# Paris/Nice dining and activities with teenage son



## glenn1000 (Jul 22, 2010)

I am taking our 14 year old son to Paris for five days then Nice for two days. We are staying in Montparnasse, at the Meridien Montparnasse, and are looking for ideas on good places to eat. I have a rough itinerary (below) that includes several Paris Walks since we enjoyed the London Walks (same company) so much. We'd appreciate any ideas on dining or activities in Paris and/or the Riviera.  

Saturday, August 7
•	Arc de Triomphe
•	Champs Elysee
•	Walk along the Seine
•	Notre Dame
•	Latin Quarter
•	Isle St. Louis (Bertillion ice cream)
•	Paris Walks 230PM: The French Revolution

Sunday, August 8
•	Tuilleries 
•	Luxemborg Gardens
•	Monparnasse 
•	Louvre (9am-945pm)
•	Paris Walks 1030PM: Paris During Occupation and Liberation

Monday, August 9
•	Paris Walks1030AM, Cite and Notre Dame
•	Sewers of Paris ?
•	Eiffel Tower
•	Bateau Mouche

Tuesday, August 10
•	Versailles

Wednesday, August 11
•	Paris Walks 1030am, Montmartre
•	Army Museum, Napoleon's Tomb

Thursday, August 12
•	Train to Nice

Friday, August 13
•	Nice beach

Saturday, August 14
•	Cannes beach


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## Laurie (Jul 22, 2010)

Sounds like fun - hope you've got some good walkin' shoes! 

Do you and your son like boeuf bourguignon? There was a little restaurant on Isle St Louis that we loved, I'll look up the name if so (then walk out the door and have ice cream for dessert).

Do a night cruise on the Seine - the Eiffel Tower is prettiest then... the boats often full of young folks...

Think about going to Versailles on Sat or Sun instead of Tues, if you want to see the fountains flowing - we really enjoyed it:  

from 
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/prep...rates/billets-et-tarifs/les-grandes-eaux-1-en

Grandes Eaux musicales

Set off to explore the fountains with their jets of water and the wooded groves to the rhythm of the music. The paths stretch in several directions. Whichever you choose, you will be able to admire the Garden's many masterpieces. Keen gardeners and anyone with time to spare can penetrate as far as the most secret places in the garden. 

Dates and times:
Saturdays and Sundays from 3 April to 31 October 2010, with the fountains working from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 3.30 to 5 p.m. 

Extra dates: Friday 2 April, Thursday 13 May and Wednesday 14 July, as well as Tuesdays between 25 May and 29 June 2010. 

Note, the opening times are different on Tuesdays: 
Fountains working from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2.30 to 4 p.m. 

Prices :
- Passport: Grandes Eaux Musicales, entry to the Château, the Trianons and Marie-Antoinette's Estate: €25 Book online
- Grandes Eaux Musicales only: €8, tickets available at the entrance to the gardens 
Reductions: ages 6 to 18: €6, tickets available at the entrance to the gardens 
- Free: ages 0 to 5


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## Laurie (Jul 22, 2010)

One more idea for a 14-year-old:

If you don't have a Natural History Museum where you live - we enjoyed the Paris one a lot, the gallery with the dinosaurs. It's in one corner of the Jardin des Plantes.


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## jlwquilter (Jul 23, 2010)

WOW! You are packing it in! Good for you. Plan more and do less if needed is my motto too  

Just curious... why would you go to Notre Dame and such on Saturday of you will be doing the walking tour on Monday? I know nothing about the walking tours so this might be an stupid question.

If you want to climb to the top of Notre Dame, you want to be there FIRST THING  on your chosen day. Like 9am or a bit after. I assume you've read TripAdvisor? They were very helpful to me when I went a few months ago.


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## glenn1000 (Jul 24, 2010)

Laurie- thanks for your ideas. We'd love the name of the place that serves boeuf bourguignon. Sounds great! The Bateau Mouche is the cruise on the Seine and we plan to do that at night. I switched Versailles to Sunday since the fountains would be wonderful to see. We've been to Natural History museums in Washington and NYC within the past couple of years so probably will not do that.

jlquilter- I added the walking tours after I already had the rough itinerary done. You are right that Notre Dame only needs to be done once. 

