You go to the west, you have the fishing towns with the English weather. You go East, and you can ski down the beautiful Alpine slopes. You go to the hot South and get ready to party like a celeb. There's something for everyone and especially kids.
It was the kids’ first time in France but we were there for a week only so stayed in Paris at my cousin's house, right next to Stade de France. We took the coach as we tried to be more environmentally friendly but it's quite cheap also! On the day we arrived, we went to see Parc de Villette which is a very popular science museum. During summer time, there's also plenty of fairs happening and would highly encourage you to go to one as it's not like fairs in the UK. It's more like Winter Wonderland in Summer.
If you are back in the country, you have to visit your hometown right? And that's exactly what we've done on our 1st day there. Travelling by bus and train Paris is very easy and straightforward. We had to get tickets everyday but day passes made it cheaper. If you are stuck, the staff at the stations are ready to help and most of them talk English so don't be afraid to ask! Anyways, my hometown Colombes is situated just outside Paris so it took us a while. Once we got there, I showed my kids the nursery and schools I studied in, our flat we used to live in and basically everywhere we used to hang around especially the immense park Ile Marrant (the island of fun). The park changed a quite a but but it still had it's charm. I loved seeing my kids run around the park the same park I used to play in when I was their age and playing with other kids, despite the language barrier. The park has an indoor swimming pool where I used to do my swimming lesson, an indoor ice skating ring where learning ice skating was part of PE at school! After half a day there, we went to meet my BFF in the local shopping centre near La Defense, which is Europe's largest purpose-built business district. I took the kids to the exact supermarket I went with my parents and splashed a bit on French biscuits and patisseries! To end a very hectic day, we visited the Sacre Coeur. This church is very special to me because, even though we we were born Hindu, we visited the church every other month but my dad, would visit the church every Sunday! The merry-go round that me and my brothers used to go on was still there and now my kids were on there. So we climbed up the hill and nothing can beat THAT view of Paris. It never ceases to amaze me. We went inside and that peace that always enveloped me as a child whenever I stepped in, still did the magic. The kids loved looking around the church and reading about the statues. I told them things I used to do and they also wanted to do it. Once out, we decided to take the stairs down again. Well, that's not exactly how we did it. We SLID down the ramps. Mahi literally had a huge hole in the back of his shorts because he took sliding to another level (thank God I bought extra change of clothes). The kids loved exploring the tourists shops around.
The next day, we went proper touristy. We did all the Parisian landmarks. We first visited the Jardin de Luxembourg, taking in the beautiful gardens and the vast amount of space for the kids to play around with their cousins. Next, we went to the Eiffel Tower. The kids didn't want to climb up as there was a queue and I'm pretty sure they were underwhelmed with what they actually saw and what they see on TV. Anyway, when you got young kids who don't want to walk around, the best way to see Paris is the bateau mouche (river boat cruise) on the river Seine. There is commentary and it's a scenic way to see Paris. The kids enjoyed the cruise, getting excited in seeing places they only saw on TV. It was about 1hr cruise and it was well worth it. Before we wrapped up for the day, my kids, sharing my love for Diana, we went to see the place where she was killed. Laksha was unusually quiet but I knew she was processing the significance of the place she was standing on.
The following day, we went to Champs Elysees. I taught the kids the importance of the place and they were mesmerised by the flame which never goes off. We then headed to Versailles for a bit of history. The kids loved the waterworks, pretending to be kings and queens and dancing to the music playing in the background. They loved the maze-like grounds and were running around everywhere. They also had an activity trail they took part which turned into a race between the kids. There's a cute boating lake at the bottom of the royal gardens where we relaxed and saw the people on their pedalos.
The day before we were meant to leave, we went to Disney!!!!!!! We got there before the gates opened at 10am to make sure we have time to enjoy ourself. We did the studio only (I told Laksha that if she did well in her upcoming 11+ exams, I will take her to the main park. I know, I'm a mean mum!) A whole day can easily be spent there. It is a magical place and no place can compare like it. We did all the rides, saw characters, saw a couple of shows including Lion King and Lilo and Stitch. People say you can do both parks in 1 day but the studios took us a day so do plan 2 days if you want to soak up the experience. The kids literally didn't want to leave as it truly is a magical place. Our time in Paris sadly came to an end.
There were places that I wanted to visit but couldn't due to time limits such as Parc d'Asterix, a theme park based on the comic book of Asterix and Obelix. Although we saw the Louvre when on our river cruise, we didn't go inside. The kids get bored of museums especially art ones so there were dead against going to any museums. They didn't want to do anything they could do in London so we didn't do the wax museum or the aquariums.
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