A: YES!
Paris is worth the trip for children even for a day, but I advise a 5-6 day stay to make the most of your time in the Parisian city of love.
What child would not want to hop on a bullet train and travel via the Euro star? the spiel of travelling through an underwater tunnel. Then quite obviously, there is Disney Land, I mean kids can only dream to meet their Disney heroes and you definitely will at Disney land branded the ‘happiest place in the world’ – my greatest advice is to plan your trip to Paris.
We stayed in Paris for 6 days, 5 nights. The first stop, The Mob hotel what a unique hotel experience. A soulful and tender-hearted hotel hidden tucked away in the back streets of Lu Puces St Ouen, known for it’s huge flea market ‘The Saint Open Flea market’, you can find part bizarre antiques and rare collectables here, just north of the 18th Arrondissement, that been operating in some form since the Middle Ages. This hotel gave me all the feels, with a running theme of; art, culture, and music throughout all parts of this very characterful place to stay, expect to be bopping your heads into the 80’s-90’s R’N’B era as you have your breakfast at their insanely delicious organic run restaurant/pizzeria Karlito.
They don’t have t.v’s in the bedrooms, encouraging non digital influences to surround you during your stay; WIN. This hotel is 100% children-friendly whilst having all the quirky amenities at your finger tips. Quoted by The Mob Hotel themselves; SHHHH don’t tell the tourists!- this isn’t your typical hotel. With straw huts, a rooftop summer bar, private outdoor terraces and sun decks – they host a live stage and open air cinema in the evenings, a orange door with a iron dragon door knocker, the hotel feels safe and enclosed. In a quiet little neighbourhood 5 minutes away from the metro station.
Back story; the first Mob hotel sat in New York on Atlantic Avenue, just as a meeting place for creative communities – The Mob hotel was created in the spirit of the people which aligns with me and my philosophy in life!
The Mob Hotel checked all the boxes for me, to think I wanted to stay at the Shang Ri La for the fifth time. This is not “just another” establishment jumping on the ‘ecological way of life’ bandwagon, they DO commit to this statement of let us be better for the planet – with chicken coops on the roof terrace of the hotel which Lucas found fascinating and wanted to visit every morning *scrunches mother of all lie in face*. The produce from their restaurant is sourced from trusted agricultural co-operation, and they believe in paying a fair price and I stand solid on this – thank you Mob hotel.
We definitely did not plan to eat at the hotel but had the entirety of our meals, housed by the hotel’s restaurant Karlito, the pizza was carb and cheese heaven, hands down one of the best pizzas. They served your Continental Paris breakfast with croissants and ‘boil your own egg’ concept, I found the breakfast a little scarce city, serving platters were quickly hoovered and not really re-plattered. I do love a good hearty breakfast, set up my day I am and will always be a massive foodie as you will learn to know, who isn’t hungry first thing in the morning?! considering the fairly dear price to pay so a little sad about the hotels restaurant nevertheless, the pizza’s made up for this. They have their very own chief whose forte was freshly sourced seafood dishes.
Heading over to Disney Land early morning – the highlight for Lucas and don’t tell anyone (myself included!) The vibrant parade show at the start of every morning will definitely get you in the Disney spirits, then there is the firework display at night which was Lucas’s favourite – make sure to look ahead as there is a specific timetable for the parade and firework display, especially the fireworks at night which usually begin as late as 11 pm, be wary of this so you might want to plan your actual day. I would say a whole day was a substantial amount of time to do just about everything in the park itself, although two would suffice better if you had more kids with you. Also, fast track will save you time and hassle and everyone wants an easy life, so if you can book fast track tickets on the rides I would highly recommend so you don’t end up waiting in the sweltering heat if you go in the Summer, bottle of water is a must! We stuck to a trusted no fuss hotel the Ibis nearer Disney Land, they had bunk beds which the smallest thing kept Lucas very amused. From Disney Land we took a cheeky unprecedented trip to Canne just for a day, we flew a domestic flight and hired a car, stayed in a lovely air bnb in La Croix Des Garden, by this point we were pooped and it was a lovely city to get some sea breeze and stick our feet in Palm Beach Cannes sea water.
Seeing the Eiffel Tower at night was magical you can never underestimate the magnificence that is the Eiffel Tower at night when it lights up – it’s some kind of spectacular. In true awe, Lucas insisted on his obligatory photo with the Eiffel Tower. We took the metro which is 5 minutes from the hotel – very handy.
Our days were spent exploring Paris, taking us to the Jardin du Luxembourg great park for a pit stop to wind down. Musée d’Orsay and Les Catacombes as Lucas is a bit of a halloween enthusiast and keen on anything horror-esque, obviously not for everyone but really fascinating to visit.
I always visit The Merci store situated Boulevard Beaumarchais every visit to Paris, travelling via the Metro Filled Du Calvaire is the nearest metro station 5 minute walking distance as you exit the station. I know nobody comes to France to eat burgers pffff but want a good Burger joint on the way back from the Merci Store is blend Burger – super enjoyed a little refresh here it’s a kind of a first come first basis and it proves quite popular during lunch hours. You can pretty much make a day of it and walk around Place de la Bastille and Le Marais get lost in the streets- obviously with kids not ideal but you can really make a day of it if everyone is fulled up!
I leave Lucas up to his imagination – to observe everything around him to never close his eyes! You will find local amenities like cafes and restaurants nearby for a break. The metro trains are quite the experience – cool thing to experience but maybe not on a hot summers day.
Pack like a pro
Want to pack efficiently do this:
There are a few many ways to pack like the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 method/mantra. If the thought of packing breaks you in a little bit of a sweat worry no longer, I have you covered!
First, you will need: Packing cubes, they are super inexpensive you can find some from Amazon or Muji. All dependent of how many of you travelling you would need 14 small packing cubes for 1 person/child. You can view on my cheatsheet how to strategically pack each packing cube in each suitcase. All based on how many suitcases and persons travelling. You can coincide my kids capsule wardrobe cheatsheet with how to pack efficiently cheatsheet.
Ultimate hack * Mix up suitcases with every persons clothes hence why we also use the packing cubes, why? I have learnt a great many times short city breaks and long 10 day holidays is to mix up suitcases with everyones clothes – for the worst case scenario your languages goes missing and is lost! Trust me – you may thank me later!
We easily forget the smallest things like plane rules when you check in and we all know how stressful checking in can be! *Remember to get 100 ml bottles for travelling and if you decide to carry liquids on with you on the plane, boots have these lovely silicone ones now silicone easily beats out plastic as a safer, non-toxic, and more eco-friendly alternative.
Allow a lot of time beforehand zen down, nice meal before getting on the plane, we leave at least 2-3 hours before our scheduled time so we can just spend some time to unwind have a nice hearty meal together – we all know how sometimes yo can starve on the journey so you want to set yourself up.
If I am missing anything do pardon but finally, TURN ON ROAMING before travelling, sometimes this involves calling your mobile provider – I stupidly forget to do this trip and couldn’t even use my mobile to call leaving me a little stressed to say the least.
You can definitely improvise my method as you go along, you can follow the main skeleton of my method which is making everything compact and easy to find (whilst thinking ahead if worst case scenario you loose any of your luggage’s whilst travelling)
The main focus of my method is 1. You care categorising each types of item in small packing cubes 2. Dividing each category split into two placing one cube on one suitcase and the other in another suitcase in the case a luggage goes missing AND to keep things in one place – everyone wants an easy life!
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