Here is the revised itinerary. I'd really appreciate any advice as as well as more suggestions for places to eat and things to do on the Riviera for two days without a car besides the beach:

Saturday, August 7
•	Arc de Triomphe (metro: CDG Etoile)
•	Champs Elysee
•	Walk along the Seine
•	Latin Quarter
•	Isle St. Louis (Bertillion ice cream)
•	Paris Walks230PM: The French Revolution, metro Palais Royale, main art nouveau exit by rue du Rivoli

Sunday, August 8
•	Versailles (rer c @ musee d’orsay)
•	Paris Walks 1030PM: Paris During Occupation and Liberation, metro Tuilleries by garden entrance

Monday, August 9
•	Paris Walks1030AM, Cite and Notre Dame, meet at metro Cite
•	Sewers of Paris
•	Eiffel Tower (metro: Trocadero, Ecole Militaire or Bir Hakim)
•	Bateau Mouche- Seine boat tour at night

Tuesday, August 10
•	Tuilleries 
•	Luxemborg Gardens (kid’s park)
•	Reid Hall
•	Monparnasse 
•	Louvre (9am-945pm)

Wednesday, August 11
•	Paris Walks 1030am, Montmartre, meet metro Abbesses
•	Montmartre (metro: Anvers, walk up rue Steinkerque)- portrait
•	Army Museum, Napoleon's Tomb

Thursday, August 12
•	Train to Nice

Friday, August 13
•	Nice beach

Saturday, August 14
•	Cannes beach

Sunday, August 15
•	Fly home


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## glypnirsgirl (Jul 24, 2010)

Hi - One of our top 5 favorite restaurants is La Bouride in Nice. It is right by the docks where the fishermen dock their boats. "La Bouride" is the Nice version of Bouillabaise with a swirl of garlic aioli (which they call something else that starts with a "r". We love La Bouride, the fish there is as fresh as the location implies. Our favorite dessert, which is not always available, is Creme Brulee a la Chicory. AMAZING!

Walking around Cap d'Antibes is loads of fun. It is a walled city from ancient Grecian times, not just Roman times. There are several great restaurants within the walled city. I cannot recall the name of them off of the top of my head. 

Near the Musee Chagal are Roman ruins where you can see their water system and tracks from their chariots.

We really never had anything but delicious food while in Nice. Even the restaurant near the train station which did not appear to be anything special had very tasty sandwiches.

Ian and I spent our honeymoon in Nice and had a fabulous time.

elaine


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## Laurie (Jul 24, 2010)

glenn1000 said:


> Laurie- thanks for your ideas. We'd love the name of the place that serves boeuf bourguignon. Sounds great!


I looked thru the pix (this is how I record stuff nowadays) the name is Aux Anysetiers du Roy at 61 Rue St louis, here's Trip Advisor reviews:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...y_Restaurant-Paris_Ile_de_France.html#REVIEWS

We became major fans of this dish during our first trip to France when we stayed near Roquebrune just east of Nice (at Le Golfe Bleu).  The town Roquebrune is a wonderful little medieval town with a castle, and we ate at the restaurant which I think was called La Roquebrune. It doesn't sound like you'll have time for that and I don't know whether it's still there, but if you happen by, you might see if you can find it.

BTW we weren't wowed by beaches at Nice or Cannes - better coast around Antibes, and way better coast (IMO) south of Cannes, between Cannes and St Raphael. 

Also back in the other direction, the Roquebrune way (east) is the old Roman site of La Turbie, and we had fun climbing around these ruins.

Edited to add: we also liked beaches around Cap-Martin, between Menton and Monaco.


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## jhpetri (Jul 25, 2010)

*France with Teen*

I will give a second for Antibes and Jean-les-Pins. It's a short distance from Nice. Good beach and ancient town.

Just got back from Europe with teens and they got tired of cities and were looking for things a little more laid back. If you haven't already booked your train to Nice, you could consider Arles and some other smaller towns in Provence.

Just some ideas. Hope you have as much fun as we did.


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## glenn1000 (Jul 25, 2010)

I really appreciate the advice! I have modified our itinerary a bit. I have two places to eat in Paris over five nights and two in the Rivera over three nights so any restaurant tips would be great. I think it's coming together nicely. We'll see how we do once we get there. Please post any thoughts- we leave in a week and a half  :

Saturday, August 7
•	Arc de Triomphe (metro: CDG Etoile)
•	Champs Elysee
•	Walk along the Seine
•	Latin Quarter
•	Paris Walks230PM: The French Revolution
•	Isle St. Louis (dinner: Aux Anysetiers du Roy at 61 Rue St Louis for Boeuf Bourginion then Bertillion for ice cream)

