Is Paris family-friendly?

Jardin du Luxembourg is the single best place to take kids in Paris. The fenced playground near Rue Guynemer (€4.20 per child, adults free) has climbing structures and a zip line for ages 3-12, with a separate toddler section where you don't need eyes in the back of your head. On warm afternoons the air smells like crêpes from the stand near the Sénat, and kids can rent wooden sailboats (€5) to nudge across the octagonal basin with a stick — an activity that holds attention for a solid 30 minutes, longer than most Paris museums manage. Over in the 5th, the Jardin des Plantes has a small zoo (Ménagerie, €13 adult / €10 child) manageable in 90 minutes without exhausting anyone. Mind you, neither park has changing tables in the restrooms, so bring your portable mat.

The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie at La Villette is the standout indoor option — a rainy Paris day works in your favor here. The Cité des Enfants runs in timed 90-minute slots, and walk-ups sell out by 10:30 on weekends, so book online. Two age bands: 2-7 and 5-12. The younger section has a water-play area where kids get thoroughly soaked, so pack a change of clothes. For something quieter, the Musée de l'Orangerie puts Monet's Water Lilies at kid eye-level in oval rooms that stay cool even in July — a useful reset after a hot morning. Most children under 6 last about 20 minutes, which is fine because admission is free for under-18s across all national museums. That policy covers the Louvre too, though taking anyone under 10 to the Louvre is an act of optimism.

The honest stroller report. The Métro is largely a disaster — only Line 14 and a handful of stations on Line 1 have platform-to-street elevators. Everywhere else means folding the stroller, holding your child, and hauling everything up narrow tiled staircases that smell like warm rubber and yesterday's rain. The RER B from CDG airport does have elevators at Gare du Nord, but the transfer corridors are long and poorly signed. Above ground, the wide boulevards of the 7th and 8th arrondissements roll fine, but the Marais and Montmartre are cobblestone territory where lightweight umbrella strollers catch between stones every few meters. Best approach for kids under 3: structured carrier for transit and cobblestones, stroller for parks and the broad sidewalks along the Seine. Taxis accommodate car seats if you bring your own — do not count on them having one.

Feeding picky eaters in Paris is easier than the reputation suggests. Most brasseries have a menu enfant — steak haché with frites or plain pasta, €8-12 — even when it's not printed on the main card. Crêpe stands along Rue de Montparnasse sell plain butter-and-sugar crêpes for €4, which solve most meltdowns on contact. For breakfast, Boulangerie Poilâne on Rue du Cherche-Midi does tartines big enough to split between two kids for under €5 — warm bread, salted butter, apricot jam. If your child has allergies, look for "sans gluten" menus: Helmut Newcake in the 10th and Noglu near the Palais Royal both handle celiac properly. One tactical note: French restaurants serve lunch noon to 14:00 and dinner from 19:00. Outside those windows your options narrow to crêperies and cafés. Plan around the schedule or you'll be eating packaged sandwiches from Monoprix — which, to be fair, are not bad.

A day that works with naps: morning at Jardin du Luxembourg by 9:30 (playground and sailboats until 11:30), crêpes on Rue Vavin, back to the apartment by 13:00. Afternoon from 15:30 at the Musée de l'Orangerie or a Seine-side walk from Pont Alexandre III toward the Eiffel Tower — the gravel path along the Left Bank is flat and wide enough for a double stroller. Golden hour at the Champ de Mars is the reward: the grass is soft, kids run themselves out, and the tower turns copper against the sky. Dinner at 19:00 sharp at a place that takes reservations. Le Bouillon Chartier in the 9th is loud enough that no one notices your toddler, and the €3.50 main courses are not a typo.