|
|
Mom and son in Paris
In france, travelling with a preschooler can be a walk in the park
When going to Paris, it’s always best to take a sweetheart who hasn’t been there before. So I did. And he was two.
Friends had rented a flat in Montparnasse and offered to share. They are parents too and their own boy was about to turn one. This holiday was to mark the impending end of their maternity leave and to celebrate his first birthday.
Sadly, of my own growing family, half of us had to be in class that week, so only Leo and I were free to take them up on their generosity.
I hadn’t been to Paris since I was a backpacking student. The Couple had been there more recently, but that was before their son arrived. Paris with preschoolers was uncharted territory.
But first, the flat. Because, if you are travelling with small children, a home-base is vital.
You need to have a familiar spot to return to a place where you can establish, if not your regular routine, at least something resembling habit. And a Parisian self-catering apartment is ideal for this.
Our apartment sat on the fifth floor of a wonderfully typical Hausmannian building behind the Mairie (city hall) of the 14th arrondissement. Think quarry-stone facades with wrought-iron balconies, intricate and airy, symmetrical and oh-so-Parisian. The rooms were perfect - bright and clean; sparsely, but elegantly, furnished; and throughout there were planked wood floors perfect for small cars. The kitchen was small, but well-supplied with everything we might need - pots and pans (suitable for both cooking and banging), a stovetop espresso pot, a bottle opener and the requisite view of the Eiffel Tower out the window.
The Couple shared the bedroom with their son, so Leo and I claimed the large pullout sofa in the living room. At night, we closed the shutters and the streets below were quiet. In the morning, we woke early. On the balconies across the way, the geraniums were bright and French in the morning sunlight. Time to look for a bakery.
To get down to the street, you either climbed down a narrow and winding staircase, clutching the banister and balancing the child on your hip, or you descended in the elevator - a tiny box just big enough for one parent, one stroller and no breathing. An experience either way, but that is why we travel.
Outside, Paris opened up. We crossed the square by La Mairie underneath elephant-footed plane trees and Leo delighted in chasing Parisian pigeons. There was a well-mannered early morning bustle growing as people headed off to work, and, as we passed by enticing cafés, the urgent hiss of espresso machines.
Montparnasse is on the left bank of the Seine. It was nicknamed after the classical Mount Parnassus in the 17th century by students who favoured the district. Today, it is a perfect place to rent a flat, mainly because there aren’t many tourists. You get to experience living in Paris, rather than just staying there.
Our local shopping street was Rue Daguerre. Wandering along, surveying the wares, it felt like its own village. But then, many of the best urban streets in Europe do.
There are bakeries and butchers, fishmongers, cheese shops and greengrocers - everything you need to put together meals in your flat and also a good scattering of interesting restaurants and cafés, a kitchenware shop for me and a toy shop for the boys. Something for everyone. But none of it feels touristy. It just feels French.
She of The Couple has a theory that the shopkeepers were staunch in their French conversation to discourage tourists. Perhaps she’s right, but I felt very encouraged to find this real, living, place in the centre of a world-class tourist destination.
The bakery doors were open and the pastries arranged in flat baskets on the counter. We decided on a baguette because you must, and many variations on croissants because we could. And we also decided that all days should begin with French bakeries.
At breakfast we demolished the croissants, but the baguette travelled with us throughout the day as we set out to explore.
Montparnasse proved to be a good base for sightseeing. It is well connected via Metro and RER trains (the regional commuter system); the transport system is not too crowded or complicated to navigate and children younger than four travel for free.
But for those who want to stretch their legs, Paris is also walkable. Staying in Montparnasse means that you can always navigate home again using Paris’s one skyscraper - the unsightly 200-metre-tall Tour Montparnasse.
Montparnasse is home to artistic and literary history galore. The Couple enjoyed a night out at La Coupole - the famous Art Deco café where the giants of the Lost Generation met to drink. Travelling with kids and other parents means that you can take advantage of each other for evening childcare.
But during the day, with toddlers in tow, history is best explored in open places. The Cimetière du Montparnasse is a very literary resting place, with a range of monuments - formal and traditional, minimalist and shiny, touching and austere, and pretty much everything else you might imagine. |
|
發表於 2012-5-18 07:17
| 