Sunday, August 8
•	Versailles (rer c @ musee d’orsay)
•	Paris Walks 1030PM: Paris During Occupation and Liberation

Monday, August 9
•	Paris Walks1030AM, Cite and Notre Dame
•	Sewers of Paris ?
•	Eiffel Tower (metro: Trocadero, Ecole Militaire or Bir Hakim)
•	Bateau Mouche- Seine boat tour at night

Tuesday, August 10
•	Tuilleries 
•	Luxemborg Gardens
•	Reid Hall
•	Monparnasse 
•	Louvre (9am-945pm)

Wednesday, August 11
•	Paris Walks 1030am, Montmartre
•	Montmartre (metro: Anvers, walk up rue Steinkerque)- portrait
•	Army Museum, Napoleon's Tomb
•	Steak dinner at Robert et Louise, Restaurant de Feu, 64 rue Veille du Temple, 75003, metro: Hotel de Ville

Thursday, August 12
•	Train to Nice
•	dinner: La Bouride by the docks

Friday, August 13
•	Nice/Antibes beach
•	dinner: Cap d'Antibes within the walled city

Saturday, August 14
•	Cap Martin beach ?

Sunday, August 15
•	Fly home


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## glypnirsgirl (Jul 26, 2010)

I went back and checked my notes. The Roman ruins are actually by the Musee Matisse - and they are practically in the backyard of the museum. 

elaine


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## Laurie (Jul 26, 2010)

glenn1000 said:


> Saturday, August 14
> •	Cap Martin beach ?


So I was trying to remember exact beach situation in the area (it's been 8 years since our trip?), and while I haven't found those pictures, what I do recall is the picturesque beach in Roquebrune next to Cap Martin, the intense color of the water right there (thus the name Le Golfe Bleu) and the coastal walk we took from there to Monte Carlo/Monaco, past the marina with the zillion-dollar yachts and to the Royal Palace.  

I don't know whether Royal Palaces are of interest since you've been to London, but we thought the changing of guards in Monaco was fun, especially with the backdrop of that Mediterranean scenery. (We also walked past the famous casino and enjoyed watching the numerous *very* expensive cars tooling around...   )

This end of the Riviera is green and hilly/steep, with cypress trees, pines, palms etc. (The cities of Nice and Cannes are flatter, with traffic driving right by their beaches.)  

So an idea could be Monaco palace and/or whatever else in Monaco- in addition to marina, casino/car-watching, there's also a great garden but not sure if that'd be up his alley), coastal walk, take a dip at that beach, (then if still very energetic, the ruined castle atop Roquebrune - I confess to being smitten with this town, it was so scenic - I'd seen pictures and it was even better in person - it's walkable but would be a climb), bus back - there's cheap and frequent bus service right up the hill from that beach (or down the hill from the castle), back to Nice. Or in reverse depending on time of guard-changing if you wanted to do that. I think we had to go back into Monaco a second time to catch the timing.

Or maybe you want beach only, to relax b4 the trip home!

Edited to add: here's a mention of this path and pic
www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europ...ransportation-Roquebrune_Cap_Martin-BR-1.html

More pix of area:
www.roquebrune-cap-martin.com/index.php?s=1&p=phototheque (watch slide show)
www.roquebrune-cap-martin.com

Also - in Antibes, very nice Picasso museum- not sure if that was mentioned, or how much your son likes museums.


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## glypnirsgirl (Jul 26, 2010)

Ian came home tonight. He looked up the address for La Bouride. It is 5 Rue de Capitan, Frigate Villeal, Cannes Sur Mer.

He believes that the Roman ruins would be fascinating to a teenage boy. 

There are also Roman ruins by La Turbie - and those ruins even have a huge trophy and some homes that were lived in rather than just a public area (which is what the ruins by the Musee Matisse are).

elaine


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## glenn1000 (Jul 27, 2010)

Elaine- We'll check out the Roman ruins in Antibes. That sounds great. I remember seeing them with my wife over 20 years ago. Thanks also for the address to La Bouride (it's in Cagnes sur mer in case anyone else is checking this out). Though this particular teen will not eat anything from the sea (his siblings and parents all do), I am dying to have some authentic bouillabaisse.

Laurie- the walk along the beach from Monaco to Roquebrune sounds like a wonderful way to spend an afternoon that includes beach and other interesting stuff. We were in Roquebrune once- stayed in a beautiful hotel built into the hillside. 

Thanks so much for the great tips!


