoon.
There are absolutely a million ways to do Paris, but the best way to do it is pick what you love (my favorites are visiting museums, walking - I think its the best way to see cities, and picking some special stores) and get a little bit of those things in to make a memorable trip.