F Train to Paris

In which a Jewish family from Brooklyn moves to Paris, France for two years of work, school, and adventures.

I have about 20 minutes before Shabbat to write this post, and I'm determined to use this time to give you a sense of what our last couple of weeks in Paris have felt like. The weeks have flown past, but the days are long.

The older boys are long gone, as you know, and Ralph has been working in NY for the past two weeks; he got home just today. E. and I have had this lovely rhythm--quiet mornings working purposefully to organize the apartment (mostly me), followed by afternoon outings and playdates. I accomplished a lot, and I am almost ready to welcome the movers, who arrive on Monday to begin packing us up. (However, if you walked into our apartment right now, you'd never be able to guess that we're moving out in a few days.)

I also spent way too much time in front of the computer planning the road trip we will take once our belongings have been shipped off to NY. We will leave Paris on July 24th and head east, spending a couple of weeks traveling around Champagne, Alsace, the Black Forest, the Jura, and the Rhone-Alpes. Then we'll zip across the country to spend a couple of nights in the Dordogne, and wind up our trip with a visit to our friends Boris and Emanuelle in the Charente. I booked us into an assortment of hotels, chambre d'hotes (French b&b's), and campgrounds along the way. I will try to find an Internet connection here and there so I can post about the trip.

But back to Paris. This wonderful city is so full of things to do that you can spend two years here, determinedly exploring, and feel like you've barely scratched the surface. In the past two weeks, E. and I have discovered several new attractions and revisited old favorites. In fact, if you have a week to spend in Paris with a six-year-old (or thereabouts) this summer, you could do worse than follow in our footsteps. Here are some highlights, organized thematically:

Parks/playgrounds:
--Our local fave, Jardins de Ranelagh in the 16th (metro La Muette). One of Paris' great, underrated parks, with plenty of grass for picnics and soccer (no guard will ever throw you off the grass here!), two playgrounds, a fantastic manually-operated carrousel with rings to collect on your baton, a great puppet theater, and even ping pong tables.
--The Poussin Vert playground at Jardins de Luxembourg. It costs 4 euros for a kid and parent to enter, but it's worth it. Lots of great climbing structures for all ages. Crowded, however, and full of tourists--I heard more English in one Sunday afternoon here than in two years of regular visits to Ranelagh.
--Parc Andre Citroen (15th). On a really hot day, put on your bathing suits, parents and kids, and come here to play in the fountains.
--Jardin des Tuileries. There's a great playground here, on the north side of the park about halfway between Concorde and the Carrousel arch, with climbing toys you've never seen anywhere else. Great for older kids, too. Also, all summer long there's a carnival along the northern side of the Tuileries. It's really trashy (except for the ferris wheel with great views of Paris), but the kids love it.

Museums:
--You must go to the Shadows exhibit in the children's space at the Centre Pompidou. Just go.
--E. learned about Henri Matisse at school this year, so we went to the Musee de Luxembourg to see the Matisse expo. It's all about his later works, including the Jazz series. E. and his friends set up their own sketching workshop on the floor and did some wonderful drawings.

Restaurants:
Some kid friendly places, mostly in our own 'hood...
--Dino's (chaussee de la muette, 16th): good, somewhat upscale Italian food, opens for dinner early and is quite kid friendly. Great pizza, pasta, and desserts.
--Matsuri (rue de Passy, 16th): sushi on a conveyor belt! The food is actually pretty good, and it's fun to pick your food as it rolls by. Go early--by 8pm it's quite crowded. That's true of Dino's too.
--Micky's Deli (rue des Rosiers, 4th): great kosher burgers in the Marais.

I hope to have a chance to post once more before the computer is packed up. If not, a bientot! And Shabbat Shalom.

posted by: pariskleinmans at 19:42 | link | comments (2) |

Comments:

#1  17 July 2005 - 21:42

 

I'm going to miss your ideas about where to go with a little kid in Paris! Your energy and delight in exploring this great city is inspirational. Will you keep it up in NY? We'll be off to see the Shadows exhibit this week, thanks to your note above. à bientôt.

SciMama

#2  17 July 2005 - 23:04

 

Let me know what you think of Shadows. We stumbled over it on a trip to Pompidou to see some Chagalls (which we didn't find), and E. loved it so much we had to visit it twice. Wish we could see you again before we leave!

pariskleinmans

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