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## Laurie (Jul 28, 2010)

*Sentier Touristique*

A bit more info on the castle and path, and what's along it (Frommers says 3 hours, not 2 - we usually double estimated times b/c we stop for many photos.  Also I recall we veered off/below the official "path" some, to walk right on the beaches and rocks:
www.frommers.com/destinations/roquebruneandcap-martin/0715010029.html

Enjoy your trip, whatever you see and do - your son is a lucky guy!


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## glenn1000 (Jul 29, 2010)

Paris museum question: If I have a four day museum pass and my 14 year old son enters for free, will he have to wait in line for his free entry ticket or can we go directly in using my pass? Seems like a four day pass would be just right for our itinerary.


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## jlp (Jul 30, 2010)

I see that you plan to go to the Louvre on Tuesday but it is usually closed then. 

I agree with Laurie - do plan to see the "Grandes Eaux" at Versailles. I would suggest going to the Saturday evening show - it is outstanding! You could start the evening in the Hall of Mirrors with dance and music lasting 50 minutes and then continue with the "Grandes Eaux Nocturnes" - see the video link. Louis and his court wander through the gardens during the show. You would need to go on Saturday the 7th. 

http://www.chateauversailles-spectacles.fr/spectacle.php?spe=9&lang=fr&lang=fr&lang=eng&lang=eng

I second a day in Monaco as suggested by Laurie. You can walk from Menton (on the Italian border) to Monaco or take the train to Roquebrune Cap Martin and then walk to Menton. From the Marriott (on the French/Monaco border) there is also the Cap d'Ail walk to the beach "Plage de Gala". Villefranche sur Mer is interesting and includes a covered old part of the city. The train stops just above the beach. Roquebrune village and Eze village are very nice as well.


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## glenn1000 (Jul 30, 2010)

Thanks for pointing out that the Louvre is closed on Tuesday. I had figured that out recently but it can be confusing!

We arrive the morning of the 7th so I don't think there is any way we could get to or appreciate the show at Versailles that evening. I'm hoping to push through a pretty full day and get on a decent sleep schedule but we'll have to see how that goes.

I found a company that rents Vespas in Nice, delivering them to the hotel. I can put my son on the back and we'll have transportation and hopefully some fun getting around the Riviera. We should be able to get around from Menton to Antibes and maybe beyond.

Here is my latest version:

Saturday, August 7
•	Arc de Triomphe (metro: CDG Etoile)
•	Champs Elysee
•	Tuilleries 
•	Walk along the Seine
•	Sainte-Chapelle
•	Conciergerie  
•	Paris Walks230PM: The French Revolution, metro Palais Royale, main art nouveau exit by rue du Rivoli
•	Isle St. Louis (dinner: Aux Anysetiers du Roy at 61 Rue St Louis for Boeuf Bourginion then Bertillion for ice cream)

Sunday, August 8
•	Versailles (rer c @ musee d’orsay) fountains working from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 3.30 to 5 p.m.
•	Paris Walks 1030PM: Paris During Occupation and Liberation, metro Tuilleries by garden entrance

Monday, August 9
•	Paris Walks1030AM, Cite and Notre Dame, meet at metro Cite
•	Sewers of Paris
•	Musée de l’Armée - Tombeau de Napoléon 1er
•	Bateau Mouche- Seine boat tour at night

Tuesday, August 10
•	Paris Walks 1030am: The Marais Circuit 1, metro: St. Paul
•	Rodin Museum
•	Musée d’Orsay
•	Steak dinner at Robert et Louise, Restaurant de Feu, 64 rue Veille du Temple, 75003, metro: Hotel de Ville
•	Eiffel Tower (metro: Trocadero, Ecole Militaire or Bir Hakim)

Wednesday, August 11
•	Paris Walks 1030am, Montmartre, meet metro Abbesses
•	Montmartre (metro: Anvers, walk up rue Steinkerque)- portrait
•	Luxemborg Gardens
•	Monparnasse 
•	Reid Hall 
•	Louvre (9am-10pm)

Thursday, August 12
•	Train to Nice
•	dinner: La Bouride, 5 Rue de Capitan, Frigate Villeal, Cagnes Sur Mer
•	scooter arrives from Left Bank Scooters at 1030PM

Friday, August 13
•	Nice/Antibes beach
•	Roman ruins in Antibes
•	dinner: Cap d'Antibes within the walled city

Saturday, August 14
•	Monaco to Roquebrune/Cap Martin beach path- beach and maybe castle
•	Scooter picked up at 1030PM

Sunday, August 15
•	Fly home


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