Off To Paris With Your Tween!

Source: Tween Parent Staff

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Going to Paris sounds like quite an extravagance - it's hard to debate that. But, extravagance doesn't need to come in the form of a wallet-draining vacation! There are many ways to create and experience a special trip that won't break the bank, even to Paris. First, going off-season can help; there are many travel deals to be found in winter/early spring, when the tourist season hasn't really taken hold yet. And, in this economy, with less travelers overall, there are generally more choices (especially among hotels that want to fill rooms). On top of that, if you have flexibility in your schedule or you don't have to plan far ahead, last minute deals can be a great option. And, since schools have different break schedules, there isn't one specific time to avoid travel.

**Don't forget to ensure that passports are up-to-date (remember that children's passports are only valid for five years)**

Start With a Good Deal

Check your frequent flyer miles programs and/or credit card points to see if they can be applied to airline tickets and possibly hotel.
Check with airline websites (in the special fares and deals section, see links below) to see if they have fare sales or vacation packages. And, for the future, consider signing up for their periodic e-newsletters so that you'll be alerted when new offers are introduced (e.g., Delta, American, Continental, United, etc.). Vacation packages often offer the option of transfers to/from your hotel - a good choice.
Contact a travel agent who's willing to do the research and make recommendations.
If you weren't able to purchase a vacation that included both airfare and hotel, you might want to investigate special accommodation deals by exploring online. As an aside, I found that staying in a Westin (or another semi-American hotel) offered great amenities, like a fitness center, room service, hearty breakfast, etc. that some of the more traditional French boutique hotels usually don't (a plus for my tween).
- You can begin by searching the internet for "Paris hotel deals" to get a sense of what promotions are available.
- You can also search for "Paris apartment rentals" if you'd prefer having a kitchen and the experience of "living" in Paris.
Depending on where you're flying from, plan a departure time that will maximize sleep on the way over. For example, from the east coast, I chose a flight that left well after my daughter's normal bedtime. I knew that, given the excitement level, she would be too charged up to fall asleep at her normal time. By boarding the plane in a tired state, she dropped off just after take-off and slept the entire seven-hour trip.

Pack and Plan

As a parent of a tween, you know that the best plan is to start off by managing your own expectations and also managing theirs - a practical step to create harmony for all! Figure out your priorities and how they mesh with your preteen's agenda. For example, it was important to me to walk as much as possible to experience the city and enjoy the architecture and culture of the city. Since my tween isn't a big-time walker, at the point of booking the trip, I discussed that Paris is a "walking city" (which meant that we wouldn't be taking cabs). My compromise came in the form of taking a couple of cabs when the weather wasn't good and using the metro when the walk was too long.
A couple of weeks ahead, it's a good idea that each traveler create a packing list. That way, as "don't forgets" pop up, they can be jotted down on a list.
Visit the travel section of a bookstore or library, search online, ask friends, speak with the hotel's concierge (if you're staying at a large hotel) to get a sense of the activities that would be most appealing for you and your tween. Once you get a sense of your interests, dig a little deeper to find an interesting "hook" for your tween. For example, in preparing to visit the Versailles Chateau (the former palace of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette), I printed out a high-level history with interesting tidbits of information (e.g., Marie Antoinette was married at 14 years old and was beheaded as a result of the French Revolution at the ripe old age of 37).
Plan to have your tween tote along some form of entertainment (e.g., iPod, iTouch, book, etc.) so she/he can take a break if you would like additional time at a location and your tween needs a break. By the way, I never thought I'd suggest the aforementioned, but it was a saving grace. When I saw my tween yawning while surrounded by Monet's Water Lilies, I knew I had made the right choice to have her bring her iTouch!
Do everything you can to minimize napping when you arrive at your hotel. Though jet lag on the way over is hard to avoid, everyone will do better if they try to acclimate to the new time zone as quickly as possible.

Attractions and Activities

If I were traveling in my pre-child days or with other adults, I'd be out of the hotel early and return late. The compromise with my tween was to cut that in half! As excited as she was, a full day of sightseeing would be overwhelming to her. Also, as much as I'd like to have visited multiple museums and admire history and architecture each day, we cut that back to one or two museums each day for about an hour and strolled along the way. We mixed in café stops, window gazing, souvenir shopping, metro rides to new neighborhoods and all was good!
Unless you have an utterly patient tween, plan dinners at brasseries or bistros instead of gourmet restaurants, which consider the dining experience to be an event, sometimes taking several hours.
Stick to small museums that don't require a large investment of time and don't appear to be overwhelming. Good choices to consider: Picasso museum, Rodin museum, L'Orangerie museum.
Visit the majestic Eiffel Tour. It's breathtaking. Your tween might like to go up the tour at night and enjoy the city of lights!
Take a Segway tour of Paris. It's really fun to drive (they're the small platforms with two large wheels and a handlebar). It's a great way to cover some territory and tweens LOVE the independence of driving their own.
Take a boat cruise down the Seine on Bateaux-Mouches. It's corny but great.
Visit the Catacombs - it's creepy and interesting! In the late 1700s, a nearby cemetery was closed for public health reasons and the remains had to be relocated. The new location was a former quarry 200 meters below the street. The bones artfully line the walls of the maze-like tunnel.
Walk through Le Marais area, which is a hip neighborhood that features shops, galleries, cafes and fun people watching. Nearby is the Pompidou Centre. It's a thoroughly modern building with a modern art museum. Best of all, it's built from the inside out, so all the duct work and inner workings of the building are on the outside and painted in bright colors.
Visit the Sacre-Coeur (the tallest point in Paris) and the Montmartre neighborhood. It's very hilly and touristy, but it's lively and offers a fabulous vantage point in the city. It's the location that the great impressionists frequented for inspiration.
If you're interested in a side trip, visit Versailles, the over-the-top, opulent chateau built as a hunting lodge for King Louis XIII and renovated to splendor by King Louis XIV in 1682. It's an hour trip by train from Paris.

Logistical Tips

Rather than worry about exchanging dollars for euros ahead of time, plan to use your ATM card just as you would in the U.S. to withdraw cash, especially if you have pre-arranged transportation from the airport as a part of your package, where you won't need cash. You'll avoid lines and perhaps get a better exchange rate. The same applies to using your credit card for purchases.
Check with your cell phone company to determine the impact of using your phone in Paris. For example, with my iPhone, I disabled a roaming feature and only used free wi-fi that I was able to tap into. And, I knew that I could send text messages at $.50 per text message, and did so sparingly. FYI, my tween thought it was really funny to stop in McDonalds - and they offer free wi-fi!
The metro is very easy to navigate, clean, safe and reasonably priced. Once you refer to a metro map, you'll notice that the direction is always labeled by the last stop on the line (rather than uptown, downtown, etc.).
Contrary to popular belief, as a rule, most French folks don't dislike Americans! If you familiarize yourselves with a few key phrases, and appear appreciative, you shouldn't have any issues. Rather than approaching someone and asking your question in English, first ask if they speak English! You can say, "Bonjour, Parlez Vous Anglais?" (read: Bone Jore, Parlay Vu Onglay). That way, you have extended the courtesy of attempting to say something in French!
A gratuity of 15% is included at restaurants; you can choose to leave more, but it's not expected.
Get a good sense of the exchange rate for Euros to Dollars. That way, you'll know be able to roughly estimate costs without having to walk around with a calculator.

Most of all, have fun!!! Au Revoir...