How I saw Paris in a whole new light
When a mother-daughter trip to Paris becomes a collaborative effort, you’ll both experience the City of Light in amazing new ways. Kaitlin, 12, loves to bake, so we booked a pastry-making class at the Ritz Paris. Fancy, fun and fantastique.
We combined high and low dining experiences. The crème de la crème was a lunch we’ll never forget at top chef Alain Ducasse’s Jules Verne atop the Eiffel Tower, which we could see from our windows at La Reserve Paris Apartments (from about $2,500). These modern apartments, ideal for families, were our home away from home in Trocadéro.
We also loved Carette, the classic, affordable Parisian cafe near the apartment. There’s also the elegant La Reserve Paris Hotel and Spa, set in a 19th-century mansion, between the Champs-Élysées and Faubourg Saint-Honore. The restaurant, where we met Paris-based food writer and Post contributor Alec Lobrano, was simply perfection. Wander Le Marais for classic Jewish treats at Sacha Finkelsztajn and falafels at L’As Du Fallafel.
I could have stayed at the Picasso museum forever, but we needed to stop by streetwear brand Supreme for my son, Braden.
We love the city’s oldest square, Place des Vosges, where Kaitlin saw her French counterparts roller skate and play badminton.
Our next move was to Hotel Barrière Le Fouquet, just off the Champs-Élysées (from about $960). The hotel has undergone a first-rate renovation, with unusually large rooms (for Paris). Its bar and restaurant serve as a a chic meeting spot for Parisians. (Then book Spa Diane Barrière’s heavenly signature oil treatment for just before the airplane-dry flight home.)
Walk to L’Avenue for good food and better people-watching, and hop a bus to beautiful Parc André Citroën for a mini hot-air balloon ride (just $13.50!).
Capture moments at the Musée d’Orsay, with its Instagrammable clock. The Louvre is also a must, on every trip, along with Angelina’s for hot chocolate. Then walk it off through the Tuileries gardens.
Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots were on Kaitlin’s must-eat list. Then we walked through the Left Bank’s antique dealers and art galleries, like Galerie Hegoa, then displaying works by ex-Le Monde photographer Gil Rigoulet.
Ride on the “big wheel” at Place de la Concorde, preferably at sunset. (Parisians hate it, but your kids will love it.) Then cruise down the Seine under the sparkling light of the Eiffel Tower and walk home at midnight.
A gymnast, Kaitlin performed her aerial moves in front of the Eiffel Tower (and everywhere) — as normally reserved Parisians cheered her on.
Most importantly, get lost. The city will embrace you, inspire you, help you discover new things and keep enticing you — and your kids — return, over and over again.