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Paris is filled with wonderful restaurants, but not all of
them are ideal for dining with kids in tow. Our kids are old enough to sit
at a table quietly, but at one restaurant, before we could even take a peek
inside to check it out, the maitre d' rushed out to the street and said
"the restaurant is full" in French. Little did he know that we
weren’t going to do anything gauche like order diet coke with our fois
gras, but still, my husband and I were piqued. Before we had kids, we once
worked for a French company and traveled to Paris often. We weren’t
prepared for this reception with our children. It was early in the evening
and the restaurant was practically empty. |
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As it turned out, we did have some great restaurant experiences
with our kids. For dinner, we always stopped to read the menu posted, to
see if they had a kids menu. A kids menu is a good sign that kids are welcome.
Another tip is to go early, at 7:00pm.Going early reduces the hungry, irritable
child phenomenon, you can be seated in neighborhood restaurants without
waiting, and since the restaurants are relatively deserted at that hour,
the waiters will be happy to give you their attention, practice their English
on the kids, or provide them with extra desserts. |
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Look for restaurants where local families eat too. One evening
we had dinner at a restaurant (Leon de Bruxelles), that not only had a kids menu, but it was
filled with French families. It was a noisy, busy place with whimsical pictures
of mussels painted on the walls. Our kids felt very much at home. |
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For lunch we sometimes ate at little bistros, ideal because
they always had "croque monsieur" (toasted ham and cheese) sandwiches
for the kids and classic French dishes to satisfy the adult palette. (I
can still remember this aromatic pork dish, slow cooked in wine and herbs
at a bistro near the Printemps department store …) |
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Another lunch option is to go to a sandwich shop.
First, observe where all the locals are heading to get their sandwiches
and follow them in. Order up delicious long sandwiches on baguettes, and
bottles of fizzy water or soft drinks, then take your lunch out to a nearby
park. In the park, plenty of people are dining al fresco too and eating
on a park bench doesn’t demand extra good table manners. |
