Paris

As our Air France flight disembarked from San Francisco I had to pinch myself a little: we were finally off to Europe! In spite of COVID and a significant portion of the planet being prevented from leaving their home countries, the European Union in June finally decided to welcome tourists. In these times it’s always a little tricky to navigate the various border restrictions, but the French government made it decidedly straightforward for us to travel: all we needed was our US-issued COVID vaccine cards and we were off. The other EU countries all generally adopted similar measures, and for the most part unvaccinated children under the age of 12 are completely exempt from any kind of testing as of the time of writing. That said, I was definitely a little nervous checking in at San Francisco International, as I’ve learned over the years never to underestimate just how much an airline ticketing agent can screw up one’s plans if they’re having a bad day. Fortunately my concerns were in no way warranted: it was about the easiest check in and departure for an international flight I’ve ever experienced.

Mild turbulence kept me awake for the entire 10 hour flight from San Francisco to Paris, fortunately the kids slept a few hours but we were all pretty zonked upon landing (especially given our bodies thought it was 2AM!). Poor little Max ate something that didn’t agree with him somewhere along the way and vomited no less than seven times between the time the plane touched down and the time we arrived in central Paris. Usually Lisa and I would patiently wait while he got it out of his system, but I was a little paranoid an airport official was going to see a sick child and stick us in quarantine for two weeks! Little man was grey by the time we left Charles de Gaulle Airport, he couldn’t keep his eyes open and slept on his backpack the entire train ride into Paris.

We stayed in a tiny (tiny even by Parisian standards) apartment in Paris’ second arrondissement, it was a fantastic central location within walking distance of a lot of Paris’ most famous attractions. Rue Saint-Denis – where our apartment was located – was a hive of activity with brasseries, bars, kebab shops and even a few red light establishments (I’m glad the kids didn’t take too much notice and start asking questions about the “10€ popper” shows being advertised next to the red curtains…). We had a few rain showers on our first day in town, but had fun exploring the area around our apartment as we willed ourselves to stay awake until it was bedtime. Parisians certainly know how to enjoy life: every evening starting at around 7PM the brasseries and bars would start filling up, their streetside tables jam packed by 8PM. There were scores of eateries and bars along Rue Saint-Denis and every night it was standing room only as we strolled along the sidewalks. Max’s favorite drinking hole was a spot called Player One right outside our apartment. As the name suggests, it was themed with the science fiction Ready Player One movie in mind, mixing video games with cocktails and beers. All one had to do was buy a drink and all of us could play Street Fighter and Mario Kart until our eyes turned square.

Paris with kids isn’t like Paris with adults: Lisa and I didn’t want to instill a hatred of the city into the kids by dragging them along to all the famous museums and art galleries. I don’t want to even entertain the idea of Wild Man in the same room as the Mona Lisa. No bueno. So instead we enjoyed our time in Paris with a series of walking tours of some of the main attractions coupled with stops at cafes, brasseries and the occasional gelato establishment along the way. The culinary delights along the open air market of Rue Mouffetard got all our stomachs rumbling one morning when we explored the fifth arrondissement: everything from exquisite seafood to cheese stores and butchers with some delectable looking beef and lamb.

Our walking tours visited most of the main attractions that make Paris famous: the Eiffel Tower, the Pantheon, Musée du Louvre, Champs Elysées, Arc de Triomphe… The metro was an exceptionally easy way to get around, but even with the subway’s assistance we walked 10.9 miles/17.5 kilometers around the city on one of our days in residence. So sad to see Notre Dame cloaked in construction apparatus after the fire that ripped through the cathedral in 2019. Last time I was in Paris we attended midnight mass on Christmas Eve at Notre Dame, it was such an awe inspiring church, I trust the French will restore it to its former glory in time for the Paris 2024 summer olympics (that’s the schedule Emmanuel Macron has set for the reconstruction).

Lisa planned out a fun morning for the kids one day at one of Paris’ largest parks while I took care of some train tickets and our digital EU COVID passports. On the latter, we generally didn’t have any problems using our US-issued CDC vaccination cards in Paris, but given the amount of time we plan to spend in Europe, having an EU COVID certificate will make visiting some countries in the EU significantly more straightforward if movement rules stay as they are. I was told that doctors and pharmacists had the ability to manually enter foreign COVID vaccination data into the French system in order to issue an EU COVID certificate, but none of the seven pharmacists I asked was willing to do it for me. I hit the jackpot at a mass vaccination center while the kids and Lisa were atJardin du Luxembourg, the helpful staff there directed me to a hospital where they issued Lisa and I digital EU COVID certificates in the span of about 15 minutes. The QR codes on them are now stored in a digital wallet on our phones, and will make our lives over the next few months a hell of a lot easier.

Even visiting Paris without kids, the exquisitely manicured Jardin du Luxembourg and adjoining Luxembourg Palace is worth a visit. It was a very relaxing place to sit and watch the world go by, the tranquil 23 hectares/57 acres of gardens must take an army of personnel to keep it looking so presentable. I think the kids would still be there whizzing back and forth on the playground’s flying fox if we’d let them.

Esplanade de La Défense in Paris’ western flank was an ultra-modern contrast to the old world of Central Paris. The glistening skyscrapers bearing names of multinationals were coupled with some fun modern art sculptures along the esplanade traversing La Défense’s center. Lilia’s favorite was the gold balls pictured below, while Max was enamored with a piece of art that was a glass prism containing thousands of feathers that would intermittently be shuffled by a hidden fan. All the permanent exhibits were interesting, but I think my favorite was a small cottage that was constructed laying on its side. Everything inside and out – event the plants inside – was carefully crafted at a perfect right angle to how it would be if left to gravity. The only item that was right side up was a mannequin of a small child with a green pumpkin on its head (pictured about halfway through the gallery below). Very creative. La Grande Arche de la Défense was also very impressive to see in the flesh, the cube’s 360 foot/110 meter span had me walking a long way from it in order to get it in the camera’s frame, even with a wide angle lens. In the first photo below the people sitting on the steps underneath the cube give an idea of its size.

We sampled everything from streetside kebab vendors to haute cuisine during our time in Paris, so many interesting tastes and smells. The one adventure I want to note was our night out at Aux Bons Crus in the eleventh arrondissement. I had read about the restaurant in an Eater article on Paris and figured it would be an ideal spot to expose the kids to traditional French food. Aux Bons Crus menu constantly changes based on the season, chanterelles were featured as part of many of the specials when we visited so Lisa made sure to sample one of them for her main (delectable poached cod with chanterelles). The kids ordered pasta with a creamy black truffle sauce and absolutely devoured it, it was so rich, I don’t think I could have downed the entire plate. With two children that enjoy black truffles and raw oysters, I may now have to rethink my retirement strategy… The artichoke heart – probably the biggest I’d ever seen – with a slab of foie gras was delicious, I could still taste it coating my mouth hours later. A very memorable experience, so fun to see Max and Lilia embracing all the new flavors.

With stomachs full and beautiful weather, we walked back to Rue Saint-Denis from Aux Bons Crus instead of taking the metro. It was a magic sunset when we reached Place de la République and the square was alive with people. There were scores of skateboarders wheeling around and DJs blared out music across the plaza for hundreds of people dancing to everything from salsa to traditional American rock and roll as the sun set. We could have stayed there and people watched for hours. As I said, the Parisians certainly know how to enjoy life.